Anthony Sanchez, who was the Administrative Director for the Superior Court of Guam during its questionable dealings with Jack Abramoff, has ended his bid to serve on Governor Felix Camacho's cabinet.

In May, Governor Camacho nominated Sanchez to serve as the director of the Bureau of Statistics and Plans.  According to the Pacific Daily News, on Wednesday, Sanchez sent a letter to lawmakers seeking to withdraw.

Governor Camacho has already announced his intention to name a member of his personal staff to the cabinet post, and Sanchez will be given a nice soft landing on the Governor's staff.

According to a story last summer in the LA Times, on November 18, 2002, a grand jury subpoena was issued that "demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, release records involving the [Abramoff] lobbying contract, including bills and payments."

The day after Sanchez received the subpoena, the White House announced that acting-U.S. Attorney Frederick A. Black would be replaced.

There is evidence to suggest that the announcement of a replacement for Black was rushed by the White House.  For example, on the same day that Bush announced he was replacing Black as U.S. Attorney for Guam with Leonaro Rapadas, he announced his choice for U.S. Attorney for Puerto Rico, Humberto Garcia.

Yet, the White House was not prepared to send both appointments to the Senate on the same day.  Garcia's appointment was sent to the Senate on January 9, 2003 and Rapadas was not sent to the Senate until nearly three weeks later, on January 28, 2003.  This suggests that the announcement of Rapadas was rushed, and that the White House was not actually prepared to forward the nomination. 

Though his appointment was announced on the same day as Rapadas, Garcia was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on March 7, 2003.  Rapadas was not confirmed until a full two month later, on May 9, 2003.

Sanchez has not been forthcoming regarding his role in the Abramoff contract.  According to a KUAM story from spring of 2003:

Also, Superior Court Administrator Tony Sanchez initially wasn't forthcoming with the information on how much was paid to Abramoff, until KUAM News presented him with the dated checks that he signed off on.

The same story goes on to point out:

Of note is that Sanchez was actively involved in the Camacho-Moylan campaign.

A recent report by Guam's Office of Public Auditor, ihdicates that Sanchez personally and solely approved modifications to the Superior Court's contract with California attorney, Howard Hills, that was used to fund Abramoff's lobbying efforts.

The intial contract with Hills was for $20,000 and had four signatories on the Court's behalf.  Via a series of change orders, that were signed only by Sanchez, the contract was modified to permit payments up to $479,000.  Of that amount, $324,000 made its way to Abramoff.