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The headlines make it clear: "The friend Tom DeLay can't shake," "With Friends Like These..." A relationship with former lobbyist Jack Abramoff is causing House Majority Leader Tom DeLay trouble. Abramoff, who for years was one of Washington's "superlobbyists," is now the target of a Justice Department criminal probe of allegations that he defrauded American Indian tribes of tens of millions of dollars in fees. Even the WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT and the WEEKLY STANDARD have raised questions about Abramoff's dealings. Read more about Abramoff below.
(NOW reported on the Indian gaming scandal, and Abramoff's role in November, 2004 — read more and watch the video.)
Additional Reading
"Lobbyist Linked To Lawmaker Trips,"
"At least two aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and two Democratic congressmen received travel expenses initially paid by lobbyist Jack Abramoff on his credit card or by his firm, internal records of the lobbying firm show." --CBS News, May 3, 2005
"With Friends Like These...,"
"It is a Washington melodrama that has played out many times before. When political figures get into trouble and their worlds collapse, they look to save themselves by fingering others higher in the food chain. Will Abramoff attempt to bargain with federal prosecutors by offering up DeLay—and does he really have the goods to do so?" -- NEWSWEEK, Michael Isikoff, April 18, 2005 "Jack Abramoff: The friend Tom DeLay can't shake"
"Abramoff's defining innovation on K Street—the Avenue of the Lobbyists—has been to wear his political and business hats at the same time. He is an operator and also an ideologue." -- James Harding, Slate.com, April 7, 2005
THE JOURNAL EDITORIAL REPORT
"Well, I think they're all perception. If you look at all of these charges, they're at best fine-print violations of the rules. None of these are serious ethical charges. But DeLay has really three other problems. One of them is the perception charge. He's been associated with Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, a former staff member of his, and these people are in deep trouble for questionable lobbying work they did for Indian casinos." --Brett Stevens, WALL STREET JOURNAL editorial board, April 1, 2005
"Untangling a Lobbyist's Stake in a Casino Fleet"
"With Millions of Dollars Unaccounted for, Another Federal Investigation Targets Abramoff." -- Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi, THE WASHINGTON POST, May 1, 2005
"A Lobbyist's Progress: Jack Abramoff and the end of the Republican Revolution,"
"Abramoff was until recently a registered lobbyist, and Scanlon offers himself as a public affairs specialist, but more precisely they are what Republicans in Washington used to call "Beltway Bandits," profiteers who manipulate the power of big government on behalf of well-heeled people who pay them tons of money to do so. Sometime around 1995, Republicans in Washington stopped using the term "Beltway Bandits."
-- Andrew Ferguson, THE WEEKLY STANDARD, December 20, 2004
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