Prominent party officials, including the former House majority leader, Representative
Tom DeLay of Texas, are under scrutiny involving trips and other gifts from
Mr. Abramoff and his clients.
The other name being mentioned in this case is Congressman Bob Ney, R-Ohio.
A guilty plea by Michael Scanlon, a former Abramoff partner, alleged that Ney received campaign donations and gifts such as a 2002 golf trip to Scotland in return for official acts such as supporting legislation favorable to Abramoff's clients.
Abramoff is currently trying to make a plea bargain:
Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under criminal investigation, has been discussing with prosecutors a deal that would grant him a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against former political and business associates, people with detailed knowledge of the case say.
The question is only this: who will he be testifying against? We know Tom DeLay is already in trouble for corruption, so I wouldn't be too surprised now if he was named in this case.
I heard some Democrats talking about a "culture of corruption", referring to the Republican party. Well, I don't like hyperbole, but in this case it seems to have some merit. Abramoff was connected to a lot of Republicans, so we can expect to be hearing some more names soon from this.
2 comments:
Honestly, I'm surprised it's taking this long to crack Abramoff. Maybe he's holding out for a better deal. But he knows about so many skeletons in the closet that as a prosecutor I'd be salivating to get my hands on them.
I think that's precisely why he's got some bargaining power. I'm sure the prosecutors in both his cases don't only want Abramoff. He's connected in too many ways to too many people.
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