A thread for the slow-unfolding Abramoff scandal in the US

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/21/AR2005112100719.html?referrer=email&referrer=email

Goofy guy.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2005/12/02/national/02cnd-abra.184.jpg

NY Times reports on how things are looking at present.

The attention paid to how the aides obtained jobs occurs as Mr. Abramoff is under mounting pressure to cooperate with prosecutors as they consider a case against lawmakers. Participants in the case, who insisted on anonymity because the investigation is secret, said he could try to reach a deal in the next six weeks.

Many forces are bearing down on Mr. Abramoff. Last week, his closest business partner, Michael Scanlon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for cooperating in the inquiry, being run by an interagency group, into whether money and gifts were used in an influence-peddling scandal that involved lawmakers.

Despite charging Indian tribes that were clients tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees, Mr. Abramoff has told friends that he is running out of money. In a new approach that could contribute to the pressures, prosecutors are sifting through evidence related to the hiring of several former Congressional aides by a lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig, where Mr. Abramoff worked from 2000 to last year, according to people who know about the inquiry. That course could impel a new set of Mr. Abramoff's former associates to cooperate to avoid prosecution.

TalkingPoints, as it is wont, suggests connections to the Tobin Vermont case as well as (more by implication) Cunningham.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060103/ap_on_re_us/lobbyist_fraud_9;_ylt=AuH426MO0qwTH5kAfP_xDKmGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

TalkingPoints has various mutterings, Washington Post story here, Hewitt flails, RedState goes high and mighty, NRO meanwhile has said barely anything. Figures.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/homepage/hp1-3-06e.jpg

http://members.tripod.com/Mrs_Fairy/bgstuff/bgpics/FullJackFairy.jpg

Hi Ned, sorry I disappeared for awhile.

"President Bush's re-election campaign is giving up $6,000 in campaign contributions connected to lobbyist Jack Abramoff..."

http://www.forbes.com/infoimaging/feeds/ap/2006/01/04/ap2427399.html

Donating it to a faith-based initiative, perhaps (like the GOP defense kitty).

Or that he wrote the screenplay to Red Scorpion?

1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful:-
One of the most touching movies ever made, 2 December 2001
Author: sickcritik (sickcritik@hotmail.com)

This awesome movie featuring one of my all-time favorite actor, Dolph Lundgren is simply the greatest actor of the 80s and 90s. He should have been doing some Andy Sidaris films with chicks like Julie Strain, Anna Nicole Smith or hardcore movies with Jenna Jameson. Well back to this Red Scorpion movie. The acting is excellent, all the scenes are well made. The only thing that this movie don't have is one good lead actress, just imagine how perfect this film would be with Jenna Jameson. Well, all the movie can't be as good as Dangerous Tides or Skyscraper. Here is the story thanks to SgtSP.

A Russian KGB agent is sent to Africa to kill an anti-Communist black revolutionary. However, he has a change of heart when he sees how the Russians and their Cuban allies are killing and repressing the locals, so he switches sides and helps the rebels.

Show audio should be here in a bit.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/afp/20060104/capt.sge.swy39.040106225737.photo00.photo.default-268x384.jpg?x=240&y=345&sig=R9vPGJRt6SxdUqh_VtBniQ--

The important part:

He ran for student council president at the Hawthorne School, a Beverly Hills elementary and middle school, in 1972. Heading into a runoff election, Abramoff was disqualified for exceeding the spending limit. The principal, Herbert recalled, penalized Abramoff for holding a party, stating it amounted to a campaign expenditure that pushed him over the limit.

Matt LaRocco tries to define the difference between a campaign contribution and a bribe. (Warren Olney is a star for the way he questions him.) I've heard a definition that has to do with explicit official acts. This is commonplace, but I finally realized what increasing partisanship means: everyone is looking after their own interests, so it's increasingly difficult to claim that a contribution is disinterested because there is no concept of the general good. Also, why are thousands of lobbyists needed to provide members of Congress with information on complicated issues? The Congressional Research Service should do this.

http://towleroad.typepad.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/kickback.jpg

-CJR Daily on the lack of coverage this week of this of how the guy actually was able to do what he could

-the Krugman column they mention

So I have a question for my colleagues in the news media: Why isn't the decision by the White House to stonewall on the largest corruption scandal since Warren Harding considered major news?

The investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a provocative new turn Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush.

"Mr. DeLay was also given a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is investigating an influence-peddling scandal involving the disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his dealings with lawmakers."

Irony is dead.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/rove_abramoff

Just under 6 years.

Whatever, maître Pangloss.

Daddino, you know, after visiting your website and having a good laugh, I must ask you the same question. :-D

Also, I really dig this look:

http://www.epicharmus.com/quad.gif

It screams, "I am smart, zany and I like to give the impression of humility." But, the only response comes from the crickets, who aren't talking to you, anyway.

Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff may be getting out of jail earlier than he expected, NBC News learned on Monday. A federal judge Monday granted the government's request for a new hearing to determine an appropriate reduction in Abramoff's sentence, a reward based on his continued cooperation with investigators in several federal probes.

Abramoff is currently serving a five-and-a-half-year sentence for his conviction in the Florida-based SunCruz Casinos gambling boat fraud case. In Miami, U.S. District Judge Paul Huck granted the request from prosecutors once they told him Abramoff's cooperation in the investigations is fully completed.

Just what he always wanted -- to be portrayed on the big screen by Kevin Spacey:

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/cj_1787.jpg

Maybe if its like "Hurly-Burly" Spacey...

Abramoff to Baltimore: what would you like on your pizza?

Former US lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was jailed on corruption charges in 2006, has landed a job in a kosher pizza restaurant.

Mr Abramoff was released into a halfway house in Baltimore two weeks ago after serving more than three years for fraud, corruption and conspiracy.

The halfway house arranged Mr Abramoff's new job.

The owner of the restaurant said he had hired halfway house residents before.

Mr Abramoff's crimes include a fraudulent deal to buy casino boats and conspiring to bribe public officials.

As a millionaire and lobbyist, his network reached deep into Washington's political establishment, and his investigation sent shockwaves through the city. It also sparked off a wide-ranging public corruption probe.

As part of his plea deal, Mr Abramoff provided information to the Justice Department that helped convict a member of Congress for taking bribes.

A former Deputy Secretary of the Interior appointed by President George W Bush - J Steven Griles - was the highest level administration official convicted.

Mr Abramoff is expected to be released from the halfway house in December.