US News & World Report provides a much-needed update on the federal investigations surrounding the corrupt lobbying practices of Jack Abramoff and company:
"We thought it was wrapping up, but they've indicated that it is really about to expand," said one source involved in the case. "It's not ending anytime soon or even when he goes to jail."
Recently, US N&WR
reported that Abramoff now has his
very own FBI desk to work at. He spends "up to four hours a day detailing his shady business to agents eager to nail more congressmen in the scandal."
More in extended.
Last week, TPM Muckraker
reported that federal prosecutors with the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section requested, and were granted, a closer location of incarceration for Abramoff in nearby Cumberland, MD. Abramoff will reported to jail on November 15th.
From the motion:
Much of the cooperation required of Mr. Abramoff pertains to grand-jury or law-enforcement-sensitive matters. Accordingly, at the Court's request, the government will provide in a sealed pleading or at a sealed hearing more details about Mr. Abramoff's cooperation and the need for his placement within driving distance of Washington, DC.
So, even if Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) or Reps. John Doolittle (R-CA), Don Young (R-AK), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Charles Taylor (R-NC) all somehow manage to be re-elected, the worst may yet be in store for them. And if federal investigators are getting solid information from Abramoff and are truly free to investigate and prosecute based on that info, expect the circle of targeted congressmen to increase.
More immediately (it seems) should be the guilty plea of Ed Buckham, former Chief of Staff for Tom DeLay-turned-founder of the now-defunct Alexander Strategy Group (ASG) and former founder of the DeLay front-group the US Family Network. Federal investigators have been focusing on him for quite some time, as he was named in the Tony Rudy plea ('Lobbyist B') along with his ex-firm ASG ('Firm 3').