Abramoff-Bush Photo Surfaces

The New York Times: WASHINGTON, Feb. 11—After weeks in which the White House has declined to release pictures of President Bush with Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist, the first photograph to be published of the two men shows a small, partly obscured image of Mr. Abramoff looking on from the background as Mr. Bush greets a Texas Indian chief in May 2001.

By itself, the picture hardly seems worthy of the White House’s efforts to keep it out of the public eye. Mr. Abramoff, a leading Republican fund-raiser who pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to corrupt public officials, is little more than a blurry, bearded figure in the background at a gathering of about two dozen people. | story

From the White House via The New York Times

President Bush shaking hands in 2001 with Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of Texas. The arrow in the photo points to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, in background; Karl Rove, the president’s top advisor, is at the right.