Listen closely as BushCo tries to paint the Abramoff Scandal as bipartisan. Abramoff was created by
Tom DeLay’s goal to freeze-out Democrats on K-Street — to refuse to meet anyone who gave to both parties and to demand that only
Republican’s benefit from the bribes.
Key point: Abramoff was a major fund-raiser for Duhbya. LOTS more than $6,000. mjh
Bush to give up $6,000 in Abramoff gifts
President Bush plans to donate $6,000 in campaign contributions
from one-time lobbyist Jack Abramoff to the American Heart Association.
Abramoff was a Bush-Cheney Pioneer, someone who raised
more than $100,000 for the Republican presidential ticket. But The Washington Post said that the president will give up only money
donated directly by Abramoff, his wife and one of the Indian tribes he lobbied for.
U.S. Newswire : Releases : “Dean: White House Must Tell the Truth About
Abramoff Ties”
One day after former Republican mega-lobbyist and major Bush fundraiser Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three
federal crimes, the White House gave back merely $6,000 in donations made by Abramoff to the President’s re-election campaign, but kept
the more than $100,000 that Abramoff personally and directly raised for Bush-Cheney ’04. Given what we now know, Abramoff’s shady
business practices and influence peddling calls into question what meetings he set up or organized for his clients with Administration
officials.
Based on news reports alone, it’s clear Abramoff’s network reached deep into the White House and was used to reap
significant fees from his clients. Specifically, Abramoff charged multi-million dollar fees to arrange meetings with Bush as well as
access to senior White House officials for his clients. …
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean called on the Bush
White House to come clean regarding the extent of the contact between Abramoff and senior White House officials:
“As a
Bush Pioneer, Abramoff bragged about the influence he held at the White House, as did his former lobbying partner who claimed
that Abramoff had direct access to the President. Abramoff also arranged meetings with the President and members of the Bush
Administration for his clients, who later received favorable treatment.
“Until he was charged with committing three federal
crimes, Abramoff used his Republican contacts, including his ties to the White House, to create an extensive pay-to-play system where
political money was exchanged for policy outcomes. To begin to clear the growing ethical cloud over the White House, President Bush must
disclose his Administration’s contacts and detail their relationship with this admitted felon. The American people deserve the truth.”
…
Abramoff Was A Republican Insider And Who Had Strong Pull With Bush White House. Abramoff’s lobbying partner boasted that he
is a phone call away from the President. “Jack has a relationship with the President,” Abramoff’s former spokesman and fellow lobbyist
Michael Scanlon once said. “He doesn’t have a bat phone or anything, but if he wanted an appointment, he would have one.” Scanlon has
since pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials. (New Times Broward-Palm Beach, 2/22/01; Washington
Post, 11/29/05)
Bringing New Scrutiny To a System and a Profession By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Dan Balz
Jack Abramoff represented the most
flamboyant and extreme example of a brand of influence trading that flourished after the Republican takeover of the House of
Representatives 11 years ago. Now, some GOP strategists fear that the fallout from his case could affect the party’s efforts to keep
control in the November midterm elections.
Abramoff was among the lobbyists most closely associated with the K Street Project,
which was initiated by his friend Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), now the former House majority leader, once the GOP vaulted to power. It was an
aggressive program designed to force corporations and trade associations to hire more GOP-connected lobbyists in what at times became an
almost seamless relationship between Capitol Hill lawmakers and some firms that sought to influence them.
Now Abramoff has become
a symbol of a system out of control. …
With an eye on November’s elections, Republicans have sought to limit the damage to
themselves by portraying the scandal as bipartisan, describing Abramoff as an equal-opportunity dispenser of campaign cash and largess.
So far, the public has not identified corruption as solely a Republican problem. A Washington Post-ABC News poll in November
asked Americans whether they thought Democrats or Republicans were better on ethical matters; 16 percent said Democrats, 12 percent said
Republicans, and 71 percent said there was not much difference between the parties.
But Republicans worry about two possibilities.
The first is that Abramoff, known for his close ties to DeLay, mostly implicates Republicans as a result of his plea agreement. That
could shift public attitudes sharply against the GOP. “People are uneasy about what else is out there,” said one GOP strategist who
requested anonymity to speak more candidly about the possible political fallout.
GOP Leaders Seek Distance From Abramoff
By Jonathan Weisman
With … the highest echelons of the Republican Party increasingly vulnerable to charges, GOP leaders moved yesterday to distance
themselves from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and prepare to combat a growing corruption scandal. …
Republican strategists
expressed some relief that the damage could be limited. Carl Forti, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said
that if Abramoff’s revelations ensnare only one lawmaker and some unknown staff members, Democrats will have little chance of sparking a
political revolt when voters go to the polls in November to elect a new Congress.