Tom Delay,hypocrite with no bounds......

[conjur]

DeLay Tries, Without Much Success, to Duck the Media Pack
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...rticle/2005/05/04/AR2005050402186.html

Tom DeLay sneaks around the Capitol like a fugitive these days, using back doors and basement passages to avoid television cameras. He skips meetings where reporters might get a chance to film his answers to their questions. He makes unscheduled appearances so he won't attract a media mob and disrupt colleagues' events.

And it still doesn't work.

At 11 yesterday morning, the House majority leader made an unannounced stop at a meeting of a high-tech group. But word got out, and a score of reporters, producers, photographers, cameramen and sound men with boom microphones were there to greet him. When he left midway through the meeting, the pack chased him down a hall and up the stairs, shouting questions about the House ethics committee, which may investigate him, and prosecutor Ronnie Earle in Austin, who already is.

"Earle says you're America's problem," a questioner shouted. "What do you say to that?"

DeLay said nothing to that. He scrambled through a crowd of tourists -- one of whom filmed the pack as it chased the Texas Republican -- and disappeared into the unmarked back door to his office. It was another routine morning for the former exterminator who is now the most hunted man in Congress.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:



Run, Tommy, Run!

 

[conjur]

DeLay Calls for Greater Humility :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...rticle/2005/05/05/AR2005050501547.html

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) delivered an emotional homily yesterday on the need for greater humility in public servants, declaring himself a sinner before a largely Christian audience and warning that pride has brought down leaders throughout history.

"Just think of what we could accomplish if we checked our pride at the door, if collectively we all spent less time taking credit and more time deserving it," DeLay told the 54th annual National Day of Prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. "If we spent less time ducking responsibility and more time welcoming it. If we spent less time on our soapboxes and more time on our knees."

DeLay drew appreciative smiles when he added, "For in God, all things are possible, ladies and gentlemen. And even greatness from lowly sinners like you and me -- especially me."

Mods? We REALLY need the : puke; icon!!

 

[arsbanned]

Repent Mr. DeLay, repent!

 

[CaptnKirk]

Saint Tom, the Pure

Register and read:

<Small Clip>

"This is starting to smell more like criminal activity ? trading congressional appropriations for votes," said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez). A longtime critic of Abramoff and DeLay's activities in the Pacific island territories, Miller renewed his recent call for an investigation of Abramoff by the House Resources Committee that oversees the region.

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Saint Tom, the Pure

Register and read:

<Small Clip>

"This is starting to smell more like criminal activity ? trading congressional appropriations for votes," said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez). A longtime critic of Abramoff and DeLay's activities in the Pacific island territories, Miller renewed his recent call for an investigation of Abramoff by the House Resources Committee that oversees the region.

No! The Jimmy Swaggart performance he gave the other day was a farce you say? He really is guilty? I can't believe it!

 

[conjur]

In attendance at last night's ass-kiss fest for DeLay: gay whore JimmyJeff.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/TheNote/story?id=156238


I wonder if he gave DeLay a special donation after the dinner?

 

[conjur]

Judge Rules Against DeLay Group Official
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050526/ap_on_go_co/delay_committee_lawsuit

AUSTIN, Texas - The treasurer of a political committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay violated Texas election code by not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, a judge ruled Thursday in a civil case brought by Democratic candidates.

State District Judge Joe Hart, in a letter outlining his ruling to attorneys in the case, said the money, much of it corporate contributions, should have been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission.

The ruling means Bill Ceverha, treasurer of the group, called the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, will have to pay nearly $200,000. It will be divided among those who brought the suit against Ceverha, five Democratic candidates who lost legislative races in 2002.

The Democrats who sued TRMPAC claimed Ceverha violated the state election law, designed to keep elections free from "the taint of corporate cash."

The Democrats alleged that some $600,000 in corporate money was illegally used to influence Texas House races in 2002, the year Republicans won control of the House for the first time in 130 years.

Ceverha's lawyers argued in court that the group operated legally despite the confusion of state campaign funding laws.

Corporate money can be used by political action committees for administrative purposes in Texas, but it's illegal to use it for direct campaign expenses. But Hart's ruling dealt with the election code reporting requirements, rather than the law governing how the money was spent.

Terry Scarborough, a defense lawyer for the committee, said the case was more about Democrats' anger over losing than about the actions of DeLay or of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had sought to tie both men to the activities of the political committee, run by DeLay associates.

The civil case is separate from a separate criminal investigation into 2002 election spending being conducted by a Travis County grand jury. Three of DeLay's top fund-raisers and eight corporations were indicted in September.

DeLay has not been charged with any crime and had congressional immunity from being forced to testify in the civil lawsuit. Ceverha also has not been charged in the criminal case.

Corporate money was spent on such expenses as political research, polling, mailing, fund-raising and conferences, the plaintiffs alleged.

The defendants contended all corporate money was legally spent on administrative purposes.

Hart, in his letter, said the expenditures were made "in connection with a campaign for an elective office" and fit within the statutory definition of "campaign expenditure."

The 2002 legislative victories propelled Craddick, the longest-serving House member, to the speaker's post.

Later, Craddick and DeLay pushed a redistricting bill through the Legislature that ultimately gave the GOP a commanding advantage in the state's congressional delegation and therefore a wider lead in the House as a whole.

Also, RawStory reporting:

FORMER REP. WHO FILED SUCCESSFUL ETHICS COMPLAINT AGAINST DELAY LAST YEAR TELLS RAW STORY, 'THE WEB IS GETTING BIGGER'... SOON...

Burn, baby, burn!

 

[conjur]

Energy Co. Paid $25,000 for DeLay Meeting
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u...050707/ap_on_re_us/delay_fundraising_1

AUSTIN, Texas - A Kansas energy company said it donated $25,000 so that it could attend a golf outing with U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay to try to influence pending energy legislation.

The admission from Topeka, Kan.-based Westar Energy marks the first time a company has publicly admitted to donating to DeLay's political action committee in exchange for a meeting and possible legislative help.

In court documents obtained by The Dallas Morning News, Westar officials said after they made the donation, two company executives attended a June 2002 golf outing with DeLay and two top aides at The Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va.

Former DeLay aide Drew Maloney said DeLay's staff did not require that donations be given in exchange for access. The company claims it sent the money to talk with DeLay about getting an exemption in federal law, but not to affect legislative elections in Texas.

We haven't forgotten about you, TommyBoy!

 

[conjur]

Grand jury re-indicts two in corporate money case
Travis DA says it's a technical fix; defense says it reveals faulty indictment.
http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/elxpacs/8trmpac.html

A Travis County grand jury on Thursday re-indicted two officials with Texans for a Republican Majority on money-laundering charges to fix language in last fall's original indictments.

A separate grand jury in September had accused John Colyandro and Jim Ellis of laundering $190,000 in corporate money through the Republican National Committee, which, in turn, donated money to GOP House candidates in Texas during the 2002 elections. State law generally prohibits corporate or union money from being spent on campaign activity.

The old indictments, however, referred to the check sent from Austin to Washington, D.C., while the new charges refer to the "funds" in the Texas political committee's bank accounts. The state's money-laundering law refers to funds, but does not specifically mention checks.

Good. We don't need these bastards getting off due to a technicality.

 

[conjur]

Propagandist removed prosecutor from Abramoff case in 2002


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld...5281180.story?coll=la-headlines-nation

WASHINGTON ? A U.S. grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after.

The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in Washington that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.

In Guam, an American territory in the Pacific, investigators were looking into Abramoff's secret arrangement with Superior Court officials to lobby against a court revision bill then pending in the U.S. Congress. The legislation, since approved, gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court.

In 2002, Abramoff was retained by the Superior Court in what was an unusual arrangement for a public agency. The Times reported in May that Abramoff was paid with a series of $9,000 checks funneled through a Laguna Beach lawyer to disguise the lobbyist's role working for the Guam court. No separate contract was authorized for Abramoff's work.

Guam court officials have not explained the contractual arrangement. At the time, Abramoff was a well-known lobbyist in the Pacific islands because of his work for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas garment manufacturers, accused of employing workers in sweatshop conditions.

Abramoff spokesman Andrew Blum said the lobbyist "has no recollection of his being investigated in Guam in 2002. If he had been aware of an investigation, he would have cooperated fully." Blum declined to respond to detailed questions.

The transactions were the target of a grand jury subpoena issued Nov. 18, 2002, according to a copy obtained by The Times. The subpoena demanded that Anthony Sanchez, administrative director of the Guam Superior Court, release records involving the lobbying contract, including bills and payments.

A day later, the chief prosecutor, U.S. Atty. Frederick A. Black, who had launched the investigation, was demoted. A White House news release announced that Bush was replacing Black.

The timing caught some by surprise. Despite his officially temporary status, Black had held the acting U.S. attorney assignment for more than a decade.

The acting U.S. attorney was a controversial official in Guam. At the time he was removed, Black was directing a long-term investigation into allegations of public corruption in the administration of then-Gov. Carl Gutierrez. The inquiry produced numerous indictments, including some of the governor's political associates and top aides.

Black also arranged for a security review in the aftermath of Sept. 11 that was seen as a potential threat to loose immigration rules favored by local business leaders. In fact, the study ordered by Black eventually cited substantial security risks in Guam and the Northern Marianas.

Abramoff, who then represented the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, alerted his clients in a memo about the expected report and warned: "It will require some major action from the Hill and a press attack to get this back in the bottle."

The lobbyist also wrote that he and his aides expected to meet in the near future with Justice Department officials, according to Abramoff billing documents released this year by the Marianas government.

A Justice Department spokesman previously dismissed Abramoff's references to meetings with high level department officials as "a lot of bluster to impress a client."

Abramoff also sought expanded lobbying business with the Pacific island governments.

A lawyer for Gutierrez discussed hiring Abramoff to represent Guam's territorial government in 2002 before the grand jury inquiry began. The discussions were held at Abramoff-owned Signature's Restaurant here, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting. They provided details on condition of anonymity.

The federal grand jury in Guam took no further action after the initial subpoena was issued in the Abramoff case, according to sources familiar with the inquiry who spoke on condition of anonymity. Three weeks after the subpoena was issued, about 100 pages of documents related to the court-revision lobbying effort were turned over to FBI agents investigating the case, records show.

This year, Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks initiated a separate investigation of Abramoff's secret lobbying work for the Guam courts.

The auditor's office is reviewing Abramoff's payments totaling $324,000 in 36 separate checks for $9,000 paid through lawyer Howard Hills of Laguna Beach. Hills said he was a middleman.

The new Guam inquiry remains open.

Black, 56, had served as acting U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana islands since 1991.

The career prosecutor, who had held a senior position as first assistant before accepting the acting U.S. attorney job, was demoted to a staff post. Black's demotion came after an intensive lobbying effort by supporters of Gov. Gutierrez, who had been publicly critical of Black and his investigative efforts.

Black declined to comment for this article.

Black's successor, Leonardo Rapadas, was confirmed in May 2003 without any debate. Rapadas had been recommended by the Guam Republican Party for the job. Fred Radewagen, a lobbyist who had been under contract to the Gutierrez administration, said he carried that recommendation to top Bush aide Karl Rove in early 2003.

After taking office, Rapadas recused himself from the ongoing public corruption case involving Gutierrez. The new U.S. attorney was a cousin of "one of the main targets," according to a confidential memo to Justice Department officials.

Rapadas declined to comment and referred questions about his recusal to Justice Department officials, who did not respond to requests for comment.

Erin Healy, a Bush spokeswoman, would not comment on the recusal but defended Rapadas' appointment, saying that he was "well known and well respected" and had served for more than a decade as an assistant attorney general in the Guam government.

Abramoff is now the subject of Senate and federal grand jury inquiries related to his dealings with Indian tribes. He also has drawn controversy for his role in arranging foreign trips for congressional leaders, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Well, well, well....

 

[conjur]

FEC Finds Misreporting by DeLay Committe
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...cle/2005/08/11/AR2005081100800_pf.html

WASHINGTON -- A federal audit of a political fundraising committee founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay found that it failed to report more than $300,000 in debts owed to vendors and incorrectly paid for some committee activities with money from another DeLay-connected political committee.

The Federal Election Commission's report didn't indicate whether it would pursue enforcement action against Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee.

ARMPAC's executive director, Jim Ellis, was indicted in Texas in connection with a separate DeLay-connected committee, Texans for a Republican Majority. In that case, Ellis is charged with money laundering and accepting illegal political contributions for state legislative campaigns. DeLay has not been accused of any wrongdoing in the case.

DeLay also has been mired in controversy over his connection to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose work for several Indian tribes is under federal investigation.

The FEC's audit of ARMPAC was posted Thursday on the Web site of PoliticalMoneyLine.com, which tracks political fundraising and spending. The audit's contents were made available earlier to ARMPAC officials, who filed corrected reports on contributions and spending in May and June.

A spokesman for DeLay's office referred calls to ARMPAC. Attorneys for DeLay could not be immediately reached.

The FEC found that ARMPAC misreported receipts and the ending cash balance for 2001 activities and the beginning cash-on-hand, receipts, disbursements and ending cash-on-hand for 2002.

ARMPAC also failed to report $322,306 owed to 25 vendors. ARMPAC disclosed the debts in amended reports, the FEC said.

ARMPAC's state, non-federal arm paid some expenses and costs for events and activities that should have been paid by ARMPAC, the report said. ARMPAC representatives are reviewing that portion of the audit and understand "a payment from the federal account to the non-federal account may be required," the FEC said.

No! I don't believe it!

No way! Honest Tom??

 

[conjur]

First:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=52&threadid=1684091&enterthread=y


Then this

Bush Management and Budget Procurement chief arrested after quitting
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Bush_Mana...udget_Procurement_chief_arre_0919.html


And now this:

Email from arrested White House official suggests powerful congressman lied about trip
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Email_fro...erful_congressman_lied_about_0920.html

WASHINGTON -- News of David Safavian's arrest Monday ricocheted through the Washington political scene like a gunshot.

Safavian, 38, who oversaw $300 billion in federal procurement for President George W. Bush, quit Friday after an FBI operation alleged he obstructed an investigation and tried to finagle a government deal for a friend. He was appointed in 2004.

Yet what is most significant about Safavian's case isn't Safavian himself. It?s the fact that he was arrested?and that emails he sent to conservative superlobbyist Jack Abramoff indicated that those on the trip knew that a trip to Scotland in 2002 was being paid for by the lobbyist.

An email sent by Safavian appears to indicate that the powerful Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) lied when he said he was "duped" by Abramoff and lied again on financial disclosure forms when he said that a nonprofit had paid for the trip, RAW STORY has found.

Click to view affidavit obtained by RAW STORY

"I (along with [two] members of Congress and a few Congressional staff) have been invited by a friend and former colleague on a trip to Scotland to play golf for four days," Safavian wrote in an email to his government employer, seeking permission to go on the trip.

"The host of the trip is chartering a private jet to take the eight of us from BWI to Scottland [sic] and back. He is paying the cost of the aircraft regardless whether I go or not. In fact, none of the other guest [sic] will be paying a proportional share of the aircraft costs."

"The host is a lawyer and a lobbyist? he does all his work on Capitol Hill."

Nowhere in Safavian's email does he reference the National Center, which those involved said had paid for the trip. The email states that Abramoff personally extended invitations.

Ney, however, made up another patron.

His filings assert that the six-day $3,200 junket from Washington, to Scotland, and then on to London, was paid for by the Center. The visit was described on travel forms as ?Speech to Scottish parliamentarian; attend Edinburgh Military tattoo; visit British Parliament.?

His office told the New York Times that Abramoff had assured him the Center had footed the bill. He did not return a RAW STORY call seeking comment.

Amy Ridenour, the Center's director, told a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing in June that she knew nothing about the trip.

?The second golf trip is something on which I will be able to provide no information other than the fact that we don't know anything about it,? Ridenour said.

Ridenour?s comments further suggest Ney knowingly falsified the sponsor of the trip on financial disclosure forms.

After the trip, Abramoff sent an e-mail to a senior tribal official of the Texas Tigua tribe, which had been asked to foot half the bill. He said Ney ?had a great time and is very grateful but is not going to mention the trip to Scotland for obvious reasons. He said he'll show his thanks in other ways, which is what we want."

The Ohio congressman told the Times that Abramoff was lying.

Abramoff directed the tribe to contribute $32,000 to Ney in 2002, just days after Ney took steps to sponsor legislation sought by the tribe. The lobbyist hired Ney?s chief of staff Neil Volz earlier that year.

Volz, along with two of the congressman?s current aides, took Abramoff?s chartered jet on the same trip. They were joined by Christian Coalition wunderkind Ralph Reed and Ney contributor Adam Kidan.

Kidan bought the Florida-based gambling cruise line Suncruz, in 2000, after Ney inserted statements critical of the line?s previous owner into the congressional record. The previous owner was later killed in a gangland-style murder while driving through a quiet Fort Lauderdale street in his BMW.

The case remains unsolved.

When the Tigua delegation met with Ney shortly after the Scotland trip, the Tigua's leader told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the congressman said, "I want to thank you ? I had a great time. You all were so generous."

Accountability? Ethics? Pfffft

 

[CaptnKirk]

There is a serious flaw in the way our 'alledged' government works - when the same group of GOP Polititians get to be so manipulative.

James Trafficant must be upset - he just wasn't a big enough crook.

There's still way too much political manipulation going on to keep DeLay clean, this is now within the Whithouse to it's staff.

 

[conjur]

Saw something the other day that Democrats, in general, are leading the initial thoughts of voters in 2006. We really need a split Congress at the very least right now. One-party rule is bad...dangerously bad...for America.

 

[conjur]

Abramoff Probe May Threaten Leading Republicans as It Expands
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=IN7A1S0UQVI9

Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The widening investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff is moving beyond the confines of tawdry influence-peddling to threaten leading figures in the Republican hierarchy that dominates Washington.

This week's arrest of David Safavian, the former head of procurement at the Office of Management and Budget, in connection with a land deal involving Abramoff brings the probe to the White House for the first time.

Safavian once worked with Abramoff at one lobbying firm and was a partner of Grover Norquist, a national Republican strategist with close ties to the White House, at another. Safavian traveled to Scotland in 2002 with Abramoff, Representative Robert Ney of Ohio and another top Republican organizer, Ralph Reed, southeast regional head of President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who once called Abramoff ``one of my closest and dearest friends,'' already figures prominently in the investigation of the lobbyist's links to Republicans. The probe may singe other lawmakers with ties to Abramoff, such as Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana, as well as Ney.

``These people all shared transactions together,'' said former House Democratic counsel Stan Brand, now a partner in the Washington-based Brand Law Group. ``That's always something that worries defense lawyers.''

Nervous Republicans

Some Republicans acknowledge they are nervous. ``Sure there's a concern,'' said former Representative Jack Quinn of New York, who's now president of Cassidy & Associates, a Washington lobbying firm. ``But like everyone else, we have to wait and see where the investigation goes.''

Abramoff, 46, a top fund-raiser for Bush's re-election campaign, is under investigation by a government task force consisting of the Justice Department's public integrity section, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Interior Department's inspector general. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is conducting another inquiry.

Safavian, 38, who in the 1990s worked with Abramoff at the Washington-based lobbying firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, was charged Sept. 19 by the Justice Department with making false statements about whether he had any dealings with the lobbyist in the course of Abramoff's attempts to obtain government land. He was also charged with obstructing an investigation. His lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, told the Washington Post he would vigorously contest the charges.

Safavian took the Scotland trip three years ago aboard a chartered jet. Abramoff was paying for the plane, Safavian said in an e-mail to the ethics office of his employer at the time, the U.S. General Services Administration.

Abramoff's Network

Abramoff's web of connections runs deep in the Republican Party. DeLay, 58, has participated in at least three overseas trips he sponsored; Democrats have demanded that the House ethics committee investigate whether DeLay violated House rules prohibiting lawmakers from accepting trips financed by lobbyists.

One of those trips was to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory. DeLay has opposed legislation requiring the Marianas to follow U.S. minimum wage and labor laws. Abramoff was lobbying for the Marianas at the time.

Two former DeLay aides, spokesman Michael Scanlon and deputy chief of staff William Jarrell, worked with Abramoff. Jarrell later was part of Bush's transition team focusing on the Interior Department, the parent agency for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, at a time when Abramoff was representing casino-owning tribes. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is investigating Abramoff's and Scanlon's work for the tribes.

Diverted Funds

Abramoff diverted funds paid to him by Indian tribe clients that were supposed to be used on lobbying activities to a variety of personal projects, according to testimony and e-mails released at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing. The personal projects ranged from an Orthodox Jewish academy to an Israeli sniper school; some money also went to pay off a personal debt, according to the testimony and e-mails.

Abramoff and Scanlon took in more than $66 million in fees from 2001 to 2004 from tribal clients, according to Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who chairs the Indian affairs panel. In one e-mail released by the Senate committee, Abramoff wrote to Scanlon, ``I have to meet with the monkeys from the Choctaw tribal counsel.''

Abramoff also has a relationship with Ney, the Ohio congressman. Ney's former chief of staff, Neil Volz, worked with Abramoff at the Miami-based law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP.

Reopening a Casino

Ney, 51, in 2002 agreed to insert language in federal legislation to allow an Abramoff client, the Tigua Indians of El Paso, Texas, to reopen a casino closed by state authorities. The provision didn't make it into the final measure.

In 2000, Ney placed two statements in the Congressional Record in support of Abramoff's purchase of SunCruz Casino Ltd., a casino ship company. Abramoff was indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in August on wire fraud charges in connection with the purchase.

Burns, 70, who is up for re-election in 2006, has been the subject of an advertising campaign by the Montana Democratic Party criticizing him for receiving $136,500 in donations from Indian tribe clients of Abramoff and Scanlon from 2001 to 2004. Burns in 2003 pushed for a wealthy Michigan Indian tribe, one of Abramoff's clients, to receive a $3 million federal grant.

Two former aides of Burns, Will Brooke and Shawn Vasell, went to work with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig.

Burns spokesman Grant Toomey said the request for the grant came from the Michigan congressional delegation.

An Offer to Meet

Ney spokesman Brian Walsh said, ``The congressman has sent two letters to the House ethics committee as far back as last year offering to meet with them. To date, there has been no response.'' Walsh said there have been no inquiries from the Justice Department ``on any matter related to Mr. Abramoff.''

DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said the majority leader has asked the ethics committee ``to look into everything in order to exonerate him.''

Norquist declined through a spokesman to comment. Reed didn't respond to a request for comment.

Ed Patru, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said Abramoff won't be an issue in next year's mid-term congressional elections. ``No member of Congress has ever been kicked out of office because of an allegation against another member or another lobbyist,'' Patru said. ``Democrats are trying to nationalize the 2006 elections. Their approach has been to throw everything up against the wall and hope something sticks.''

Gambling in Alabama

Abramoff's links to the party go beyond lawmakers. He worked with Reed, a former director of the Republican-oriented Christian Coalition, and Norquist to kill an effort to bring legalized gambling to Alabama.

At Abramoff's behest, one of his tribal clients, whose casino could have been hurt by the competition, sent money to Norquist's anti-tax group, Americans for Tax Reform, which in turn wrote a check to help Reed's effort.

One of Norquist's former partners in another venture was Safavian. The two men worked at Janus-Merritt Strategies LLC, a Washington lobbying firm that was later sold to a Richmond, Virginia-based law firm, Williams Mullen.

``Safavian is a small fish, but in combination with Abramoff and his ties to Norquist and DeLay, it presents a very inviting target to Democrats,'' said Ross Baker, a political scientist who studies congressional politics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

Safavian was one of three former Abramoff associates who joined the Bush administration. Another was Patrick Pizzella, assistant secretary of labor for administration and management. The third was Susan Ralston, special assistant to White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove.

Good, I'm glad they're nervous. The Democratic Party became corrupt with power and they were removed in the mid-90s but now the GOP has become the main party of corruption through absolute power. Time to smack them around.

 

[1EZduzit]

Who, who, who let the dogs out?

I hope they tear'em up good.

 

[conjur]

Aide Was Reticent on Lobbying for Foreign Clients
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...rticle/2005/09/21/AR2005092101496.html

David H. Safavian, the Bush administration official arrested Monday, initially failed to disclose lobbying work he had done for several controversial foreign clients when he went before a Senate panel last year to be confirmed as chief of the White House's federal procurement office.

The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee held up Safavian's nomination for more than a year, in part because of lawmakers' concerns about lobbying work for two men later accused of links to suspected terrorist organizations, according to committee documents. Safavian did not disclose his firm's representation of the men until questioned in writing by the committee's staff, and initially failed to tell the panel he had registered as a foreign agent for two controversial African regimes.

The Senate panel nevertheless approved him unanimously and the Senate followed suit on Nov. 21, 2004.

Safavian was arrested Monday on charges of lying and obstructing an investigation into former powerhouse lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with the federal government. Safavian resigned his government post Friday. His attorney, Barbara Van Gelder, said he would contest the charges vigorously. "I think this is a creative use of the criminal code in order to secure my client's cooperation in pending criminal investigations," she said.

Senate approval of Safavian occurred two months after The Washington Post disclosed Safavian's participation in an August 2002 Scotland golf trip with Abramoff. That trip was central to the criminal complaint against Safavian unsealed on Monday.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for committee chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) said the review of Safavian's background had been thorough.

"Based on our extensive review of his qualifications and background, we had no reason to believe that Mr. Safavian had engaged in any wrongdoing," said a spokeswoman for Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.), the committee's senior Democrat at the time of the vote.

The record of Safavian's confirmation shows extensive questioning by the committee staff about his alleged lobbying for local Muslim leader Abdurahman Alamoudi, who in October 2000 made widely publicized comments supporting Hezbollah and the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, at a rally in Lafayette Park.

Lobby disclosure forms originally filed by Safavian's firm, Janus-Merritt Strategies, show that it represented Alamoudi, a prominent Muslim activist, until 2001. Alamoudi has since been convicted and imprisoned for accepting money from the Libyan government as part of an alleged plot to assassinate the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

Janus-Merritt Strategies changed its lobby disclosure forms in 2001 to indicate that its client was not Alamoudi but Jamal Barzinji. In March 2002, Barzinji was named in a search warrant affidavit filed by a Customs Service official as "the officer or director" of a group of entities in Northern Virginia "controlled by individuals who have shown support for terrorists or terrorist fronts." No charges have been filed against Barzinji, and he has denied any wrongdoing.

Safavian told the committee in an April 16, 2004, letter that he and his firm never did any work for Alamoudi. He said the firm lobbied at Barzinji's request to gain U.S. support to free the former deputy prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, who was imprisoned for six years.

Safavian also told the committee that he had "overlooked" two other clients while preparing his initial submissions for the OMB position. He did not initially mention work as a registered foreign agent for Gabon, a country persistently rated by the United States as having a "poor" human rights record, or his work as a registered foreign agent for Pascal Lissouba, the former president of the Republic of Congo who has been tried in absentia for treason and embezzlement.

Safavian, former chief of staff at the General Services Administration, is charged with three counts of making false statements and obstructing a GSA investigation into his ties with Abramoff. Before joining the government, Safavian worked as a lobbyist with Abramoff, then founded Janus-Merritt Strategies with conservative antitax crusader Grover Norquist.

As a lobbyist, he represented the government of Pakistan on military sales matters and the Islamic Institute in an effort to promote a U.S. postage stamp commemorating Ramadan. With Abramoff, he also represented the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. protectorate, to try to block the imposition of minimum wage rules.

In its probe, the Senate committee also raised questions about a potential conflict of interest between Safavian and his wife, Jennifer, the chief counsel for oversight and investigations at the House Committee of Government Reform, which oversees federal procurement policy matters.

Safavian said his wife had pledged to recuse herself from "any matters where the conduct of officials and employees" at the Office of Management and Budget the principal issue, "as well as matters relating specifically to procurement policy, competitive sourcing, or information technology."

What's that saying about the company you keep?

 

[conjur]

Tyco Exec: Abramoff Claimed Ties to Administration
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...rticle/2005/09/22/AR2005092202204.html

Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bragged two years ago that he was in contact with White House political aide Karl Rove on behalf of a large, Bermuda-based corporation that wanted to avoid incurring some taxes and continue receiving federal contracts, according to a written statement by President Bush's nominee to be deputy attorney general.

Timothy E. Flanigan, general counsel for conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that Abramoff's lobbying firm initially boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fend off a special liability tax because he "had good relationships with members of Congress," including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Abramoff later said "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue, according to the statement by Flanigan, who oversaw Tyco's dealings with Abramoff and his firm and received reports from Abramoff about progress in the lobbying campaign. Flanigan's statement is the latest indication that Abramoff promoted himself as having ready access to senior officials in the Bush administration.

A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said Rove "has no recollection" of being contacted by Abramoff about Tyco's concerns.

Abramoff was indicted last month on unrelated wire fraud and conspiracy charges and has lost his high-stakes lobbying clients. He was hired in 2003 by Tyco when the company was in turmoil. Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig, promoted him as Tyco's savior on the tax issue, according to Flanigan's statement and others familiar with the process.

Tyco -- whose executive L. Dennis Kozlowski had just departed under an ethics cloud -- was worried that the Bush administration might embrace legislation promoted by Democrats that would impose higher taxes on domestic-centered companies that had moved offshore to cut their tax bills. The legislation was motivated by popular anger over such offshore moves, and carried the additional penalty of barring such firms from receiving federal contracts.

Lobbying disclosure statements filed by Abramoff listing his work for Tyco cite the "Executive Office of the President" as one of his lobbying targets on the tax and contracts issues. Others were the Department of Commerce, the General Services Administration and Congress. Greenberg Traurig records submitted to Tyco describe specific contacts with the White House legislative office, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Rove's personal assistant at the time, Susan Ralston, formerly worked as Abramoff's secretary. It could not be learned yesterday whether she was among those contacted by any of the 14-person Greenberg team recorded as working on the Tyco account.

The Bush administration was never enthusiastic about the tax penalty, but both the House and Senate approved language in 2002 denying federal contracts to companies largely based in the United States but incorporated in tax havens.

Tyco was among a raft of companies, including Ingersoll-Rand and Noble Corp., that hired an army of lobbyists to stall the legislation and ultimately kill most of it. House Republican leaders argued that corporate flight was merely a symptom of a much broader problem with the U.S. tax code that should be treated in a larger tax reform package.

Abramoff remains the focus of a lengthy investigation by a task force led by prosecutors at the Justice Department and including investigators at the Internal Revenue Service, the Interior Department and General Services Administration. The probe was initially focused on whether he bilked Native American tribes that paid him tens of millions of dollars in lobbying and other fees, but has since widened to include other matters.

Flanigan, who is still at Tyco while awaiting a committee vote on his nomination, said in his Sept. 15 written statement that he would "consult with DOJ ethics officials . . . and apply normal recusal standards" about the Justice Department's investigation of Abramoff.

Flanigan said he would recuse himself from any Abramoff investigation involving Tyco. Portions of his statement were first reported in the Los Angeles Times.

The ties between Tyco and Greenberg Traurig have already been investigated by a special counsel appointed by Greenberg to examine Abramoff's activities at the firm. According to knowledgeable sources and Flanigan's written statement, Greenberg has promised to repay three-quarters of a $2 million fee that Tyco paid, at Abramoff's direction, to a firm called Grassroots Interactive.

The fee was supposed to finance a letter-writing campaign by Tyco suppliers against the offshore tax bill, but Greenberg concluded that $1.5 million of it was "diverted to entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff" and misspent, according to Flanigan's statement.

Andrew Blum, a spokesman for Abramoff's law firm, declined to comment, as did Jill Perry, a spokeswoman for Greenberg Traurig.

No recollection Karl? BWA HA HA HA HA HA

Fvcking lying thieves they are.

 

[conjur]

New woes for Ney Sunday
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/New_woes_for_Ney_Sun_0924.html

An powerful Ohio congressman who has repeatedly been questioned for alleged ethical transgressions will face new scrutiny in an article Sunday.

Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) has drawn fire for his seeming involvement in affairs with Jack Abramoff, a fallen conservative superlobbyist who is now under indictment for deals made during his years pushing gambling. His former chief of staff also took up employment with Abramoff's lobbying entourage.

In 2002, Ney enjoyed a six-day junket with his former chief of staff, two aides, Abramoff, and a White House official who resigned last week and was arrested Monday for obstructing a federal investigation. Ralph Reed, the former boyish face of the conservative Christian movement, also played golf with the the team in Scotland.

He is also alleged to have known that the trip was paid for by a Texas Indian tribe who was trying to get their casino reopened.

In addition, he has faced attention for winning $32,000 on a $100 bet at a Scottish casino the following year.

The story is developing hard Sunday....

 

[conjur]

Here's that story, I reckon.


Newsweek catches congressman in another lie
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Newsweek_catches_congressman_in_ano_0925.html

Newsweek's Michael Isikoff catches powerful Ohio congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) in another lie about a trip he took with recently arrested ex-White House official David Safavian. The deal? He said he made the trip to speak to Scottish parliamentarians. The trouble? There's no record of him ever giving a speech -- and the parliament wasn't even in session.

RAW STORY revealed another apparent lie the congressman made about who paid for the trip earlier in the week: an email from Safavian indicates that Ney knew that fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff was footing the bill for the junket.

Excerpts from Newsweek follow. Full article here.

#

David Safavian wasn't expecting visitors. A relatively senior White House official?he oversaw federal contracts for the Office of Management and Budget?the 38-year-old Safavian had been working around the clock on Katrina relief. But at 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, a team of FBI agents showed up at his house and arrested him. The Feds wanted to know if Safavian would be willing to cooperate in an ongoing corruption probe surrounding his friend, lobbyist Jack Abramoff. According to Safavian's lawyer, no deal was struck. Safavian was then charged with lying to the FBI and obstructing an investigation.

Safavian, it turns out, isn't the only one who could get tripped up by Abramoff's golfing jaunt. According to a cache of Abramoff's e-mails released last year, the lobbyist planned the trip as a favor for Ohio Rep. Robert Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee. In a June 2002 e-mail to one of his Indian-casino clients, Abramoff noted that "our friend [Ney]" had "asked if we could help (as in cover) a Scotland golf trip for him and some staff." At the time, Ney had agreed to back legislation that would help Abramoff's client, the Tigua tribe of Texas, to reopen a casino. It is against House ethics rules for members to take trips paid for by lobbyists. On a House disclosure form, Ney reported that the Scotland trip was sponsored by a conservative think tank, and that its "official" purpose included giving a "speech to Scottish Parliamentarians" and visiting the British Parliament during a London stopover.

But the Feds' complaint against Safavian says it was Abramoff, not the think tank, that arranged the outing, which is referred to only as a "golf trip." And other records reviewed by NEWSWEEK raise further questions about Ney's account. An "external liaison" registry of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh shows that other members of the U.S. Congress visited that month. But there is no record of Ney's doing so. In fact, the Parliament was in recess when Ney was in Scotland, so "there is no way" he could have addressed the body, said Sally Coyne, a Parliament spokeswoman. A press officer for the House of Commons in London said the British Parliament was also in recess.

Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said that the congressman "wasn't giving a formal speech." Ney "met with a number of folks over there. I don't have any names." Ney has also said that it was Abramoff who told him the trip was being sponsored by the think tank. Walsh added that Ney has offered to review the matter with the House ethics committee. But if Safavian is any indication, the Feds, who haven't yet turned public attention on Ney or other members of Congress, may not be willing to wait much longer.

 

[conjur]

Ex-DeLay Aide Pleads Guilty in Conspiracy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/lobbyist_tribes

WASHINGTON - Michael Scanlon, a former partner to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials, a charge growing out of the government investigation of attempts to defraud Indian tribes and corrupt a member of Congress.

Scanlon's going to sing on Abramoff who will likely turn around and sing on DeLay.

Better get used to civilian life, Bugman. The prosecutor's gonna be comin' for you.

 

[CaptnKirk]

and on, and on, and on . . .

 

[conjur]

Appears more and more likely that DeLay's tenure as House Leader is OVER. And Blunt, whose hands are about as dirty as DeLay's, is seeking to be made the permanent House Majority Leader
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...cle/2006/01/05/AR2006010502449_pf.html


GOP = Greedy Ol' Party

 

[palehorse]

The truth: Every single leftest in this country is a "Hipocrite with no bounds."

 

[Darkhawk28]

Originally posted by: palehorse74
The truth: Every single leftest in this country is a "Hipocrite with no bounds."

Learn how to spell and then come back when you take your nuk out.