I usually don't blog about Federal Government “scandals” because most of them turn out to be posing and posturing over minor transgressions, but when an election year starts with guilty pleas to three felonies, there may be enough of an earthquake to do some actual damage to the status quo.
Public Corruption - Jack Abramoff Guilty Plea Jack Abramoff has officially pleaded guilty to three felony charges in Washington, DC.[1] The three charges—conspiracy, honest services mail fraud, and tax evasion—are related to his lobbying activities in Washington on behalf of Native American tribes.Guilty pleas by a prominent Washington lobbyist are especially noteworthy because he turned himself in to the Justice Department 18 months prior to today’s actual court appearance. The press coverage is focusing on Republican contacts but dollars also went to plenty of Democrats. The Washington Post has a nice chart of the top 20 recipients: How Abramoff Spread the Wealth. In fact, the more you delve into the largess the more Abramoff Connections you find among the Democrats.
It seems that Mr. Abramoff has been cooperating with prosecutors for 18 months without a plea agreement in place, and that he contacted them “to admit his wrongdoing and to seek forgiveness from those he has wronged. … This minor tidbit is potentially huge. It is fair to speculate whether Mr. Abramoff has been wearing a wire or recording telephone conversations as part of his cooperation during the past 18 months.
If Jack wants to spread the guilt around Congress there are plenty of people from both parties with some explaining to do. The comment section at the Free Republic post lists names and numbers: Democrats Don't Know Jack? The speculation has already started about whether this has honest to goodness clear the bums out potential. I suppose that question depends on if Jack wore the wire this last year and a half.
