The Abramoff Scandal

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As most of you know, the lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty to Conspiracy, Tax Evasion and Mail Fraud while also agreeing to cooperate in the investigations of up to 20 Congressmen.

While many are saying this could be bad for the Republicans, they also acknowledge that many a Democrat will be going down also. Either way, both sides need to be condemned and jailed. Whether your a Republican or a Democrat. If your corrupt you should go down.

This is the thing, if the left begins to portray the Republican party as a whole as corrupt it will come back to bite them on the ass. We all know this crossed party lines. Corruption has no favorite side of the aisle, it’s who could do the most for you. Democrats will be going down just as hard as the Republicans, and they both should be condemned.

Once-powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud, agreeing to cooperate in an influence-peddling investigation that threatens powerful members of Congress.

In a heavily scripted court appearance, Abramoff agreed with U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle when she said he had engaged in a conspiracy involving “corruption of public officials.” The lobbyist also agreed when she said he and others had engaged in a scheme to provide campaign contributions, trips and other items “in exchange for certain official acts.”

[…]Abramoff’s travels with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay are already under criminal investigation. The lobbyist’s interactions with the Texas Republican’s congressional office frequently came around the time of campaign donations, golf outings or other trips provided or arranged by Abramoff for DeLay and other lawmakers. In all, DeLay received at least $57,000 in political contributions from Abramoff, his lobbying associates or his tribal clients between 2001 and 2004.

Court papers released Tuesday also detailed lavish gifts and contributions that Abramoff gave an unnamed House member, identified elsewhere as Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, chairman of the House Administration Committee, in return for Ney’s agreement to use his office to aid Abramoff clients.

Ney’s lawyer, Mark Tuohey, said Tuesday that the charges against Abramoff were “nothing new.” He said they repeated information in the November plea agreement from Abramoff’s lobbying partner, Michael Scanlon.

Read the whole article, do you see any mention of the Democrats under investigation because of these two guys? It’s already started. Whitewash the left side of the aisle while turning the spotlight onto the right side. No bias my ass.

Not one of these folks:

  1. Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) Rec. At Least ? $22,500
  2. Senator Evan Bayh (D-IN) Rec. At Least ? $6,500
  3. Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) Rec. At Least ? $1,250
  4. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) Rec. At Least ? $2,000
  5. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Rec. At Least ? $20,250
  6. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) Rec. At Least ? $21,765
  7. Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) Rec. At Least ? $7,500
  8. Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) Rec. At Least ? $12,950
  9. Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Rec. At Least ? $8,000
  10. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) Rec. At Least ? $7,500
  11. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) Rec. At Least ? $14,792
  12. Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) Rec. At Least ? $79,300
  13. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) Rec. At Least ? $14,000
  14. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) Rec. At Least ? $2,000
  15. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) Rec. At Least ? $1,250
  16. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) Rec. At Least ? $45,750
  17. Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) Rec. At Least ? $9,000
  18. Senator Jim Jeffords (I-VT) Rec. At Least ? $2,000
  19. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) Rec. At Least ? $14,250
  20. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) Rec. At Least ? $3,300
  21. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) Rec. At Least ? $98,550
  22. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Rec. At Least ? $28,000
  23. Senator Pat Leahy (D-VT) Rec. At Least ? $4,000
  24. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI) Rec. At Least ? $6,000
  25. Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) Rec. At Least ? $29,830
  26. Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) Rec. At Least ? $14,891
  27. Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) Rec. At Least ? $10,550
  28. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) Rec. At Least ? $78,991
  29. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) Rec. At Least ? $20,168
  30. Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) Rec. At Least ? $5,200
  31. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Rec. At Least ? $7,500
  32. Senator Mark Pryor (D-AR) Rec. At Least ? $2,300
  33. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Rec. At Least ? $3,500
  34. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) Rec. At Least ? $68,941
  35. Senator John Rockefeller (D-WV) Rec. At Least ? $4,000
  36. Senator Ken Salazar (D-CO) Rec. At Least ? $4,500
  37. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) Rec. At Least ? $4,300
  38. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Rec. At Least ? $29,550
  39. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) Rec. At Least ? $6,250
  40. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) Rec. At Least ? $6,250

I wonder why? The left side of the aisle better be careful before they start attacking the right:

“It’s very odd that Democrats at the national and state levels have sought to exploit the Abramoff matter for political gain, while in the process throwing countless congressional Democrats under the bus,” said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

The NRSC has begun circulating among fellow Republicans new reports showing that all but five of the chamber’s 44 Democrats have taken Abramoff-related money. In addition, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee have taken more than $1.2 million, according to records provided to The Washington Times.

In total, Senate Democrats and their national committees have accepted $3.1 million, compared with $4.3 million in contributions to Republicans from Mr. Abramoff, his clients and his associates.

Need more?

1. Since 1999, the top recipient of donations from Indian tribes was the Democratic National Committee, which collected $2,015,250 for its non-federal corporate account, according to records publicly available from Political Money Line.
2. The second-largest recipient of tribal donations has been the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at $1,614,950.
3. The third-largest recipient of dollars from Indian tribes is the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee with $1,288,650.
4. The fifth-largest recipient is the Democratic Governors Association, which collected $965,000.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not highlighting these Democrats who got caught in the cookie jar to pile onto the Democrats. I am pointing this stuff out because the left has already got itself into a tizzy thinking this is good for them. It isn’t. It’s not good for either side. The only good thing that will come out of this is that these guys will hopefully be landing in jail.

UPDATE

Here is a good pictorial of the money and where it went.

UPDATE II

It seems curious that Abramoff was involved in these talks with the DOJ for so long over his plea bargain. He must be offering them something substantial. I’m betting when these other folks get hauled in, they will more then likely also try to cut themselves a deal. The end result, a whole deck of cards comes tumbling down.

Meanwhile Sen McCain, whose Campaign Finance Reform took money out of politics, has this to say:

U.S. Senator John McCain said he expects “lots” of indictments to grow out of the federal investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and that there was “strong evidence” of wrongdoing by some lawmakers.

“This town has become very corrupt, there’s no doubt about it,” McCain said today on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

The Arizona Republican is chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and has led a congressional probe of Abramoff’s dealings with Indian tribes who hired him as a lobbyist. The Justice Department is investigating Abramoff’s contacts with lawmakers and congressional staff members.

“There’s strong evidence that there was significant wrongdoing,” McCain said when asked whether he believed some lawmakers have committed crimes. He declined to be specific.

[…]McCain, 69, said the lobbying system needs to be restructured to eliminate fraud and to prevent groups from hiring well-connected people to make deals to pass certain legislation or guarantee funding for key issues. He said he wouldn’t count on the congressional ethics committee that monitor lawmakers’ compliance with laws and ethics regulations.

“I don’t think the ethics committees are working very well,” McCain said.

You think?

UPDATE III

Argh! The networks are pissing me off. Not one word about ANY Democrats involved. Time to reload:

[…]A lawyer for the Louisiana Coushatta Indians said Mr. Abramoff told the tribe to send $5,000 to Sen. Byron L. Dorgan’s political group three weeks after the North Dakota Democrat urged fellow senators to fund a school program Mr. Abramoff’s clients wanted to use.

[…]The revelation came as Mr. Dorgan took to the offensive, saying there was no connection between the $20,000 in donations he got from Mr. Abramoff’s firm and tribal clients in spring 2002 and a February 2002 letter he wrote urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund the tribal school-building program.

Mr. Dorgan’s letter noted that the Mississippi Choctaw, an Abramoff client, had successfully used the program and asked lawmakers to consider long-term funding for it. It made no mention of Mr. Abramoff or any of his other tribes that were interested in the program.

Mr. Dorgan sharply criticized a recent Associated Press story that divulged he and a dozen other lawmakers had received Abramoff-related donations near the time they sent letters supporting the school program.

Mr. Dorgan said he had never met Mr. Abramoff, didn’t know about the donations from the lobbyist’s clients near the time of his letter and saw no reason to quit the Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation of Mr. Abramoff.

“I don’t have any idea what was contributed to me, or by whom. No contribution has been made to me that was ever represented as a contribution coming from Mr. Abramoff, or [what] he was involved in,” Mr. Dorgan said when asked about the $20,000 in donations.

[…]For instance, the Coushattas’ check ledger shows the tribe on March 6, 2002, wrote checks for $5,000 to Mr. Dorgan’s political group, called the Great Plains Leadership Fund, and $25,000 to Mr. Burns. That money ultimately went to Mr. Burns’ Friends of the Big Sky political group.

[…]Other checks listed as being issued that day were written to groups tied to Sens. Trent Lott, Mississippi Republican; Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana Democrat; Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat; and John Breaux, Louisiana Democrat; and Reps. Tom DeLay, Texas Republican; Charles H. Taylor, North Carolina Republican; and Pete Sessions, Texas Republican, all of whom wrote letters favorable to Abramoff tribal client causes, the ledger shows.

Other’s Blogging:

Rightwing Nuthouse, Stop The ACLU, Tigerhawk, Hugh Hewitt, Michelle Malkin, The Political Teen, The Monroe Doctrine, A Blog For All, Mark A. Kilmer, Wizbang, Say Anything, Sister Toldjah, The Iowa Voice,


This is the thing, if the left begins to portray the Republican party is corrupt as a whole it will come back to bite them on the ass. We all know this crossed party lines. Corruption has no favorite side of the aisle, it’s who could do the most for you. Democrats will be going down just as hard as the Republicans, and they both should be condemned.

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Just the fact that Reid and Kerry’s names alone were mentioned is not a good indicater that Dems will go down too. What ever the case may be they should all get their just deserves.

Can you really say with a straight face this is not a direct result of the sleazy Delay/Norquist K Street Project creating a slush fund to finance a permanent Republucan Majority? This is a Pay-for-Play influence peddling scheme and saying that a few Democrats also received donations from his clients does not make it bipartisan.