Lobbyist Says DeLay Pressed for Donation

Newly disclosed e-mail messages from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff show that he told an Indian tribe client that he was being pressured by Representative Tom Delay for a contribution for a $25,000-a-table Republican fund-raiser and that Mr. DeLay had personally phoned the lobbyist's office in search of the money.

The three-year-old messages suggest that the request was passed on to the tribe for payment within hours. They offer no evidence that Mr. DeLay, Republican of Texas, knew such a request for political money would be forwarded to Indian tribes and their gambling operations, and the messages from Mr. Abramoff's files suggest that he edited one e-mail message to exaggerate any contact with the lawmaker. Mr. DeLay's lawyer said Mr. DeLay never made the telephone call.

One e-mail message says that Mr. DeLay made an unusual personal call to Mr. Abramoff's office on July 17, 2002, to press for the contribution to the Republican fund-raiser, saying that he would call back and that he might see Mr. Abramoff that night at Signatures, a Washington restaurant that the lobbyist then owned.

Members of Congress commonly encourage lobbyists to make political contributions, and the contacts are legal so long as there is no promise of official acts in exchange for the money.

The e-mail messages, obtained by the Justice Department and Senate investigators and made available to The New York Times, are significant because they are the first evidence to demonstrate that Mr. Abramoff cited personal pressure from Mr. DeLay in trying to persuade Indian tribe clients to send political donations and other money to Washington. The government's scrutiny of ties between Mr. Abramoff and Mr. DeLay had previously focused on a series of lavish overseas trips taken by the lawmaker.

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