Delay, Abramoff: Corruption Update

Leadership Gone, DeLay Faces New Probe
By Anne E. Kornblut and Glen Justice
The New York Times & t r u t h o u t

Having secured a guilty plea from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, prosecutors are entering a new phase of the corruption investigation in Washington and are focusing on a lobbying firm that has even closer ties to Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, who is under legal scrutiny in the scandal.

Dems Charge GOP Has Corrupted Congress
Yahoo! News

"Lobbyists are now writing the bills passed by Congress. They have infiltrated every aspect of our government. Their money and donations shape the opinions of corrupt lawmakers in a way that public opinion no longer does."

Rolling Stone : Corruption and the College Republican

"So Jack Abramoff is now a confessed criminal, a corrupter of congress, a man who's decision to turn state's witness now threatens the careers of as many as 60 senators and representatives. All of which begs the question: How did Jack Abramoff become Jack Abramoff?"

DeLay Blocked Federal Investigation of Crony
A Donor Who Had Big Allies
By Richard A. Serrano and Stephen Braun
The Los Angeles Times & t r u t h o u t

In a case that echoes the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, two Northern California Republican congressmen teamed up with disgraced Congressman Tom DeLay to use their official positions to try to stop a federal investigation of a wealthy Texas businessman who provided them with political contributions.

Abramoff and His Vanishing Friends
By E.J. Dionne Jr.
The Washington Post

E.J. Dionne Jr. writes that Abramoff, who used to pal around with close Bush allies Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed in the College Republicans, and who has been a central figure in the rise of Republican dominance in Washington, is not a lone wolf.

Tyco Acknowledges $1.6M Link to Abramoff
Associated Press
New York Times & t r u t h o u t

Tyco International, whose former CEO became a symbol of corporate corruption, acknowledged Thursday it is the Jack Abramoff client referred to as "Company A" in court documents describing the lobbyist's scheme to funnel millions of dollars in lobbying fees to himself.

Abramoff , The GOP Corruption Machine & What Dems Need to Do
By Katrina vanden Heuvel
The Nation

Katrina vanden Heuvel: It didn't take Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty plea to three felony counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion to understand that the scale of corruption in the GOP-dominated Congress had risen to obscene heights. What is to be done? Take a lesson from the good Senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold who, last July, launched a crackdown on government corruption.

'DeLay Inc.' Lobbying Firm Has Links to Three Capital Scandals
Bloomberg.com & t r u t h o u t

Representative Tom DeLay's campaign to get Republicans to dominate Washington lobbying may have worked too well for Alexander Strategy Group. The firm has links to no fewer than three of the scandals convulsing the US capital.

Lobbyist Abramoff's 'Equal Money' Went Mostly to Republicans
By Kristin Jensen and Jonathan D. Salant
Bloomberg.com & t r u t h o u t

US President George W. Bush calls indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff "an equal money dispenser" who helped politicians of both parties. Campaign donation records show Republicans were a lot more equal than Democrats. Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show. At the same time, his Indian clients were the only ones among the top 10 tribal donors in the US to donate more money to Republicans than Democrats.