Nearly two years later, Abramoff's legal troubles appear to threaten the careers of many of his colleagues and political allies. Sources familiar with the Justice Department investigation say that half a dozen lawmakers are under scrutiny, along with Hill aides, former business associates and government officials. Two of Abramoff's former business partners -- Scanlon and Kidan -- have pleaded guilty and have agreed to testify about bribery and fraud in Florida and Washington. Three men have been arrested in the Boulis killing. Two of the three were Kidan's associates; one of them is known to law enforcement as an associate of the Gambino crime family. Another former Abramoff associate, David H. Safavian -- most recently head of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget -- has been indicted on five felony counts of lying to federal investigators about his dealings with Abramoff while he was chief of staff at the General Services Administration. Within the past year, Abramoff began selling off assets such as his restaurants and has told his lawyers he is broke. He faces the possibility of lengthy prison sentences and stiff financial penalties that could be reduced if he cooperates. All these developments have added to the pressure on Abramoff to reach his own deal before the SunCruz trial begins on Jan. 9. Alan K. Simpson (R), the former Wyoming senator who was in Washington during the last big congressional scandal -- the Abscam FBI sting in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which six House members and one senator were convicted -- said the Abramoff case looks bigger. Simpson said he recently rode in a plane with one of Abramoff's attorneys, who told him: "There are going to be guys in your former line of work who are going to be taken down." Dozens of lawmakers -- who were showered with trips, sports and concert tickets, drinks and dinners -- are returning campaign contributions from Abramoff and his clients and calling him a fraud and a crook. Burns, one of half a dozen legislators under scrutiny by the federal Abramoff task force, returned $150,000 in campaign contributions this month. "This Abramoff guy is a bad guy," Burns told a Montana television station. "I hope he goes to jail and we never see him again. I wish he'd never been born, to be right honest with you." Former Republican congressman Mickey Edwards (Okla.), usually a defender of lobbying and Congress, said there have always been members who get caught "stuffing money in their pants." But he said this is different -- a "disgusting" and disturbingly broad scandal driven by lobbyists whose attitude seemed to be "government to the highest bidder." "This is at a scale that is really shocking," said Edwards, who teaches public and international affairs at Princeton. "There is a certain kind of arrogance that in the past you might not have had. They were so supremely confident that there didn't seem to be any kind of moral compass here." post
another story from the post today. The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Lobbyist
BREAKING NEWS Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a close associate of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, to plead guilty to corruption, other charges, source tells CNN. Developing...
I'd hit it! How they got caught... After lobbyist broke off engagement, ex-fiancee told of illicit dealings to FBI Michael Scanlon found himself at the center of one of the biggest political scandals in Washington history as a result of cheating and lying—but not the type involving the numerous clients he was paid to lobby Congress for, former coworkers and friends of his ex-fiancee say. Scanlon was implicated in the Abramoff scandal by his former thirtysomething fiancee, Emily J. Miller, whom he met in the late 1990s while working as communications director for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), three former associates who worked with Scanlon at DeLay’s office said. Colleagues say Miller went to the FBI after Scanlon broke off their engagement and announced his intention to marry another woman. Miller did not return a call seeking comment. Scanlon’s attorney, Stephen Braga, did not respond to phone calls or emails seeking comment. Former coworkers of Scanlon and Miller at DeLay’s office and of Miller at the State Department would speak only under condition of anonymity, saying they did not want to be called as witnesses in a trial. Miller was DeLay’s young press secretary and as communications director, Scanlon was her boss. The two began a secretive office romance and Scanlon eventually proposed marriage, associates say. In 2003, Miller left DeLay’s office to work at the State Department. Scanlon departed too, partnering with now-indicted conservative lobbyist Jack Abramoff in lobbying for an array of Indian tribes. As Scanlon’s star rose, troubles between the couple mushroomed. In May 2004, Miller found herself at the center of attention when—while live on air—she ordered a cameraman for NBC’s Meet the Press to stop filming Colin Powell. A copy of the transcript shows Miller, who also used to work as an NBC staffer, as a brusque press aide. Powell eventually ordered that the interview continue and asked Miller to step aside. What many people didn’t realize at the time, however, is that during the Powell interview Miller was upset because her fiancee, Michael Scanlon, had broken off their engagement, two of Miller’s former State Department co-workers said. While still engaged to Miller, Scanlon had started an affair with a manicurist and broke up with Miller because he planned to marry the other woman, three of Scanlon’s former associates at DeLay’s office said. They added that the two had numerous public arguments. But Miller had something on Scanlon. He confided in her all of his dealings with Abramoff, former colleagues said. She saw his emails and knew the intimate details of his lobbying work—work which is now the center of a criminal fraud investigation. After the breakup, Miller went to the FBI and told them everything about Scanlon’s dealings with Abramoff, her coworkers added. In turning him in, she became the agency’s star witness against her former lover. Scanlon pled guilty in November and is cooperating with prosecutors; Abramoff reached a plea agreement today. Scanlon's former colleagues did not speak warmly of him, saying he was not a very likable person because of the way he treated others, and that he later became flamboyant with his newfound wealth. Aside from the Powell interview, Miller also attracted attention after berating a Washington Post Magazine reporter. In 2001, while Miller was working as press secretary to DeLay she told a reporter who was writing a profile about DeLay. "You lied! . . . You betrayed him! You twisted his words! . . . We don't know you. You don't exist. . . . You are dead to us." A DeLay spokesman told the Post at the time, "Tom thinks Emily did a fine job for him." http://rawstory.com/news/2005/How_Jack_Abramoff_and_Michael_Scanlon_0103.html
I guess the true moral of this story is.....if you're going to ask a woman to marry you, you'd better be damn serious and follow through!!!!
dude. if the democrats can't capitalize on all this crap i will never vote for them after 06 ever again.
Well...like they say in Texas... She just needs to broken down like a shotgun. insane man is right though. This needs to be hammered hard by the democrats this year. "The culture of corruption" has a good, ominous ring to it. From Abramoff to Delay to the administration; it should be a rallying cry for the mid terms. Every speech given by a democrat this year should have this as a theme.
I hope this turns into a bloodbath. Maybe people will start seeing campaign "contributions" for what they really are - bribes. I couldn't care less whether Democrats or Republicans or both get slammed over this, as long as they really get hit hard. If this just gets swept under the rug, a few hand-slaps and a "no more bribes for you!" load of bull, that will be all the proof anyone should need to see that the corruption has penetrated so far into government that it will never be reversed peacefully.
Amen! Let the chips fall where they may! I've read that Reid might even be touched. I would love to hear a reasonable debate here about banning lobbying of any kind in Washington.
I doubt they can with much verocity- I'm sure there are "lobbyists" who are guilty of doing the same within democratic circles also. Probably not as much. But the dems probably can't use the "culture of corruption" wedge unless none of them get prosecuted. On the other hand, what am I saying? Does it have to be true to stick? How many times do repubs just repeat some nonsense ad nauseum until the rest of America does it? Even if the hypocrisy is blatant and directly pointed out to them, they just deny it and keep repeating. If the tables were turned, the repubs would jump all over it, take the catchphrase and repeat it at every possible opportunity and the takling heads and dittoheads would all join in. But I suppose I shouldn't trumpet the strategies of a party that's about to take some losses.
perception is reality my friend. it isn't like anyone really knows how stuff goes down in DC. as long as you package it right. i can't lie. i want a karl rove on our side. and one of reids aids worked for abramoff. but aside from that its pretty much all republicans. and in the last 3-4 years abramoff gave over a 100k personally to republicans and NOTHING to democrats. sure there might be a couple democrats involved but overall this is a republican nightmare. the procrurement officer. frist, delay, cunningham, abramoff etc. its a republican nightmare. and frankly even if the democrats did do some underhanded stuff...given the lack of a third party its moot. when the party in power is so involved in corruption you have to give the other party a chance. the downfall of two party system.
The Democrats were also corrupt when they were in power, but the Republicans have taken things to a new level. I hope as many rotten apples as possible fall off the tree and the public wakes up to how bad things are.
That's a good point, but, who has had the power in Washington for the last 10 years? Republicans for the most part. What is for sale in washington? Power and access.
