1/4/2006 5:12:51 PM

Eh, he scammed the hell out of some fucking Indian reservations that were looking to influence politicians with their gambling money. Thats a good thing. His tax evasion charges are part of this scam, since he didn't want to announce to the IRS that he was diverting their money into his personal accounts.

What else do they have on him? Illegal campaign contributions? Political corruption? The way the lobbying system is set up, its tough to pinpoint what is legal and what is not when it comes to lobbying. Hopefully he will drag down the most corrupt politicians, like DeLay, Ney and Landrieu.

1/4/2006 6:53:31 PM

wait

are you defending this piece of shit Narc?

ps

could this be the thing that finally splits the religious right into its own different party?

ps

whats up with everyone giving the money back, or giving it to charity?
all that does is show just how much money this guy doled out

1/4/2006 9:28:56 PM

Today Bush gave back $6000, $2000 each from Abramoff, his wife, and one of those damned cheating red man tribes. (he kept the other $94,000 that Abramoff gave him from third parties)

1/4/2006 10:20:15 PM

I don't think that anyone will lose their job over this.

Because every time Republicans do something blatantly corrupt and/or wrong, they come out spotless. I'm going to stop getting my hopes up-- their core supporters don't care about the ends to the means.

1/6/2006 1:20:40 AM

Quote :

"The burglary of the office of Dr. Ellsberg's psychiatrist was raised at the Senate Watergate hearings on July 24, 1973. Chief Counsel Samuel Dash asked John Ehrlichman about the burglary. Ehrlichman responded: "I think if it is clearly understood that the President has the constitutional power to prevent the betrayal of national security secrets, as I understand he does, and that is well understood by the American people, and an episode like that is seen in that context, there shouldn't be any problem." "

http://movies.crooksandliars.com/July24th1973.wmv

Quote :

"Bush: "This is a highly classified program that is crucial to our national security. Its purpose is to detect and prevent terrorist attacks against the United States, our friends and allies. Yesterday the existence of this secret program was revealed in media reports, after being improperly provided to news organizations. As a result, our enemies have learned information they should not have, and the unauthorized disclosure of this effort damages our national security and puts our citizens at risk. Revealing classified information is illegal, alerts our enemies, and endangers our country."

1/6/2006 1:44:50 PM

Quote :

" The Pimping of the Presidency Jack Abramoff and Grover Norquist Billing Clients for Face Time with G.W. Bush BY LOU DUBOSE Four months after he took the oath of office in 2001, President George W. Bush was the attraction, and the White House the venue, for a fundraiser organized by the alleged perpetrator of the largest billing fraud in the history of corporate lobbying. In May 2001, Jack Abramoff’s lobbying client book was worth $4.1 million in annual billing for the Greenberg Traurig law firm. He was a friend of Bush advisor Karl Rove. He was a Bush “Pioneer,” delivering at least $100,000 in bundled contributions to the 2000 campaign. He had just concluded his work on the Bush Transition Team as an advisor to the Department of the Interior. He had sent his personal assistant Susan Ralston to the White House to work as Rove’s personal assistant. He was a close friend, advisor, and high-dollar fundraiser for the most powerful man in Congress, Tom DeLay. Abramoff was so closely tied to the Bush Administration that he could, and did, charge two of his clients $25,000 for a White House lunch date and a meeting with the President. From the same two clients he took to the White House in May 2001, Abramoff also obtained $2.5 million in contributions for a non-profit foundation he and his wife operated. <snip> The White House press office has not responded to our questions about other visits Jack Abramoff might have made to the White House or about Norquist using the official residence of the President to raise funds for Americans for Tax Reform. None of the political contributions Abramoff insisted the tribes make as yet have been returned. "

Full article here:

http://www.texasobserver.org/showForPrint_new.asp?ArticleID=13

1/6/2006 8:55:42 PM

Quote :

"1/16/06 The man in the hat sings Who else will lobbyist Jack Abramoff take down with him? By Edward T. Pound For years, Jack Abramoff had it all--money, power, friends in high places. He spread campaign cash and lavish gifts around Washington, hustled fat-cat clients, and palled around with power brokers on Capitol Hill. He could do no wrong. Now, however, he is the proverbial skunk at the garden party--scorned by his big-shot friends, frightened, and facing the prospect of perhaps 10 years or more in prison. <snip> Until he cut his deal with the Justice Department, Abramoff, 46, had maintained stoutly that he had done nothing wrong. He and a business partner, Michael Scanlon, hauled in more than $80 million in fees from their Indian clients. Abramoff shared some of the wealth. According to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign donations, he and his Indian clients gave some $4.4 million in such gifts to more than 300 lawmakers, federal candidates, and political committees over the past six years. Recently, many lawmakers began giving up the tainted funds to charity. President Bush's re-election campaign decided to give the American Heart Association the $6,000 it had received from Abramoff, his wife, and an Indian tribal client. Abramoff's plea agreement came as no surprise. Last November, reports began circulating in Washington that he was negotiating with government prosecutors. In fact, Abramoff's team of lawyers, led by Abbe Lowell, had been in discussions with federal investigators for more than a year, according to those with knowledge of the investigation. U.S. News was told that initially, Abramoff faced the prospect of being charged with crimes that could have carried a prison term of more than 100 years. His lawyers "fought very hard for over a year," says a source, to get him a better deal. Now, the government is preparing to reap the benefits. Investigators "will follow this guy into Congress and into the executive branch, including Interior," this person says. "Obviously, they will drain him dry about what he knows." "

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/060116/16abramoff.htm

Quote :

"Bush trying to round up all photos of President with Abramoff 01/08/2006 @ 12:14 pm Filed by RAW STORY Aides to President George W. Bush are trying to identify all the photos that may exist of the President and lobbyist Jack Abramoff together, TIME’s White House Correspondents Mike Allen and Matt Cooper report in Monday editions, RAW STORY has learned. From TIME: Advertisement # Bracing for the worst, Administration officials obtained from the Secret Service a list of all the times Abramoff entered the White House complex, and they scrambled to determine the reason for each visit, TIME reports. Abramoff attended Hanukkah and holiday events at the White House, according to an aide who has seen the list. Press secretary Scott McClellan said Abramoff might have attended large gatherings with Bush but added, “The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him.”"

http://rawstory.com/admin/dbscripts/printstory.php?story=1690

Quote :

"Fellow Republican: Ney likely to be indicted Gannett News Service WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, is likely to be indicted in an ongoing public corruption scandal, according to a fellow Republican congressman, Jim McCrery of Louisiana. Ney has been linked by prosecutors to Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist who pleaded guilty to charges this week that include mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. He also is linked to Abramoff's associate, Michael Scanlon, who pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to bribe a member of Congress and other public officials. "He'll probably be indicted," McCrery speculated Friday. "

1/9/2006 9:19:32 AM

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/29/D8GLD5H00.html

Quote :

" Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison in a Florida fraud case, the minimum sentence allowed. Abramoff and former partner Adam Kidan pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud stemming from the ill-fated purchase in 2000 of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet. The sentence won't start immediately so the pair can continue cooperating in a Washington corruption investigation and a Florida probe into the murder of former SunCruz owner Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. "

3/29/2006 2:12:13 PM

He deserves to go to jail.

3/29/2006 3:32:48 PM

regardless of the facts about this being bipartisan or not lets just all agree that bribery should equal jail.

3/29/2006 5:39:15 PM

Its good to hear that the judge gave him the minimum sentence. The "wire fraud" in this case was only noteworthy because of the amount of money involved.

Quote :

"In the Florida case, Abramoff and Kidan admitted concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they had made a large cash contribution to the $147.5 million purchase of SunCruz Casinos. Based on that fake transfer, lenders provided the pair with $60 million in financing. "

His federal bribery and corruption case is another story.

3/29/2006 6:38:03 PM

Quote :

"lets just all agree that bribery should equal jail."

Are you fucking joking? There are more than a few people on this board who'd argue that bribery is equivalent to free speech.

3/29/2006 8:21:36 PM

Lobbying and bribery are not (always) the same thing.

3/29/2006 8:22:52 PM

They aren't always the same. But that's not a strong enough statement to argue with...

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bribe

Quote :

"bribe: Something, such as money or a favor, offered or given to a person in a position of trust to influence that person's views or conduct."

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=lobby

Quote :

"lobby: To try to influence the thinking of legislators or other public officials for or against a specific cause"

Of course, lobbyists only use flowers, birthday cards, and altruistic ideas to influence the thinking of legislators, so it's all good.

[Edited on March 29, 2006 at 8:41 PM. Reason : ...]

3/29/2006 8:40:11 PM