Reply #74: Norquist is tied to Arab corruption as well as Abramoff/Delay scandal. [View All]

[robertpaulsen]

The Republican Party, particularly the Bush family, has the closest links to the oil sheikhs. In 1990, George W. Bush made almost a million dollars in a deal bankrolled by the emirate of Bahrain. Harken, a tiny Texas company that had Bush on its board won a contract in Bahrain against the giant Amaco, mainly because of Bush's contacts with his father, the then President. On the board of Harken, beside Bush, was Talat Othman, recently under pressure from the U.S. Justice Department for his role with Islamic charities. Othman, who offered the benediction at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia in 2000, joined with Republican strategists Grover Norquist and Khaled Saffuri to create the Islamic Institute and to draw Muslims to the Republican Party. The Bush administration also elevated the first Arab American, Spencer Abraham, to the post of Energy Secretary. So why should a government so eager to please its Gulf allies, particularly the Saudis, go out of its way to take the side of Ariel Sharon's Israel?

http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2020/stories/20031010000906000.htm


If I find a Norquist connection to Plame/AIPACgate, I'll let you know.
Abramoff and Friends
Abramoff and business partner Adam Kidan were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale on August 11 on several counts of wire fraud and conspiracy related to their purchase of a Florida-based gambling boats business. Already at the center of a growing controversy over money he received while representing Indian casino interests, Abramoff’s latest legal troubles involve allegedly fraudulent wire transfers he and Kidan used to purchase the SunCruz gambling business from Florida businessman Konstantinos Boulis. Boulis, who made millions on a chain of Florida sandwich shops, was shot to death in February 2001, shortly after his relations with Kidan and Abramoff soured. According to the Washington Post (August 12, 2005), Kidan hired Anthony Moscatiello, an associate of the Gambino crime family, in late 2000, just a few months before Boulis was shot three times in the chest with hollow-point bullets.

To help seal the SunCruz deal, reports the Post, Abramoff “leveraged his connections with members of Congress,” including Rep. Tom Delay (R-Texas), who reportedly gave Boulis a flag that had once flown over the Capitol. Abramoff also took his lead financier for the deal to a Delay fundraising event, listed Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) as a reference on his loan application, and wined and dined Delay aides on SunCruz jets and gambling boats. Also chipping in was Rep. Robert Ney who, at the urging of Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon, criticized Boulis and praised Kidan in the Congressional Record.

Both Ney and Delay—as well Senators David Vitters and Conrad Burns—have been mentioned in connection with the Abramoff-Indian casinos scandal, which is the focus of congressional and federal investigations. Abramoff (along with erstwhile partner Scanlon, a former Delay aide) is accused of misusing tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees from Indian clients, who Abramoff once described as “morons” and “monkeys.”

Although the Abramoff scandals don’t appear to touch administration insiders, his shady dealings have brought unwanted attention to a number of influential Bush supporters and Christian conservatives. Reported the Boston Globe in early June: “Among the prominent figures who have come under the scrutiny of Senate and federal investigators are (Grover) Norquist, whose organization received $1.5 million from tribes and fought a tax on Indian casinos (and) Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition who allegedly used some money from Indian gaming tribes to fund his efforts to close down rival casinos and lotteries.”

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/rw/358