Not Rove, but David Safavian, W's top procurement official. Looks like he's being charged with lying to prosecutors and obstruction, all relating to Jack Abramoff, the sleazy lobbyist who's tied to Tom DeLay, Ralph Reed (cf. below), Congressman Bob Ney, Grover Norquist, and other Repugs. Democrats aren't behind this one!

Bush official arrested in corruption probe

WaPo: Scandal hits White House

[ September 20, 2005, 10:52 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

And the house of cards finally begins its collapse. I should be happy, but I only feel shame for this great nation.

Happy, sad, shame, whatever...Our country has been mismanaged so badly, so...i can't even find the words...Enough about partisan politics, how about someone, any one of these overpaid, over glorified politicians on either side of the aisle, standing up and calling a spade a spade...we're in deep shit and yet the right wing, the driving force behind so many idiotic decisions keep on with their idealogical crap while we sink into mudhole after mudhole...When is our decline going to stop? When is some kind of rational discourse going to take place? We're in trouble and this administration is the cause.

Bryan, you make an excellent point. The problem for the two parties is this:

The Democrats are STILL too afraid, in general, to present a comprehensive critique of W's disastrous leadership, especially on Iraq, and too fractious to present a comprehensive vision for the future of the country. The ones who DO tend to articulate criticisms of W, like Kennedy, Kerry, etc., tend to be the very Democrats that many independent and moderately conservative voters refuse to listen to. No matter how on target they are. The same is true with Dean; no matter how right his criticisms are, he gets painted as "loony left," thus defusing the substance of what he has to say. Even saying all of this, however, if the Democrats were to control Congress, I think we might witness a fresher approach to governance of the country. Since W would retain veto power, the Democrats would have to work with him to some extent, yet the minimal agenda that they've proposed is still miles away from the corporate-welfare, Treasury-robbing fiasco that the GOP has engineered in the last five years. Also, the Democrats would finally have the power to investigate some of the debacles that have occurred on W's watch, which are pretty serious. I mean, why on earth won't the Pentagon let Col Anthony Shafer testify about "Able Danger"? W's people know they have to hide and obfuscate as much as possible, and the Republican Congress is still abetting this.

On the right, many of the Republicans live in fear of Karl Rove. Look at what happened to John McCain in 2000 when he challenged W. His family was smeared down in South Carolina, and it took him some time to get over that. The fact is, the Republican Party's Congressional leadership for the most part has done everything it can to protect W and support his failed leadership. Their sails are attached to his--or were. Now that he's tanking some of them are bailing. Chuck Hagel's repeated criticisms of the situation in Iraq are noteworthy, since he comes from a conservative state and wants to be president in the future. I don't think he's posturing; I think he is sincerely fed up. But in general, the Republicans are still interested in protecting W rather than sayign enough is enough, which is why I believe it'd be dangerous to give them any more leeway in running the Congress for the next two years. They've shown time and again that they put the party above the country.

Wow -- South Florida mobsters. Where's Bebe Rebozo?

drip ... drip ... drip

Oh, but wait, this will be the tip of the iceberg with regards to corruption. Its being widely reported that any number of companies with ties to this administration have been awarded no bid contracts to help in the aftermath of the hurricanes. Sound familiar??? eek!

Actually, a lot flows through this Abramoff character. He's linked to the murdered Boulis, to Safavian, to Tom DeLay, to Bob Ney, to John Ashcroft, to Grover Norquist, to Karl Rove, etc. Once prosecutors put all the links together--and if the Democrats ever gain power in the Congress--the Republican power gambit will vanish like flashpaper!

The liberals have been celebrating the projected downfall of the Bush administration since around January 2002. My gut feeling is that this item is yet another one that will bounce right off.

LXN

I don't think the media in the US have the nerve anymore to investiagate and follow a story, even if it is unpopular. If Watergate were to happen today I think the outcome would be very different. Today any challenge or criticism of a sitting President gets you labeled un-American , unpatriotic and even a traitor. Its a dangerous attitude to believe that a leader cannot be challenged.

Oh they'd follow it if it involved a Democrat, and they'd pick him or her apart so completely it'd make a hungry jackal jealous. Just let that conniving minx Hillary get too far (no, please don't, but...) and they will eviscerate her, I tell you. Hell, Rush Limblob is already pushing the line that she ordered Vince Foster's death...AGAIN!...and it's only 2005! What's next, videos of her turning out Barbara Mikulski and Maria Cantwell? Don't think the Rethugs are beyond such things.

The MSM has no fear of destroying Democrats, but they're very, very wary of saying even a mildly critical word, no matter how true, about the GOP. Even after President Katrina kept bumbling, many MSMers were rushing to try and build him up as they always do. I don't get the hero worship, but then I'm not making six figures to write up corporate or RNC press releases and call them journalistic articles, or $250,000-$7 million to read from a teleprompter whatever corporate sponsors or the RNC deems to be acceptable.

[ September 27, 2005, 09:12 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Abramoff's lawyer strongly denied his client's involvement with the mob hit. But there are records of several payments from Abramoff's business partner and partner-in-fraud to the men arrested, who were members of John Gotti's Gambino crime family. Makes one wonder...

MOB-> Abramoff-> Republican leadership. Hmmm.

Sure glad no one's getting blowjobs in the White House anymore. Because that kind of behavior can surely lead to people being killed by hitmen.

Unless of course you're getting a blowjob FROM a hitman.

Whose giving the blowjobs now that Gannon isn't on the White House guest list?

This was also some of the subject of alot of "Hardball", and on "Larry King" tonight. This story definitely has legs, and between this and the Delay story, I don't know which one is bigger right now.

Last night they had another story on this on World News Now. Supposedly the prosecutors could start subpoening this week, and the scoop is that this will be the biggest Congressional scandal in US history. So far one Repug. from Ohio has been prominently named or should I say outed. The shit is about to hit the fan in Congress. Greedy sons of bitches, they get what they deserve. :mad:

Abramoff is set to sing like a nightingale--and you know that symbolically that's the harbinger of...death!

One of the more outrageous claims being made right now is that Abramoff created a foundation that essentially was a money-laundering operation for the Repugs, and in particularly, DeLay. In addition, there's another foundation and Jewish school--or at least Abramoff called it a "Jewish" academy--that Abramoff set up that also was a money-laundering outfit. All the teachers and staff with that scam got fired or let go after the Feds started on Abramoff's tail, so they're pissed and some are suing. It also looks like he claimed to have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to a legit foundation, yet that organization claims it NEVER saw ANY money from him. Uh oh!

Then there are the trips he took Ney, DeLay and otehrs on. And the money from the Native Americans that he used to engineer the casino hijinks in Texas and elsewhere. And then there's the dead mobster/restauranteur in Florida. And it just keeps growing!

Put all this together with our wiretap-happy, endlessly lying, endlessly propagandizing Potemkin president, and you've got a situation that I'm sure is making the rotting corpse of Richard Nixon pretty damned envious! His soul is probably begging to be let out of Hell to find out how it all turns out.

Unfortunately unless the involved politicos from BOTH parties are turned out at the polls, the message to the uber-lobbyists will be "Buy more Democrats next time around": So who can one vote for, if they are all thieves?

But they're not *all* thieves--not all Republicans, nor all Democrats, and your response is basically nihilistic and defeatist. Okay, so you like the way Congress is going, don't vote or just vote to keep the Republicans in. We have W for 3 more years, so unless Congress changes, we'll get more of the same. At least when Clinton was in the White House and the Republicans held Congress, the two opposing seats of power worked as checks on each other, that is when the Republicans weren't fanatically going after Clinton for unwarranted reasons.

The situation with Abramoff goes FAR BEYOND giving money to people of either party. We're talking about someone who appears to have violated a wide array of laws, with the complicity of the most powerful Republican in the House and many other major Republicans. I have not yet heard any Democrats implicated in the most serious Abramoff allegations, but if they are, then they also shouldn't be reelected. That's quite a different response than saying, Oh they're all bad, let's throw up our hands or just sit on them. Then nothing changes. Is that what you want???

[ January 02, 2006, 06:19 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Fan, any guesses as to which Repugs. may be on the hit list? I am following this story daily, and once again it was prominently mentioned on World News this morning on ABC. There are some very, very nervous Congress folk right about now. Enjoy reading all your well thought out posts.

Thanks, hockeytom. And I definitely respect Sportinlife, so I want to make that clear. But I also just don't want us--from whatever political perspective--to throw up our hands and say, Oh, they all do it! Because "they" don't. As far as I know, neither Olympia Snowe (Republican) nor Jack Reed (Democrat) was on Abramoff's payout list or helping him launder money or funnel money to fake charities, etc., were they?

Back to Repugs: Ney of Ohio and DeLiar of Texas appear to be the chief targets, though Abramoff may try to protect DeLiar. Also, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed, Mr. Christian Coalition-Morality Czar, is deeply implicated too. He's running for Georgia's lieutenant governorship as a Repug. I've seen other names, like Seantor Conrad Burns of Montana, pop up, so it'll be interesting to see who Abramoff fingers. Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, also looks like he's caught in the Abramoff web. But keep in mind, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

WaPo rundown of Key Players

[ January 03, 2006, 09:39 AM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Just watched the story on CNN. Sounds like everone is running for the hills. The House Speaker is giving $70K to charity for donations he received....and no doubt getting a tax break for it. Lou Dobbs referred to the US as having the best government money can buy. Dubya's gotta be proud.....sounds as if 2006 will be as good a year as 2005 for his Administration. Abramoff's little black book should be very interesting.

Yes, and Chirs Matthews and "Hardball" was riveting. This story has got HUGE legs, and indeed the Repugs.if they know whats good for them will run without looking. The Repug. talking heads are already in denial mode, and trying to put the blame on the Dems. Its so pathetic! One guest said if Delay is involved, and it looks like he will be or is, its a Republican scandal, if he is not, its a Congressional scandal. Heard anywhere from 10-60 members may be involved. Can't wait to see the poll numbers for Shrub after the big Repugs. names are named. My hope is that they drop like a rock. They deserve to.

I heard on NPR, which tries its hardest to be "balanced," that Abramoff's clients gave money to Democrats and Republicans, but Abramoff himself supposedly only gave money to Republicans. In addition to DeLay and Ney, Hastert, Doolittle, Burns, and host of other Republicans are implicated in his direct donations. One former prosecutor said he thought it could total at least 20 people, since if you count in staff who're involved and into account that the investigation runs from 1994-2005, more than a dozen people'd be involved.

It also appears that Abramoff kept very detailed logbooks, as well as all his email and written correspondence, so right now prosecutors have what amounts to an orchard of information to explore. Some of the materials they have may directly implicate people in bribes. A defense attorney said it'd be very hard to defend some of the people caught in the dragnet if Abramoff sings and the evidence is there. Then there's the shenanigans involving the Mariana islands, the casino quid-pro-quo, the money-laundering foundation, the quasi-school-foundation, and on and on. And Gus Boulis's dead body to boot!

[ January 03, 2006, 03:52 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Before I go to bed I am gonna scan the hard right talking heads on cable tonight and see what if anything they have to say about this. Will be checking on "Scarborough Country", and a few minutes, more like seconds, cause I can't stand the man, Bill O ' Reilly. Should be interesting to see the rights take, if anything.

The most corrupt Member of Congress?

MIB, judging from that biased article, the Repugs are in deep crap. If all they can do is try to blame someone else, they are, like I have said before, doomed with a capitol "D". I love the reference to "how many women Bill Clinton screwed in the White House". Certainly unbiased reporting there! As far as I know, he didn't screw any women in the White House, he only got head. I find it so funny how Repugs just can't let Bill Clinton go. I am beginning to think they must feel a rush of wood every time they mention Clinton.

[ January 03, 2006, 10:34 PM: Message edited by: millerbeach ]

Thanks for the unnecessary vote of confidence fantomas. My plea was not out of desperation but a rhetorical one to inspire thought. I think it is extremely difficult if not impossible for the two-party system to produce a true reformer right now. We need more.

In reading a huge article in my Spokesman-Review this morning, of course, Mr. " I didn't do a damn thing wrong-Delay" is denying to the hilt anything to do with Mr. Abramhof, meanwhile on the morning news they show him being greeted somewhere in the South Pacific with a lei, and a handshake from Mr. Abramhof. Too, too funny. eek!

Posted by MIB:
The point, MIB, is not that there are no Democratic members of Congress involved in corruption and shady deals. Hell, I am not that old and I can remember back to the days of the Jim Wright scandals, and let's not forget Dan Rostenkowski, perhaps the last of the old "machine" politicians to be taken down. The reason the Abramoff scandal is different is that it involves so many men who are now in control of the GOP, including members of the Bush administration and the RNC (I believe), leading members of Congress, other leading GOPers and lobbyists. For the last decade, at least, there has been a powerful cabal within the GOP, including men such as DeLay, Ralph Reed, etc, who have clearly attempted to gain not only power within the GOP, but also in the lobbying world. Delay certainly has made no secret of the fact that he has zealously tried to make K Street into a veritable GOP-only district.

But the Abramoff scandal is showing how these linkages among the power-hungry in Washington were exploited by those who wanted money as well. It is the very structure created by the latest group of GOP leadership that is involved in this scandal, and that is why it has the potential to bring down so many. It is not the type of scandal that is interesting, but rather the size and scope of the scandal.

Edited to add: Incidentally, at least one group has done a search as to Abramoff's personal political contributions - not a Democrat in the bunch.

Jack Abramoff's political donations

[ January 04, 2006, 07:29 AM: Message edited by: CPT_Doom ]

Former Senator Simpson of Wyoming was on "Hardball" yesterday commenting. He said this was all about "access, access, access, access, and greed." Absolute powers corrupts, absolutely.

Just read a big headline off MSNBC, where now suddenly of course, the White House ( re-election campaign) is going to give thousands of dollars to the American Heart Association, as it is now known that the Shrub/Cheney re-election campaign in '04, received over $100K from the former lobbyist. Next?????? eek!

[ January 04, 2006, 09:04 AM: Message edited by: hockeyTom ]

"President Bush's re-election campaign is giving up $6,000 in campaign contributions connected to lobbyist Jack Abramoff..."

Donating it to a faith-based initiative, perhaps (like the GOP defense kitty).

It's now getting better than a soap opera. Who turned in Michael Scanlon, Jack Abramoff's former partner in sleaze? His ex-fiancé, Emily Miller, who was enraged that he'd dumped her because he was having an affair with another woman! Oh, those family values Republicans! He couldn't keep his d*ck in his pants and now, the whole sordid house (House) is about to come crashing down!

It also turns out that this Emily Miller person was the same one who in a bizarre episode ordered NBC to *stop* taping Colin Powell, her boss, but then Powell told the news crew to continue and later fired her. Why did she fly off the handle?

A crazy little right-wing nutcase, and now she's doomed them ALL!

A list of Abramoff's contributions from Newsmeat.com. Not a Democrat on the list.

There's more , on the website of our own Michael Petrelis.

Yep, I saw the list. My former Congressman who was beat 2 years ago, George Nethercutt is also on the list. What a sleeze bag. This is beginning to look more and more like a GOP scandal of epic proportions.

the bush campaign has donated its abramoff money to charity, as has hastert.

Does this, in your mind, absolve them of any improprieties? does it obviate the need for a closer look?

i have feeling a lot of congressmen will be giving a lot to charity in the next few weeks....

.

[ January 04, 2006, 12:29 PM: Message edited by: Chill-Trick ]

Yeah, but they only donated that $6,000 Abramoff personally donated - what about the other $94,000 he brought in to the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign - do you really think all that money is clean?

Don't forget Speaker Livingston, Rep. Traficant, and now we find out on the news that Senators Levin, Reid, Dorgan, and even Stabenow are linked to Abramoff.

I don't care if this results in 60% Republicans 40% Democrats, 80% Republicans 20% Democrats, 70% Democrats 30% Republicans--or any other number of percentages. That isn't the point, despite what so many emotional partisans here might believe.

As idealistic as it sounds, these people are public servants. They are elected to the House and Senate for a reason, and none of those reasons have anything to do with scumbags like Abramoff. Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, every one of them should be expelled from Congress if it is found they did anything illegal or even unethical.

Abramoff: The House That Jack Built

[ January 04, 2006, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: twin58 ]

MIB link please cuz I'm hearing just the opposite.

It was on ABC News this morning. I was listening to the news brief on my way to a funeral. Kind of ironic, I guess.

[ January 04, 2006, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

Everything I've seen and read show he had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with any dems. Pure and simple this is completely republican. M Petrelis on this board has the list of where his contributions went and there isn't a single dem on it. Maybe the news item you are refering to said he passed Reid in a hallway once.

His CLIENTS gave to Democrats, or people associated with the clients gave to Democrats.

However, Abramoff, a former College Republican--which is where he met Grover Norquist and some of the other crooks caught up in his net--has spent the last ten years enabling the Republican control of Congress. He gave DIRECTLY ONLY TO REPUGLICANS.

The question will be, when he rats out people--and he's saying he has 60 names at least--that gave him or his clients something in exchange for his donations, will he be including Democrats on that list?

Right now, the names that keep coming up are major, powerful Repuglicans.

So I guess that $131,000 to Patrick Kennedy is a myth, eh? You lemmings can try to spin this any way you wish, but the fact remains, there are many Democrats embroiled in this mess as well. It just breaks your left-wing hearts, I'd bet.

Kennedy was the top congressional Democratic recipient of Abramoff-linked funds, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a campaign watchdog group that analyzed contributions from 1999 to 2005. He was eighth overall among members of Congress.

Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has collected "$36,000 from two of Abramoff's Indian clients -- third most among Democrats -- and sees their cash as no different from the $148,000 he received from eight other tribes not connected to Abramoff. He said he doesn't intend to return the money."

[ January 04, 2006, 07:21 PM: Message edited by: MIB ]

Link please for the Patrick Kennedy thing as that's new to me and I can't made heads or tails outta how to navigate the Center for Responsive Politics site to find this info.

[ January 04, 2006, 07:36 PM: Message edited by: gobar ]

A lot of stuff re. this will be new to many. However, I'm going to go out on a limb and say this whole thing won't be nearly as extensive as the media is making it seem. If true, that would kinda disappoint me, for I'd like to see every Republican and every Democrat tied to Abramoff booted out of Congress.

Note that MIB has yet to link to anything, and again, he's conflating different things. Again, if you have any proof that Abramoff gave directly to Democrats, please show it. Also, did Kennedy give Abramoff's clients anything in return? It looks like Abramoff is going to sing loudly--troll, I think is the correct verb--about what his REPUG allies did for his financial bidding. It looks really, really bad....

Far more explosive stuff, it seems, is now coming out about how Abramoff used the WHITE HOUSE as a fundraising tool for Grover Norquist. In fact, an Indian rep from the Coushatta tribe supposedly passed off a check for $25,000 directly to Norquist in the White House. First he denied doing it. Then he's admitted he may have been there. Lou DuBose of the Texas Observer has the story, "The Pimping of the Presidency." He even has pix of the check written to Norquist's outfit. Weren't the GOP all whipped up about Clinton's use of the Lincoln bedroom and Gore's fundraising at a Buddhist Temple? So what about Bushie using the White House as a financial brothel? "A heck of a job!"



[ January 04, 2006, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: fantomas ]

Not nary a Democrat on the list.

All Republican politicians and Republican Political Action Committees.

Tom DeLay certainly never missed a handout.

I disagree with MIB that this will not be as extensive as the media is claiming. Abramoff's ass is on the line and he's going to squeal like the pig he is. It has the potential to be explosive. Republicans across Washington are as nervous as a virgin at a prison rodeo.

[ January 04, 2006, 10:20 PM: Message edited by: UMRebel/Bucfan ]

Fasten your seat belts boys, I think we're in for a glorious, bumpy ride!