Abramoff wants his (Web domain) name back

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- Disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff says the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee won't give him back his name, or rather his Web domain name.

The DCCC has owned the rights to the Web domain name "jackabramoff.com" since securing it in 2006, Politico reported Friday.

Abramoff, the former GOP lobbyist at the center of one of Washington's biggest scandals in recent memory, said he called the DCCC last week to see if the committee would give it up, but the answer was no.

"Jack Abramoff can try to rehab his image, but glowing press stories and being back on the D.C. cocktail circuit don't change the fact that Abramoff is a convicted felon who went to jail for being the heart of Republicans' 'culture of corruption,'" DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider told Politico. "We didn't forget; Jack and anyone who visits jackabramoff.com won't either."

Abramoff said he wasn't pleased about the DCCC's stance and threatened legal action to get control of the name.

"I was told by my lawyers that I have a legal right to it and so I wanted to sort of do it amicably, but I guess we'll just have to have the lawyers sort it out," Abramoff said. "No one wants a domain with their name on it owned by somebody else."

Abramoff amassed a fortune showering gifts on congressional and executive branch officials in the George W. Bush administration while bilking Indian tribes of an estimated $20 million. He pleaded guilty in 2006 to felony counts involving fraud, corruption and conspiracy.

Also convicted were Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles; General Services Administration Chief of Staff David Safavian, U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides, who all resigned in the scandal's wake.

Abramoff served 3 1/2 years of a six-year sentence at a minimum-security prison and was released in 2010.