Lawyer linked to lobbyist scandal

Laguna Beach attorney who funneled money to Jack Abramoff denies deliberate wrongdoing.A Washington lobbyist’s admission of fraud and bribery has touched a Laguna Beach attorney.

Howard Hills is relieved to be able to finally tell the story of how he ended up linked to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Superior Court officers in the U.S. Territory of Guam used Hills as a conduit for payments to Abramoff to fight a proposal to reorganize the judicial system on the island.

The connection was made public in an executive summary report of the Superior Court of Guam Judicial Building Fund, released in December. The report said Hills funneled a total of 36 checks -- each in the amount of $9,000 -- to Abramoff’s office in an apparent attempt to avoid requirements for sealed bids for such payments.

The executive summary states: “The Superior Court hired Howard Hills for ‘legal research and advisory consultation.’ Howard Hills was the conduit to pay lobbyist Jack Abramoff. According to Howard Hills, of the $479,000 he received, $324,000 was transferred to Jack Abramoff’s firm.”

Hills denies any deliberate wrongdoing and says he has fully cooperated with authorities.

However, Hills said the judiciary system at that time did not require sealed bids, regardless of the amount, according to the audit report of more than 75 pages.

“Look on Page 21 of the audit,” Hills said. “It states right there that there was no violation, because bids were not required.”

Hills said he does not expect to be drawn into any hearings or proceedings in the aftermath of Abramoff’s guilty plea and agreement to cooperate with investigations conducted by federal authorities.

“The reason I got drawn into this was my relationship with a judge of the Guam Superior Court, not my relationship with Jack Abramoff,” Hills said. “I was unguarded and generous with my good offices because I was dealing with a judge.”

Hills said he provided legal services to the Guam Superior Court from April 1998 to May 2002 and was paid $155,000 for legal advice on international, constitutional and federal law issues.

Abramoff came into the picture on May 8 when it was recommended at a House of Representatives hearing that a federal solution be found for the reorganization of Guam’s court system. The recommendation, Hills said, was engineered by the Guam Supreme Court lobbyist and opposed by the Superior Court, with which he worked.

“So the Superior Court Judge decided he wanted to hire a lobbyist,” Hills said. “He was familiar with Abramoff because of work Jack had done in the Mariannas. I was not a lobbyist and Abramoff was considered at that time to be the most successful lobbyist.”

Hills said he took the judge, whose name he did not disclose, to a restaurant owned by Abramoff and introduced them to one another.

“I spent 10 minutes with them and then left,” Hills said. “I was happy to be out of it. But a couple of days later, court staff called and asked if Abramoff could be hired through my contract -- a new contract would take considerable time. It seemed reasonable at the time, and it still seems reasonable -- I had done subcontracting before.”

Hills said he declined payment for the use of his contract.

“The day Jack Abramoff was hired, my legal work and compensation ended,” Hills said.

“My direct contact with Jack was three one-minute phone calls in which he said, ‘Where’s my money?’”

However, Hills did submit invoices to the court for Abramoff’s fees.

“I submitted three invoices for $75,000 each,” Hills said. “The court paid in $9,000 installments, made out to me.”

Hills deposited the checks and made out new ones to Abramoff’s office and sent them via FedEx between May 31 and July 31, 2002.

“I called the court and asked why the checks were made out to me, and they said, you are the contractor,” Hills said. “Seemed reasonable.”

Still, he said, the procedure was unexpected and unusual and he terminated the relationship.

“The court staff had taken advantage of my generous cooperation,” Hills said.

Hills said he has briefed congressional staff on what occurred.

“I went to federal and congressional investigators in 2004 and told them my story,” Hills said.

“When the audit report came out, it said the court staff made the payments to avoid bidding and that I was used as the conduit, which is harsh and I am not comfortable about it.”

Hills said he cooperated with the Guam auditor and federal investigators.

“Up to now the reaction has been that this was sufficiently complicated so that it required explanation, which I provided, and as far as I know, has been accepted,” Hills said.

In a Sounding Off piece published by the Coastline Pilot on March 11, 2005, Hills criticized both the city and the school district for dodging responsibility for actions taken and referred to his involvement with an unnamed lobbyist on behalf of the presiding judge of a court.

“Instead of avoiding accountability, as soon as the court gave me permission to talk to the press I got the real story out,” Hills wrote. “It has been embarrassing. Accountability for one’s fallibility is seldom pleasant, but sometimes it is the only path to sustained integrity.”

Hills is a native of Laguna Beach. His grandparents bought property in North Laguna in the 1930s. Hills graduated from Laguna Beach High School in 1970.