Typhoid
Jack
Washington
super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff is falling fast-and taking a lot
of Capitol Hill's corruption with him
A congressional
plague is reaching critical mass.
"I don't
think we've had something of this scope, arrogance and sheer venality
in our lifetimes," writes Norman J. Ornstein, a resident
scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy
Research, a conservative think tank. "It is building to an
explosion, one that could create immense collateral damage within
Congress and in coming elections."
Patient Zero
of this plague is Washington K-Street lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The Plame case might grab the headlines, but Abramoff is regarded
as the sharpest stake pressed against the heart of the Republican
Party. He will become a household name in 2006.
Abramoff is
under investigation by the Justice Department, the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee, the IRS, the Department of Interior and the
FBI. His lobbying firm has been exposed for ripping-off rich Indian
casinos to the benefit of the Republican Party, and Abramoff has
been indicted on federal wire fraud and conspiracy charges involving
the buy-out of a fleet of Florida gambling boats from a guy who
was murdered mafia-style soon thereafter.
His disease
has already infected over a half-dozen members of congress, national
coalitions, administration officials and beltway lobbyists. The
Maalox must be getting trucked into Capitol Hill. Being linked
to Abramoff - a Washington lobbyist for over 10 years - could
be about the worst news anyone in the capitol could get.
THE "HAMMER"
FALLS
One notable
victim: former House Majority Leader Tom Delay, who once called
Abramoff one of his "closest, dearest friends." Delay
was indicted in September on allegations of money-laundering and
conspiracy charges. This forced him to relinquish his post as
House Majority Leader. On Dec. 6, a Texas judge dismissed the
conspiracy charge but upheld the more serious money-laundering
charge.
Delay lost all hope of returning to his post when this charge
was upheld.
"The Hammer" as he was known, was brought low by Texas
district attorney Ronnie Earle, who took on Delay in a "High
Noon"-esque Gary Cooper style, postponing retirement to take
down his Frank Miller.
The Abramoff
plague doesn't stop there. Old friends from college days like
Super-conservative Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed and
President of American Tax Reform coalition Grover Norquist have
been tied to Abramoff through Senate or Justice Department investigations.
Former White House Official David Safavian has been indicted on
charges he lied about dealings with Abramoff - he is pleading
not guilty. Rep. Bob W. Ney, R-Ohio, has been subpoenaed and is
under investigation for bribery, which he also denies.
The GOP spinners
are undoubtedly synchronizing their talking points - their bile
can almost be read verbatim on O'Reilly's "Talking Points
Memo" - and the influence of Abramoff will begin to be played
down in the preceding months. President Bush broke his silence
on the issue on Dec. 14, during an interview with Fox News, in
which he dismissed the notion of Abramoff as the super-lobbyist
he is, instead attempting to re-shape the debate by labeling him
an "equal money dispenser" who was "giving money
to both parties."
Well, he kinda
got it half right. Abramoff did give money to Democrats - like
the leadership fund of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.,
who received $66,000 from Abramoff-related contributions from
2001-2004. Reid reciprocated by writing Interior Secretary Gail
Norton in opposition of a tribal casino whom Abramoff's clients
also opposed. Republican Speaker J. Dennis Hasert, R-Ill., opposed
the casino as well - after collecting a check for $21,200 for
his political action committee at an Abramoff fundraiser. Both
lawmakers say they were not influenced by Abramoff.
Right. So Abramoff
just gave money away like candy, for no apparent political gain?
That's a lot to swallow, especially when the congressmen in question
turned around to do his clients' bidding.
However, an
equal money dispenser Abramoff is not. He was extremely close
to the Republican Party power structure and fundraising, and was
integral in helping the GOP gain and maintain power from the mid-nineties
to today.
"He knows
where a lot of the bodies are buried," Bill Allison told
Knight Ridder Tribune. Allison is a spokesperson for the Center
for Public Integrity, a non-partisan ethics watchdog group.
JACK OF ALL
TRADES
To his credit,
Abramoff has led quite a life. He was president of the National
College Republicans in the early 1980's. He wrote and produced
two B-rate Hollywood Dolph Lundgren flicks, "Red Scorpion"
and "Red Scorpion 2." In between these two uber-violent
movies he founded the Committee for Traditional Jewish Values
in Entertainment, a morals organization that crusades against
violence in cinema. He once organized a meeting of anti-communist
guerrillas and mujaheddin in Africa. After becoming an influence
peddler in Washington in 1994, he routinely held fundraisers at
leased sports-arena skyboxes, and at his restaurant, Signatures,
on Pennsylvania Avenue, which became a favorite haunt of GOP leadership.
He also shucked out money for lavish trips to the Mariana's Islands
for lawmakers. Abramoff was the Van Wilder of Washington. The
party-organizer.
He, of course,
denies any wrongdoing.
"Any fair
reading of Mr. Abramoff's career would show that his clients benefited
immensely from the hard work he and his team did on their behalf,"
said Abramoff spokesperson Andrew Blum, in a statement.
How right he
is. Sorta. In thousands of emails subpoenaed by Senate investigators,
Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon-a former Delay press
secretary who pled guilty in federal court to conspiring to bribe
a top republican congressman among other public officials - detailed
the type of benefits these clients received.
Abramoff's clients
included Indian tribes and Internet gaming businesses. He invoked
the Fifth Amendment when called before the Senate Indian Affairs
Committee in 2004 - the point when the slimy ooze began to seep
from the back room.
Senator John
McCain, R-Ariz., is chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee.
"What set's this tale apart, what makes it truly extraordinary,
is the extent and degree of the apparent exploitation and deceit,"
he said at one committee hearing.
"Monkeys"
and "troglodytes," as the Indian tribes are referred
to in the emails, were charged $66 million for services the lobbyists
never preformed. The two also boasted about "taking their
fucking money."
Abramoff raised
over $100,000 for the 2004 Bush presidential campaign. He's past
boasted of access to Karl Rove and other cabinet members, and
hired former members of Delay's congressional staff.
A FLORIDA
FIASCO
On Dec. 15,
Abramoff's former partner, Adam Kidnan, plead guilty to federal
wire fraud and conspiracy charges involving a 2000 purchase of
the SunCruz Casinos-a fleet of gambling "cruises to nowhere"
that operates out of Miami, Fla.
It is likely
Kidnan will testify in the case against Abramoff for a reduced
sentence. Abramoff and Kidnan were indicted this summer for alledgedly
cooking up a fake $23 million wire transfer to give the impression
they were putting up personal funds into the SanCruz deal. Lenders
Foothill Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund Ltd. provided $60
million to the deal based on the fake transfer.
This case is
separate from the Senate investigations in Washington. It also
involves a murder. Konstantinos Boulis, the founder of SunCruz,
was gunned down in Fort Lauderdale in 2001, during what has been
described as a bitter dispute over company control. The suspects
arrested in the Boulis murder worked for Kidnan, and allegedly
had ties to the Gambino crime family of New York.
Abramoff is pointing the finger at Kidnan, claiming no knowledge
at the time (only finding out later), and is scheduled for a trial-date
on Jan. 9.
Update:
Abramoff has agreed to plea guilty and is going to help prosecutors
uncover further corruption on capitol hill.
Written
By Ted Grayson
|