August 11, 2005
BOOK 'IM:
Washington lobbyist Abramoff charged (CURT ANDERSON, 8/11/05, Associated Press)
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key figure in investigations involving House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy casino boats.The indictment, returned by a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, charges that Abramoff and an associate, 36-year-old New York businessman Adam Kidan, used a fake wire transfer to defraud two lenders out of some $60 million to finance the deal for SunCruz Casinos.
Abramoff and Kidan are charged with five counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Each count carries a penalty of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said Abramoff was in FBI custody in Los Angeles. Kidan's attorney in Florida, Martin Jaffe, said his client would surrender to authorities in Fort Lauderdale on Friday. [...]
Abramoff is also under federal investigation in Washington by a grand jury investigating whether he and a lobbying partner overcharged Indian tribes by millions of dollars for their work.
DeLay, R-Texas, was not mentioned in any lawsuits involved in the SunCruz deal.
DeLay has asked the House Ethics Committee to review allegations that Abramoff or his clients paid some of DeLay's overseas travel expenses. DeLay has denied knowing that the expenses were paid by Abramoff, whom he once described as "one of my closest and dearest friends."
Abramoff collected more than $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign and raised thousands of dollars for DeLay and other Republican members of Congress. He also was friends with former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, now a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia.
One of the nice things about having grown-ups running the government is they can be counted on to prosecute even their own. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 11, 2005 12:43 PM
The Dems are probably elated over this - wait until they realize it does them no good. The graft and corruption associated with Indian casinos will destroy Abramoff's ability to zing DeLay, unless there truly is a smoking document somewhere. But we know that DeLay is not the only travel target. Pelosi and Harold Ford are hanging out there, too.
Plus, the casino dirt is at its worst in CA and NY, where the MSM will not really pursue Democratic corruption.
Posted by: jim hamlen at August 11, 2005 10:04 PMAnd Rostenkowski and Wright had to wait for a Republican Congress to be prosecuted.
And the RNC is paying the legal fees of the 2002 New Hampshire phone jammers.
And Abramoff's role in your party was to launder donations to launder money to DeLay, at DeLay's behest, and be the cutout when the jig was up.
Posted by: Rick Perlstein at August 11, 2005 11:55 PMYes, we sent the phone jammer to prison too.
Posted by: oj at August 12, 2005 12:00 AM"The" phone jammer? There were several, and Tobin is still a free man among the people we KNOW were involved (he's the one who had $700,000 in legal fees paid by your donations to the RNC.
Posted by: Rick Perlstein at August 12, 2005 3:21 AMIs Rick's point that corrupt people donate to the Republicans more often, just as often, or that they also donate and that justifies anything the Democrats have ever done?
Sheesh, you'd think the Chinese were trying to buy influence into American politics through illegal contributions or something.
Posted by: Randall Voth at August 12, 2005 6:40 AMHe worked for the party, of course we helped with his legal defense. Others have already been sentenced.
Posted by: oj at August 12, 2005 7:18 AMThe moonbats are convinced that the downfall of the Bush presidency over this and and many other supposed crimes, lies and activities.
Posted by: Dave W. at August 13, 2005 12:30 AM...is immanent.
Posted by: Dave W. at August 13, 2005 12:31 AM