Oh what a tangled web we weave...

And Jack Abramoff has woven a tangled web indeed. As more and more of the sordid tale of this exceedingly sorry character comes to light, more and more members of the conservative axis find themselves tainted by Abramoff's anti-Midas touch:

"Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) placed comments in the Congressional Record favorable to Abramoff's 2000 purchase of the casino boat company, SunCruz Casinos. Two years later, Ney sponsored legislation to reopen a casino for a Texas Indian tribe that Abramoff represented.

Ney approved a 2002 license for an Israeli telecommunications company to install antennas for the House. The company later paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying. It also donated $50,000 to a charity that Abramoff sometimes used to secretly pay for some of his lobbying activities.

Meanwhile, Ney accepted many favors from Abramoff, among them campaign contributions, dinners at the lobbyist's downtown restaurant, skybox fundraisers, including one at his MCI Center box, and a golfing trip to Scotland in August 2002. If statements made by Abramoff to tribal officials and in an e-mail are to be believed, Ney sought the Scotland trip after he agreed to help Abramoff's Texas Indian clients. Abramoff then arranged for his charity to pay for the trip, according to documents released by a Senate committee investigating the lobbyist.

Ney is under investigation by Florida federal prosecutors looking into Abramoff's acquisition of SunCruz, according to sources familiar with the investigation who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Abramoff and his business partner Adam Kidan were indicted in August on fraud charges related to the purchase."

Oh dear.

Ney of course denies knowing of the shenanigans that Abramoff was up to. But it's funny how as Abramoff has gradually become a persona non grata in the cirlces of power (he's too corrupt for even DeLay to touch) more and more of those same people turning their backs are found to have had some ah..."questionable" dealings with him.

Kevin Drum over at the Washington Monthly predicted the Abramoff scandal will eventually suck in a considerable number of the movers and shakers in conservative circles of power. Given the ever expanding list of those who had something to do with him, he may just be right.