Ney and Abramoff: Covering Tracks

But Ney, who is now serving a 30-month sentence in federal prison, still tried to cover up his own actions when the notorious lobbyist Jack Abramoff first came under public scrutiny in 2004. According to recently filed court documents, Ney told his then Chief of Staff Will Heaton that he would begin paying for meals and drinks with a credit card at Abramoff's restaurant Signatures "in an attempt to establish a paper trail that Ney paid for bills there"—despite the fact that Ney and Heaton had dined there free for years, government documents state.

The revelations were disclosed in sentencing documents for Heaton, who pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to commit fraud. The government is asking for a lenient sentence of home confinement for Heaton, 29, because he secretly recorded conversations with Ney as part of his cooperation with the Justice Department investigation.

—Emma Schwartz