click on chart to see full diagram
Happy Abramoffukkah!
It now looks like 2006 could be worse for Bush and the GOP than 2005 was:
WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff consulted briefly Friday with a federal judge in Miami as they put the finishing touches on a plea deal that could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.
The plea agreement would secure the lobbyist's testimony against several members of Congress who received favors from him or his clients.
Abramoff and a former partner were indicted in Miami in August on charges of conspiracy and fraud for allegedly lying about their assets to help secure financing to purchase a fleet of gambling boats.
For the past two weeks, pressure has been intensifying on Abramoff to strike a deal with prosecutors since his former business partner, Adam Kidan, pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the 2000 SunCruz deal.
Abramoff's cooperation would be a boon to an ongoing Justice Department investigation of congressional corruption, possibly helping prosecutors build criminal cases against up to 20 lawmakers and their staff members.
The sources, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the talks, said the lawyers spoke by phone with U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, giving him an update on the plea negotiations. Huck scheduled another status conference for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The deal could be completed before then, the sources said. Abramoff could sign the plea agreement and exchange it with prosecutors via fax over the weekend, they said.
Details of where Abramoff will enter his plea are still being worked out. Abramoff's lawyers have indicated that they want the plea to be made in U.S. District Court in Washington, one of the sources said.
If that happens, Abramoff would plead guilty to charges contained in what is known as a criminal information -- a filing made by a federal prosecutor with a defendant's permission that bypasses action by a grand jury.
The lawyers could then apprise Huck about the plea and its effect on the case in Miami.
...
Three men were arrested in September on murder charges in Boulis' killing and are awaiting trial.
Michael Scanlon, another former Abramoff associate, pleaded guilty in November in a separate case in Washington.
Scanlon said he helped Abramoff and Kidan buy SunCruz by persuading Rep. Bob Ney (news, bio, voting record), R-Ohio, to insert comments into the Congressional Record that were "calculated to pressure the then-owner to sell on terms favorable" to Abramoff and Kidan.
AP Wire
Looks like Jack has sung, and that it will be a very Happy New Year here at KOS and for the Dems in November.
The Repubs listed on the WaPo chart include Ney, Hastert, Hayworth, Cochran, Burns, Delay, Brownback, Pombo, Nickles, Grassley and Bush himself.
Kudos to Terre for bringing up the Abramoff WaPo chart again.
Update [2005-12-30 20:2:14 by Sherlock Google]: For future historians, Wonkette came up with "Abramoffukkah" on Dec 28. I added the "Happy" and the exclamation point to make it HAPPY ABRAMOFFUKKAH!
Update [2005-12-30 20:35:34 by Sherlock Google]: MaximusNYC claims rights on coinage of "Abramoffukkah" on Dec. 21. Also Dengre's diary on how the Democrats are not crooks and took zero money from Abramoff himself is here:There are ZERO Democrats who took Abramoff money.
Update [2005-12-30 23:17:47 by Sherlock Google]: Switched charts above to the later WaPo Abramoff Galaxy chart on Dengre's very good suggestion.