Lobbying Grenade: Jack Abramoff's guilty plea harkens back to his days wit

[NVMojo]

Until now, all the Democrats had going for them entering the 2006 election cycle was a boggling array of colossal George Bush mistakes, including disaster-relief failures, domestic spying accusations, sputtering economic policies, a mishmash of corruption, and an unjustified war. But being Democrats, they needed more help.

It has arrived, thanks to the prison-bound alumni from the Seattle-based Preston Gates Ellis law and lobbying firm, where the law breaking began. The little Gang That Couldn't Loot Straight, led by fallen super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, wasn't satisfied with mere riches from the ordinary and often allowable D.C. corruption through quid pro quo. Abramoff and fellow Preston Gates Ellis grad Michael Scanlon have now both plea-bargained felony charges, conceding that they turned Republican backroom deal-making into a political shakedown too grandiose even for Washington.

A third Preston Gates Ellis grad, Bush appointee David Safavian, ex-chief of staff of the General Services Administration, is accused of lying and obstructing a criminal investigation into Abramoff's attempts to buy government land, and he was involved in one of Abramoff's corrupt overseas junkets. Safavian is likely now being squeezed to cooperate in the Justice Department's Lobbygate probe, rumored to be targeting more than a dozen congressional members and staffers.

more...

http://www.seattleweekly.com/news/0602/abramoff.php

[NVMojo]

1. A Washington Dem. Senator got $17 million from tribes??? Amazing.

Though the most talked-about charge, bribery, is also the most difficult to make, many politicos are quickly unloading any Abramoff-linked campaign donations. Bush is giving his $6,000 to charity (but keeping the $100,000 Abramoff raised for him from others). Some are even giving back money contributed by Abramoff's lobbying clients, particularly Native American casinos, although Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for one, is hanging onto her nearly $45,000. She argues that there's no indication Abramoff steered the tribal donations to her. However, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., is giving $17 million in out-of-state tribal donations to an Indian charity.