RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, about Jack Abramoff, in March:

"Abramoff is someone who we don't know a lot about. We know what we read in the paper."

RNC Chair Ken Mehlman, about Jack Abramoff, now:

"I was a gateway," Mehlman said in an interview. "It was my job to talk to political supporters, to hear their requests, and hand them on to policymakers."

Mehlman said he had known Abramoff since the mid-1990s and would listen to his requests along with those of other influential Republicans.

"I know Jack," Mehlman said. "I certainly recall that if he and others wanted to meet I would have met with them, as I would have met with lots of people."