The federal case against lobbyist Jack Abramoff has expanded to entangle former congressional aides of powerful Republican lawmakers, and by extension some of the lawmakers themselves, the New York Times
reports today in a major report on the growing scandal.
Investigators are interested in how Tony Rudy, a former deputy chief of staff to Tom DeLay (R-TX), and Neil Volz, former chief of staff to Bob Ney (R-OH), obtained cushy jobs with big K Street lobbying firms. The feds are also focusing on Rudy's wife, Lisa, whose firm, Liberty Consulting, had numerous dealings with Abramoff.
As many as a dozen members of Congress are in the cross-hairs of investigators, with an additional dozen or more former aides under scrutiny to determine whether they gave Abramoff legislative help in exchange for campaign donations, luxury trips and lavish gifts.
With a federal corruption case intensifying, prosecutors investigating Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist, are examining whether he brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors, people involved in the case have said.
The attention paid to how the aides obtained jobs occurs as Mr. Abramoff is under mounting pressure to cooperate with prosecutors as they consider a case against lawmakers. Participants in the case, who insisted on anonymity because the investigation is secret, said he could try to reach a deal in the next six weeks.
Prosecutors are trying to determine whether Mr. Abramoff made similar overtures to other well positioned government workers, especially former aides to Republican leaders in of the House and Senate. Such gestures could be considered as bribery or a conflict of interest, especially if the interests of the two parties were entangled.
One Bush appointee, David Safavian, chief procurement official in the administration, already has been indicted for lying to investigators and obstruction of justice related to his involvement with Abramoff.
The web of scandal surrounding Ambramoff is vast. Not only was he making millions lobbying for, and ripping off, Indian tribes involved in the casino business, Abramoff also engineered a $1 billion no-bid Homeland Security contract for Unisys, details of which are now spilling out.
Last week, Michael Scanlon, Abramoff's closest business partner and former press secretary to Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for cooperation in the ongoing inquiry and testimony in future prosecutions.
Some of the elected officials who may be targets in the federal probe are said to include representatives Bob Ney (R-OH), Tom DeLay (R-TX), John Doolittle (R-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Dave Vitter (R-LA) and Tom Feeny (R-FL), as well as senators Conrad Burns (R-MT) and John Cornyn (R-TX).
As mainstream media coverage of this mother of all congressional scandals heats up, expect names like Greenberg Traurig and Alexander Strategy Group (two K Street lobbying firms), along with the K Street Project, the working title of Tom DeLay's scheme to corner the lobbying money market for the GOP, to enter the public vocabulary.
Expect, also, to see Ralph Reed make headlines. The little fundie turd and behind-the-scenes political assassin seems to be up to his holier-than-thou in sleaze and potential criminality (see story).
And, of course, there are the financial shenanigans of senate majority leader Bill Frist still simmering and the saga of the easily bribed Randy "Duke" Cunningham and one of his principal bribers, Brent Wilkes, to add to the stewpot.
These are among the juicy stories ready to come tumbling out in time for the 2006 elections to shock and awe the rubes who voted for the Republican revolution.
They've been had but good - but then so have the rest of us.
National Debunker