Another chance to learn more about Jack Abramoff, a conservative Republican lobbyist-scoundrel and friend of Tom DeLay’s.

Albuquerque Journal readers should note that only the first half of this article appeared in our paper. mjh

Lobbyist Target of Several Investigations By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer

It was the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994 that brought Abramoff back to Washington, where lobbying firms were looking to strengthen their GOP connections.

Abramoff’s Republican credentials and long ties to Reed and Norquist, head of the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, made him a natural; now, all three are under the microscope of congressional investigators.

Marshall Wittman, a one-time conservative activist who now works for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, sees Abramoff’s rise and fall as emblematic of what he believes has happened to the conservative movement overall.

“Many other Reagan conservatives came to Washington with the stars of the revolution in their eyes and they ended up with very fat wallets in their back pockets,” he said. “They came to do good and they ended up doing very, very well.”