I dont know if this has been covered, but I was doing a bit of Googling and ran across
this article from six months ago. I think it is a fairly significant article and more fully fleshes out who are the players in this sordid little play. More on the flip...
U.S. Rep Tom DeLay's Alleged Link to Russian Lobbyists Under Scrutiny 06-04-2005 12:38
Mosnews.com
A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (Texas) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements, the New York Times and Washington Post reported Tuesday....
Notice the publication date? April 6.
The expense-paid trip by DeLay and four of his staff members cost $57,238, according to records filed by his office. During his six days in Moscow, he played golf, met with Russian church leaders and talked to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, a friend of Russian oil and gas executives associated with the lobbying effort.
DeLay also dined with the Russian executives and two Washington-based registered lobbyists for the Bahamian-registered company, sources say. One of those lobbyists was Jack Abramoff, who is now at the center of a federal influence-peddling and corruption probe related to his representation of Indian tribes.
-snip-
In this case, travel funds did not come directly from lobbyists; the money came from a firm, Chelsea Commercial Enterprises Ltd., that funded the lobbying campaign, according to the sources. Chelsea was coordinating the effort with a Russian oil and gas company --- Naftasib --- that has business ties with Russian security institutions, the sources said.
What is Chelsea Commercial Enterprises Ltd? Who knows? But, one may surmise. The former owner of the Russian oil firm Naftasib, Roman Abramovich, also owns the Chelsea Footbal Club in Great Britain. Unfortunately, a Google Search of Chelsea Commercial Enterprises Ltd. and Roman Abramovich turns up zero hits (Hmmmm...) I guess the next question is, why is a Russian oil billionaire so interested in bribing a powerful American congressman?