Speaking at a town hall meeting
yesterday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told the crowd that he expects seven members of Congress (one Senator + six Representatives) to go to jail for wrongdoing in connection with GOP lobbyist / fraudster / money launderer Jack Abramoff. He refused to name names, but said "if you've been keeping up with things, you've got a pretty good idea [who they are]."
I'll call these 'the Abramoff Seven,' ala the Keating Five. I should caution, however, that there have been reports of as many as 60 lawmakers being investigated for their ties to Abramoff. So the figure of seven may be a rather cautious estimate. But according to reports, the case against seven Congressmen, all Republican (the shock!), look particularly damning.
The rundown inside (I hope you like orange).
First, the Abramoff Seven (if you think I've overlooked someone as being a more likely candidate, drop me a comment):
- Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
- Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
- Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)
- Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
- Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
- Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
- Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
The first four have been reported rather frequently here and over at TPM Muckraker.
For more on Burns and Abramoff see It's Time for Conrad Burns to Resign, MT-Sen: Abramoff on Burns many GOoPers, MT-Sen: Conrad Burns Changed Vote for Abramoff Client, and MT-Sen: New Info Surfaces Tying Burns to Abramoff
For more on DeLay and Abramoff see Prosecutors Aim for DeLay, DeLay to be indicted: reading the Rudy plea, Tom DeLay's connection to sex, money and cockfights..., DeLay/Abramoff "charity" money-laundering, WOW! New troubles for DeLay, Abramoff, Buckham and the gang, NEW Abramoff News: The Chinese/Sweatshop/GOP Connection, DeLay, Abramoff & ASG = A bad day for the GOP, Abramoff, sweatshops, China, DeLay & the GOP, Yet Another Abramoff Scandal Brews, Strikingly Similar to TRMPAC/DeLay, Abramoff Action Alert, #1: Sweatshop $ to Texas?, Understanding DeLay, Breaking: New Bush-Abramoff-DeLay connections, Today's Abramoff Scandal Drip, 4-26-05, Another day and more Abramoff/Delay scandal drips, Will lobbyist Abramoff give up DeLay?, and The Chinese-DeLay travel connection....
For more on Ney and Abramoff see WP goes deep on Ney/Abramoff scandals, Important Info: Abramoff, Ney & the Washington Post, DoJ Serves Rep. Ney With a Subpoena in Abramoff Investigation, Yet More Trouble for Bob Ney, and Bob Ney - Dead Man Running from TPM-MR.
For more on Doolittle and Abramoff see Busting the GOP Spouse Corruption Loophole (which includes info on ties between Abramoff and DeLay's wife as well) and Doolittle's Payments to Wife Draw FEC Scrutiny (also from TPM-MR).
Now for those less-reported candidates to be implicated by Abramoff, Scanlon, Rudy & Co....
Rep. Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Abramoff's firm threw the congressman a fundraiser on April 11, 2003, that scored thousands of dollars in donations for his campaign. That included a $2,000 contribution from Abramoff and $1,000 from the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, which wanted federal money for school construction.
A month later, he and a U.S. senator wrote a letter challenging the Bureau of Indian Affairs' resistance that the Saginaw shouldn't quality for the federal money, The Associated Press said in a report Tuesday.
The tribe donated $3,000 more to Taylor a month after the letter. (Source)
(More on Taylor here.)
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
[Young] in 2002 signed a letter prepared by Mr. Abramoff, urging a federal agency to change its bidding rules on a building lease -- a change that would help steer the lease toward one of the lobbyist's clients. Five weeks later, two of Mr. Abramoff's Indian tribal clients gave Rep. Young's leadership political action committee $7,000. (Source)
(More on Young's involvement here and here.)
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
Not that Pombo was among the GOP congressmen closest to Abramoff. He received only $7,000 in campaign contributions from Abramoff and that's what he gave away. But late last year, FBI agents visited the headquarters of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe in Massachusetts. It turns out that the Wampanoags' 30-year struggle to gain national tribal recognition made sudden progress after they hired Abramoff as their lobbyist -- and contributed $20,000 to Pombo's political action committees. Pombo had considerable say in the Wampanoag case: The Native American Affairs Subcommittee is part of his Resources Committee. (Source)
(HT to Land of Enchantment's Squanto's Abramoff Connection (Pombo Diaries #16), which provides additional background on the reported Pombo-Abramoff ties.)
Sen. Coburn said in a recent press release:
In the wake of the Abramoff and Cunningham scandals Congress could have crafted serious reform legislation. Unfortunately, the Senate put public relations ahead of real reform and chose to wash the outside of the cup while leaving the inside filthy. The problem in Washington is not lobbyists; the problem is Congress.
I couldn't agree more. Let's make 2006 the year of ethical integrity and elect lawmakers who will act in the public interest and not out of personal gain or elitist interests.