Gibbons accuser turns to Clinton’s former lawyer

By J. Patrick Coolican (contact)

Wednesday, July 11, 2007 | 7:01 a.m.

Dennis Montgomery, the chief accuser in the grand jury investigation of Gov. Jim Gibbons, recently hired high-powered Washington, D.C., lawyer Robert Bennett.

Bennett confirmed Tuesday that he has been retained by Montgomery. He said he is advising Montgomery as he assists the investigation.

Montgomery is engaged in a lengthy court battle with Gibbons' friend and campaign contributor Warren Trepp over disputed military technology.

Montgomery has said in court papers that Trepp used an extravagant cruise and casino chips, cash and campaign donations to bribe Gibbons, who was then a congressman. The purpose, Montgomery said, was to win defense contracts and muscle him out of the technology, which he says he developed and was rightfully his.

The grand jury in Washington is examining the Gibbons-Trepp relationship.

Gibbons and Trepp have denied any improper behavior. Gibbons has said he's proud that he helped procure important military technology in a time of war.

Bennett is a legendary Beltway figure, representing then-President Bill Clinton as the Monica Lewinsky scandal was exploding, and more recently, Judith Miller, the then-New York Times reporter jailed for refusing to testify in the Valerie Plame CIA leak case. Although Bennett defended Clinton, he's the brother of conservative talk show host and former Reagan administration official William Bennett, who wrote a book attacking Clinton.

For his part, Gibbons has hired his own big-time Washington, D.C., lawyer, Abbe Lowell, who represented convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and then-California congressman Gary Condit.

Lowell and Bennett have a history. When Bennett was Clinton's lawyer, Lowell was the counsel for House Democrats, advising them on the Clinton impeachment. They were allies then, and are now adversaries.

Separately, Michael Flynn, another lawyer for Montgomery, asked for permission to withdraw from the case, as reported Tuesday in the Review-Journal.

In court papers, Flynn said Montgomery owes him money and that Montgomery "has engaged in conduct that has made continued representation unreasonably difficult."

Flynn made a brief statement Tuesday: "As for my withdrawal, I have no comment. But as for the article in the Review-Journal newspaper this morning, they jumped to the wrong conclusions, and that's all I'll say."

A legal expert quoted in the story speculated that Flynn may have withdrawn because he doubts Montgomery's credibility after Trepp's lawyers charged Montgomery in court papers with fabricating evidence.