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The Man Who Bought Off Washington    [

    Lobbyist to Reveal All in Congress Bribes Scandal
    By Julian Borger
    The Guardian UK

    Wednesday 04 January 2006

    A well-connected Republican lobbyist agreed yesterday to give evidence against top politicians whom he allegedly bribed, in what analysts predict may prove to be the biggest congressional scandal in American history.

    The lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy involving "corruption of public officials" as well as fraud and tax evasion, after striking a deal with federal prosecutors that is expected to lift the lid on a culture of corruption in Congress, in which legislative favors are routinely exchanged for lucrative perks.

    Politicians from both parties received money from Mr. Abramoff and his clients, but the scandal is likely to inflict most damage on the Republicans and could ultimately threaten their hold on Congress.

    One of the party's most powerful figures, Tom DeLay, who was instrumental in orchestrating its victories in 2000, 2002 and 2004, is at the centre of the investigation for his close financial ties to Mr. Abramoff. He is also facing charges in a separate case involving political money-laundering in Texas and had to step down from his job as House majority leader last year. A senior White House budget official, David Safavian, has been arrested for failing to report gifts from the indicted lobbyist.

    "This is potentially the biggest congressional scandal in history," said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor and the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog organization. "Abramoff knew everybody. He knows how Washington works."

    The White House spokesman Scott McClellan was unable to say yesterday whether George Bush had ever met Mr. Abramoff, but he denounced the lobbyist. "What he is reportedly acknowledged doing is unacceptable and outrageous," he said. "If laws were broken, he must be held to account for what he did."

    Mr. Abramoff was a central fixture in Washington political life, wining and dining top politicians in his own restaurant, hosting them in plush corporate boxes at sporting events, and flying them on all-expenses-paid golf trips to Scotland.

    The lobbyist and his partners also coordinated political donations worth $1.7m ( 975,000) to more than 200 members of Congress on behalf of clients such as the Choctaw Indian tribe in Mississippi, the US-administered Northern Mariana islands in the Pacific and Russian oil magnates.

    Legislation passed by Congress in recent years directly benefited those clients and the justice department's ethics division is now seeking to prove that those votes were bought.

    "Words will not ever be able to express my sorrow and my profound regret for all my actions and mistakes," Mr. Abramoff told the judge in a Washington courtroom. "I hope I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and those I've wronged or caused to suffer."

    Mr. Abramoff was also expected to plead guilty to fraud today in a separate case in Miami, involving his purchase in 2000 of a fleet of casino ships. The man he bought the fleet from, Konstantinos Boulis, was shot dead a year later in the middle of a dispute over the sale.

    Prosecutors are reported to be focusing on about 20 politicians and their staff, including the biggest recipients of Mr. Abramoff's largesse. As well as Mr. DeLay and Mr. Safavian, they include Bob Ney, the Republican head of the House administration committee known as "the mayor of Capitol Hill" for his extensive influence, and Democratic senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. The three men have all denied any wrongdoing. Mr. Dorgan and several other members of Congress have returned political donations received from Mr. Abramoff and his clients, in a rush to distance themselves from the man who was once a popular socialite.

    Despite the involvement of some Democrats, Stanley Brand, a former congressional lawyer, said Republicans were likely to feel the brunt of any public backlash in the November congressional elections.

    "The party in power always suffers," said Mr. Brand, who is now in private practice specializing in defending public officials.

    The scandal will also bring scrutiny of Mr. DeLay's decade-long bid to pack Washington lobbying firms with Republicans. The scheme, known as the "K Street project" after the wide boulevard that houses much of the industry, helped create lucrative jobs for party activists.

    But Mr. Brand doubted that the scrutiny would lead to profound change.

    "Everyone will get worked into a lather and then they'll go back to what they've done for the past 200 years ... You're not going to get money out of politics and you're not going to get influence out of government."

    Backstory

    The Abramoff scandal began last year as a little-noticed investigation into casinos on some Native American reservations. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and other tribes complained to Senate investigators that they had been paying millions of dollars to Washington lobbyists to help protect their gambling income from taxation and competition but were getting little in return.

    The lobbyists in question were led by Jack Abramoff, a Washington super-lobbyist who owned his own plush restaurant, Signatures, for entertaining politicians, and Michael Scanlon, a former spokesman for one of the Republican party's top power-brokers, Tom DeLay.

    The inquiry uncovered a culture of influence-peddling that infused Congress and tainted the White House, as first Mr. Scanlon and then Mr. Abramoff decided to cooperate with the justice department. As well as meals at Signatures, Mr. Abramoff offered hospitality in comfortable "sky-boxes" at sports events and golfing trips to Scotland, for a chance to play at St Andrews.

    One of the lucky golfers was Mr. DeLay, who took his wife and entourage on an Abramoff-financed trip to Scotland in 2000. He has claimed it was a working visit, involving a meeting with Margaret Thatcher. Baroness Thatcher's office has confirmed the meeting. Mr. DeLay stepped down as House majority leader in September after being charged in a separate case involving political money-laundering in Texas.

 

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    The Man Who Bought Off Washington
    By Rupert Cornwell
    The Independent UK

    Wednesday 04 January 2006

Lobbyist's guilty plea set to expose bribery scandal at the heart of US political system.

    Jack Abramoff, the disgraced former Republican super-lobbyist, has agreed a deal with US government prosecutors, opening the way for what could be the biggest political influence peddling scandal in Washington for decades.

    At a brief appearance yesterday in a federal court, Mr. Abramoff pleaded guilty to three sets of charges covering fraud, conspiracy to commit bribery, and tax evasion. According to his lawyers, he is also pleading guilty to two separate fraud charges connected to the purchase in 2000 of a fleet of casino gambling boats in Florida.

    The convictions could send the lobbyist to jail for five years or more. But that sentence may one day prove a mere footnote to a possible corruption scandal involving as many as 20 congressmen, senators and their aides - mostly Republicans but also including some Democrats - believed to be under investigation by the Justice Department.

    Under the plea bargain, Mr. Abramoff is expected to tell all about his dealings with the congressmen, and the gifts lavished upon them to win their support. The favours include millions of dollars in campaign contributions, all-expenses-paid foreign trips, meals, luxury boxes at major sporting events, and generous funding of special interest groups linked to the lawmakers.

    The indictment accuses Mr. Abramoff of "corruptly" offering gifts and other incentives "to influence others in the performance of their official duties." Congressional ethics rules specifically bar legislators and their aides from accepting such gifts from lobbyists.

    Thus far, congressmen caught up in the probe - among them the Ohio Republican Bob Ney, who went on a 2002 golfing trip to St Andrews courtesy of Mr. Abramoff - have denied all wrongdoing. But the ramifications of the case extend to the heart of the ruling establishment in Washington. Mr. Abramoff soared to prominence because of his ties with the younger, hard-charging generation of Republicans led by the former house speaker Newt Gingrich, who seized control of Congress in the party's stunning mid-term election victory of 1994.

    One of his closest allies was Tom DeLay, who was the hugely powerful (and greatly feared) House majority leader, until he stepped down last September after being indicted for alleged illegal fundraising in his home state of Texas.

    Mr. DeLay, a vital congressional "enforcer" for President Bush and his legislative agenda, was himself a guest on an Abramoff-organized golf junket to Scotland in 2000. The trip was partly paid for by donations from various Indian tribes who had hired the lobbyist to protect their lucrative casino gambling operations.

    Mr. Abramoff also arranged at least $1m ( 570,000) of financing for a conservative pressure group, the US Family Network, closely linked to Mr. DeLay.

    The lobbyist's downfall began with a senate committee investigation which revealed that, in conjunction with his partner Michael Scanlon, he had charged the tribes more than $80m for their services - a colossal sum even by the standards of the $4bn-a-year Washington lobbying industry. According to prosecutors, Mr. Abramoff reaped roughly $20m in hidden profits from the scheme.

    Pressure had mounted on Mr. Abramoff when Mr. Scanlon - a one-time press spokesman for Mr. DeLay - agreed a plea deal of his own, admitting he conspired to bribe a member of Congress and other public officials. By his own claim, all but penniless and facing a stiff jail term, Mr. Abramoff has evidently concluded that his best hope of leniency lies in testifying against those who benefited from him.

    The damage - and the trepidation - however stretches far beyond Capitol Hill, into government and the White House. Last September, David Safavian, a top official in the White House budget office, resigned after being indicted for lying and obstructing the federal investigation into Mr. Abramoff.

    It also separately emerged that in 2003 Mr. Abramoff sought $9m from President Omar Bongo of Gabon to arrange a meeting with President Bush. The two did meet the following year - though there has been no evidence it was thanks to Mr. Abramoff.

    Questioned by reporters yesterday, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, could not say whether the President had ever met the lobbyist. But he described Mr. Abramoff's alleged misdeeds as "outrageous and unacceptable". If laws were broken he must be held accountable, Mr. McClellan said.

    The Florida charges appear unrelated to the corruption inquiry in Washington. Mr. Abramoff was due to face trial in Miami next week on charges relating to the $150m purchase of the SunCruz casino cruise company. His co-defendant in Florida agreed last month to plead guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud and to testify against Mr. Abramoff.

    The pair are accused of faking a $23m wire transfer to make it seem they were committing their own money to the transaction. On that false understanding, two investment companies provided much of the rest of the financing. Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, the seller of SunCruz, was later murdered, apparently in a Mafia feud.