White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Oct. 6 Ralston resigned noting that “a protracted discussion of these matters would be a distraction to the White House." Perinso said, “We appreciate her years of able service and accept her judgment that it’s appropriate for her to step down at this time."

In her letter of resignation to President Bush Oct. 5, Ralston, who earned $122,000 a year, said: “It has been a tremendous privilege to work at the White House and now after almost six years the time has come for me to pursue other opportunities.” The White House did not announce her resignation until the next day, Oct. 6. White House counselor Dan Bartlett said “she leaves without any animosity from us. She’s been a tireless worker fot the president, and we will be sad to see her leave.”

Ralston was the right hand to Rove and she was closer to the center of the Bush White House. She was key organizer of presidential events, coordinating with White House political, scheduling, advance and public liaison offices.

She will be missed because she solves problems,   and finding people in government who solve problems, said a colleague.

Community leaders have expressed sadness over the loss of Ralston, the only top Filipino American in the White House.

Filipino American leaders contacted by the Manila Mail have expressed sadness over Ralston’s resignation. Eric Lachica, executive director of the American Coalition for Filipino Veterans, expressed hope that Ralston will not be used as a “scapegoat” in the continuing probe of disgraced Abramoff. “We hope that the law will be fair to Susan. I’m worried that because she’s just a special assistant that she might be used as a scapegoat."

Community leader Bing Cardenas Branigin, NaFFAA Region 2 chair, noted that Ralston and Rove were recently cleared of any wrongdoing in the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame and the Abramoff case.

Others who have been in close contact with Ralston also expressed dismay over this development and hoped that she will not be dragged into the current political mire.

The House report, based on e-mail messages and other records subpoenaed from Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying firm, found 485 contacts between Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying team and White  House officials, in which more than half of 66 Abramoff contacts were with Ralston and 69 with Abramoff’s team at Greenberg Traurig LLP.

The lobbyists spent almost $25,000 in meals and drinks for the White House officials and provided Susan and others with tickets to numerous sporting events and concerts, according to the report. Reports are that these might constitute a violation of ethics rules which bars White House officials from accepting lobbyists’ gifts worth more than $20. The authors of the report said it was generally unclear from available records whether the aides reimbursed Mr. Abramoff for the meals or tickets.

The report added that Susan also accepted Abramoff’s tickets to nine sports  and entertainment events and that she also discussed with him possible business ventures. When contacted by the Washington Post, Ralston declined to comment.

A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said that while White House officials had not seen the report, earlier evidence showed that Mr. Abramoff had exaggerated his ties to the administration and was “ineffective in terms of getting government officials to take actions.”

Last year, Ralston vehemently denied stories that she was resigning as top adviser in the Bush’ White House because of the stress following disclosures about Abramoff’s ties with her and Rove. Ralston, who originally worked with Abramoff before becoming a top aide of Rove, denied reports that she was resigning from the White House and that she would be transferring to the Commerce department.

The New York Times described several instances in which Mr. Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to bribe public officials, failed to get the action he desired from the White House, and described his overall record in lobbying the White House as mixed. But it also suggests that Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying resulted in Bush administration actions that benefited Abramoff clients, including decisions to distribute millions of dollars in federal money to Indian tribes with large gambling operations.

@9PTLA = The Washington Post

The report also said Rove and his aides sought Abramoff’s help in obtaining seats in sporting events. It said that at one time he sat with Rove in the lobbyist’s box seats for an NCAA playoff game. After the event, the report said the lobbyist, in an email, described Rove as a “great guy. Told me anytime we need something just let him know through Susan.”

The Times said: “Ms. Ralston, who did not return phone calls seeking comment, was lobbied scores of times by Mr. Abramoff and his partners, the report found, and was instrumental in passing messages between Mr. Abramoff and senior officials at the White House, including Mr. Rove and Ken Mehlman."

Mr. Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee, was then a senior White House political strategist. In October 2001, the report said, Mr. Abramoff asked the White House to withhold an endorsement from a  Republican candidate for governor of the Northern Marianas Islands, an American commonwealth in the western Pacific where Mr. Abramoff had clients; Mr. Abramoff was backing another candidate.

On Oct. 31, 2001, the report said, Ms. Ralson sent an e-mail message to Mr. Abramoff that read: “You win : KR said no endorsement.”

The Washington Post dealt more extensively on how Ralston also helped Rove get tickets for the NCAA playoff but that Rove paid for them. “But Ralston apparently did not pay for tickets she accepted to MCI Center events -including two concerts featuring rocker Bruce Sprinsteen and singer Andrea Bocelli, three Capitals hockey games and a Wizards basketball game and seats at the Baltimore Orioles baseball game at Camden Yards.”

The Post continued: “On seven occasions, Ralston requested tickets, the report said. ”You've got ‘em,’ Abramoff emailed Ralston when she asked in December 2001 for four prime Wizards tickets valued at $1,300. Ralston emailed Abramoff that she was willing to pay for Capitals tickets, but he replied:"No problem, and you don’t have to pay. “ In 2003, she thanked him for his generosity in providing Orioles tickets.

The report said Ralston and Abramoff in 2002 discussed future business plans at least twice. Included in the plan was the  aircraft leasing and the setting up of a defense or homeland security company. The report said Ralston expressed interest but said she thought it would take a lot of research to get the company off the ground. It said that Ralston told the lobbyist that she “was committed to the White House and that It would take a serious amount of money for me to be lured away so unless you’re really serious and can make it worth my while, let’s wait until 2005.”

The report said Abramoff replied “I am not in a position to offer you serious money for this right now.”

Ms. Ralston was a former executive assistant of Abramoff, and later served in the same position to Rove, starting in 2001. In July 2004, Ms. Ralston was promoted as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Senior Advisor (Rove) at the White House.

In January, Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials and is cooperating with authorities, according to a Washington Post report. Reuters reported former House Majority Leader Tom Delay

“It’s very sad,” said Lachica. “Susan was our go-to person on the Filipino World War II veterans benefits issue. In 2003, she was my contact person in getting veteran Guillermo Rumingan to witness the White House signing by President Bush of a health care bill into law.

She also arranged a meeting of Filipino leaders with the National Security director on Southeast Asian Affairs on the veterans issue."

“It’s very sad,” echoed Ms. Branigin. “Sayang (it’s a pity), because she was the highest-ranking Filipino American at the White House, and whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat,  that's how we should view this."

Ralston is well-known in the Filipino American community here. She attended the induction and awards night of the Filipino American Republicans of Virginia (FARV)and various events in the Asian American community. She’s widely known to promptly return phone calls and emails from the community. Ms. Branigin said Ms. Ralston was nice and accommodating. NaFFAA lobbied the White House and Congress on veterans’benefits and immigration reform issues.

By A. Alfaro and J. L. Ilustre