Nonprofit Group Linked to DeLay Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Abramoff

[cal04]

An Extensive Web of Financial Ties
Nonprofit Group Linked to DeLay Was Funded Mostly by Clients of Abramoff
The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners will not identify the money's origins. Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay.

The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy. A spokesman for DeLay, who is fighting in a Texas state court unrelated charges of illegal fundraising, denied that the contributions influenced the former House majority leader's political activities. The Russian energy executives who worked with Abramoff denied yesterday knowing anything about the million-dollar London transaction described in tax documents.

Whatever the real motive for the contribution of $1 million -- a sum not prohibited by law but extraordinary for a small, nonprofit group -- the steady stream of corporate payments detailed on the donor list makes it clear that Abramoff's long-standing alliance with DeLay was sealed by a much more extensive web of financial ties than previously known.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001480.html

one page print version
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001480_pf.html

[Scout1071]

1. Yes. Keep it comin'.

Let's take a look at all their so-called "nonprofit" groups.

[waiting for hope]

2. I hope that when he goes down

he really hits rock bottom...DeLay needs a severe ass whooping..

[roguevalley]

3. Russian oil and gas = mob. Russian mob. This is great. keep them

coming.

[KittyWampus]

48. The GOP Was Funneling Russian Money Into US Politics!

:D

And they think their party exemplifies "patriotism".

[CHIMO]

4. A Voice from the Past

Clarke: Nations using internet to spy
Friday 05 November 2004, 21:34 Makka Time, 18:34 GMT

The world's most advanced military powers are using the internet to spy on their enemies and prepare digital attacks against targets, a leading cyber security expert has said.

"When there's a major cyber incident it's very difficult to prove most of the time who did it," said Richard Clarke on Friday, former White House adviser on national security and cyber threats.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D29B0874-8690-4929-9BFE-44E59F217582.htm

[lebkuchen]

21. Clarke: "Maybe the U.S. too" ??

...said Richard Clarke on Friday, former White House adviser on national security and cyber threats.

Clarke had to have known U.S. spying on citizens without warrant was going on.

[SushiFan]

5. Hah,hah,hah............Delay!!

The Sugarland Cockroach is going DOWN.

He's squirming like one right now as the light is shone on him thanks to Ronnie Earle. But the self-saving stool pidgeoning Abramoff is doing at this very moment, means that the cockroach Delay will be crushed to smithereens by his own but buddy Jack! Halleluiah, there IS a God afterall in Texas.

Now, on to GWB+crime family..............

[seafan]

6. Another clip:

(Emphasis added)

snip

No legal bar exists to a $1 million donation by a foreign entity to a group such as the U.S. Family Network, according to Marcus Owens, a Washington lawyer who directed the IRS's office of tax-exempt organizations from 1990 to 2000 and who reviewed, at The Post's request, the tax returns filed by the U.S. Family Network.

But "a million dollars is a staggering amount of money to come from a foreign source" because such a donor would not be entitled to claim the tax deduction allowed for U.S. citizens, Owens said. "Giving large donations to an organization whose purposes are as ambiguous as these . . . is extraordinary. I haven't seen that before. It suggests something else is going on.

end snip


This article is loaded with intricate details.

[wordpix2]

51. it's great., get the IRS on this. They harassed a

single mom friend of mine who works for $10/hr. over her deduction for her youngest child who lives with her. She had to hire a lawyer because the IRS kept auditing and harassing her even though she had done nothing wrong. I'm glad the IRS has better things to do this year.

[goforit]

7. How convenient. Can this information be sent to the people of his district

[Jane Austin]

8. This is absolutely dynamite stuff!

Somebody at the WP has been doing some hard work.

Most good investigating is doing what is evident here: Lots of phoning to companies with similar names; checking with former partners at the London law office; talking to people who used to work with the various principals; checking every last detail.

Not very glamorous, but that's what's behind really good reporting.

Good thing they got this in under the wire for this year's Pulitzers. :)

[Lasher]

9. Wait a minute...

I thought the House of Representatives was on an extended vacation, so that The Hamper could clear up those pesky allegations about money laundering, and return to his rightful position as King of the Most Corrupt Congress Ever. How's that going to work now, with more criminal charges likely to rain down on Hot Tub Tom? Maybe Congress won't reconvene until 2007, when we will have a majority. That would be find with me.

[bluerum]

26. The "hamper" - thats a good one. He is full of dirty laundry.

[Tin Man]

34. I love it - Tom "the hamper" Delay!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[wordpix2]

52. lol, "the Hamper"

[stevedeshazer]

10. Has the WP has been sitting on this story?

Releasing it on Saturday which happens to be New Year's Eve?

Talk about your year-end news dump. :wow:

[Zen Democrat]

11. I think the Abramoff plea deal had a lot to do with the WP story.

[stevedeshazer]

12. That makes sense. n/t

[TygrBright]

13. Hee-hee.... I love this line:

>>A former Abramoff associate said the two executives "wanted to contribute to DeLay" and clearly had the resources to do it. At one point, Koulakovsky asked during a dinner in Moscow "what would happen if the DeLays woke up one morning" and found a luxury car in their front driveway, the former associate said. They were told the DeLays "would go to jail and you would go to jail."<<

Looks like they're on their way!

gleefully,
Bright

[JusticeForAll]

14. that's the same line I liked best!

This is a very good sign of things to come. These bastards are going down!

[amandabeech]

20. Ah, shucks! Those Russkies are just a bunch of good ol' boy

bidnessmen. Why, all they wanted was a good profit and no taxes. What's wrong with that? What's a few little gifts among friends?

[Mr_Spock]

15. This is so incredible

The amount of malfeasance by these fellows seems to be unbounded!

[lovuian]

16. He has the audacity to run for his district again!!!

after all this evidence!!!

[MagickMuffin]

17. Bring the Hammer Down on the Sugarland Cockroach

Hopefully all of this is going to stick.

Of course all of us here know that this is all a conspiracy against Bug Boy. He hasn't done anything wrong, just little bribes, kick-backs and payoffs. Nothing illegal about that, we would all do the exact same thing.
It's the moral and values we would all hold dear!:sarcasm:

[WCGreen]

18. Look at who works for these non profits to see

how Delay is connected....

[banana republican]

19. I thought it was illegal to accept foreign campaign contributions?? n/t

[ktlyon]

44. me too

?

[KittyWampus]

49. It Is. Hence Abramoff Was Accepting It/Funneling It Into Politics

it's called money laundering.

[spinbaby]

22. Just when you think they couldn't be more corrupt...

...they somehow manage. The Republican party is one big money-laundering scheme.

[Tin Man]

23. big K&R for the republican culture of corruption - n/t

[formercia]

24. Law firms as intermediaries

I've been seeing a lot of that in organizations connected with the GOP. It may be common practice but it surely smells like a cutout to me. Claiming attorney client privilege is just one more barrier to an investigation.

[LizW]

25. They learned it from the drug dealers

And that's why they should be charged under RICO.

It is appalling that the corruption could get this bad. It is clear that this is money laundering, bribery and selling of influence to foreign interests. It is despicable, and DeLay and any others doing this should go to prison for a very, long, long time.

Get these people out of my government!

:grr:

[Tin Man]

28. Talk about treason - congressmen selling votes to foreign interests?

If these allegations are true, Delay et al should be tried for treason.

[wordpix2]

54. and don't forget, * says DeLay is innocent so makes me wonder

what Bush's ties to these oil profiteers really are.

[formercia]

30. Why RICO is so important

Money is power. With RICO you can do more than throw someone in jail, you can go after their assets.

[Beetwasher]

27. Repubs Only Have The ILLUSION OF GRASSROOTS

That's all they ever had. It was ALWAYS a scam propped up by laundered money and election fraud.

[formercia]

31. It's called Astroturf support

It only looks like grass from a distance and has no roots whatsoever.

[Joanne98]

36. This is the problem with FAKE movements........

[donkeyotay]

39. Exactly. A populist scam propped up by organized crime

I picked up an old book in the Goodwill called, "When the Pentagon was for Sale" because I thought the title sounded quaint. It's amazing how much the last defense contractor rape of the taxpayer looked like this one. And you would have thought that companies like Unisys that got caught with their hands in the cookie jar would have been barred from contracting. Many of the GOP players around then are still around and still doing the national security scam.

[KittyWampus]

50. Elmer Gantry's of the 21st century.

[PCIntern]

29. I find it vaguely ironic

that the Russian's Wall came down at the 'request' of St. Ronnie, so that the bidnessmen could engage in Capitalism leading to the inevitable crony capitalism leading to the inevitable attempts to bribe American politicians and thus the downfall of the Reagan revolution with any luck.

It reminds me of a friend of mine who once said that in the old days the casinos used to let you at least hold the money for a while before they took it all. Now, you just drain.

For these guys, all the societal boundaries have been swept away, like the levees in New Orleans.

[Maestro]

32. There not too much more to say.

DeLay is so dirty. It reminds me of that mayor in New York in the 1800's. What was his name, Tammany (sp?)?

[The Great Escape]

33. Tammany Hall Was the Political Machine That Ran NYC ....

pretty much up through LaGuardia. Boss Tweed was the union leader that was the political boss, although, I don't think he was ever mayor?

[Maestro]

35. You're right.

That's it.

[acmavm]

37. Is this what you're thinking of?

NO ONE BETTER EXEMPLIFIED the twentieth century's moral, cultural, and physical shift in the city's body politic than legendary mayor James J. "Jimmy" Walker, who first came to political light as a Tammany supporter of Governor Al Smith. A Democratic state senator in the early twenties, Walker was elected mayor in the fall of 1925, a halcyon time in America of easy money, easy virtue, and even easier vice. Walker personified the city's rebellious attitude against social restriction in an era that began with the passage in 1919 of the Volstead Act, which enforced the national ban on the sale (but not the private consumption) of alcohol. The purpose of the federal government at first seemed clear enough: to discourage the growing immortality that the nation's newest craze, nightclubbing, had produced, nowhere at the time more concentrated in New York City than on West 42nd Street, which by that year boasted dozens of thriving nightclubs. The day after Volstead, these became "speakeasies," establishments that no longer bothered with quality control, cleanliness, overcrowding, or curfews. By the time Walker was elected mayor, 32,000 speakeasies were operating throughout the city. Entirely in keeping with his political style of governing, he happily looked the other way at the city's booming, if illegal, bootlegging industry. While still a state senator he had helped pass legislation that legalized Sunday post-church entertainment, including baseball, boxing, and moviegoing, which forever endeared him to a working class grateful for anything that helped bring relief to their six-day, sixty-hour workweek, who in turn elected him mayor.

http://www.newyorkhistory.info/42nd-Street/jimmywalker.html

Great site!

[brentspeak]

38. "Non-profit"...ha!

With today's Republicans, there always has to be something in it for them.

[Thom Little]

40. The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins.

.......

In addition to the million-dollar payment involving the London law firm, for example, half a million dollars was donated to the U.S. Family Network by the owners of textile companies in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, according to the tax records. The textile owners -- with Abramoff's help -- solicited and received DeLay's public commitment to block legislation that would boost their labor costs, according to Abramoff associates, one of the owners and a DeLay speech in 1997.

A quarter of a million dollars was donated over two years by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Abramoff's largest lobbying client, which counted DeLay as an ally in fighting legislation allowing the taxation of its gambling revenue.



(More damning stuff at the link, much more than I'm allowed to copy and paste here)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001480.html

[seemslikeadream]

41. Where The Money Came From & Went

[EST]

42. This darling quote, appearing at the very end has to be the

biggest laff-a-lot and has to be the author's zinger of the week-cool.

"Anytime you hire your child or spouse, it raises questions as to whether this is a throwback to the time when people used campaigns and government jobs to enrich their families," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, and a former general counsel of the FEC.
:rofl: :rofl: :nuke:

[formercia]

47. Suckling the teat of the great money sow

DeLay's Law: leave no teat unsuckled.

[orleans]

43. i hope the truth keeps pouring out about this mess

and they all pay with their jobs!

[paineinthearse]

45. "$1 million -- a sum not prohibited by law but extraordinary for a small"

Is this true? Foreign contributions to PAC's is leagal?

[formercia]

46. The difference between a charitable organization and a PAC

charitable organizations give money to people in need or use funds for the benefit of the same. PACs give money to people who already have money of their own but prefer using the money of others for political ends.

[wordpix2]

53. note this particular Hamper scam has a lot to do with oil profiteers

No wonder Bush says DeLay is "innocent." I wouldn't doubt that he and The Dick are hip deep in the muck of this story.

<snip> Nevskaya said in the e-mail yesterday, however, that "neither Naftasib nor the principals you mentioned have ever been represented by a London law firm that you name as James & Sarch Co." She also said that Naftasib and its principals did not pay $1 million to the firm, and denied knowing about the transaction.

Two former Buckham associates said that he told them years ago not only that the $1 million donation was solicited from Russian oil and gas executives, but also that the initial plan was for the donation to be made via a delivery of cash to be picked up at a Washington area airport.

One of the former associates, a Frederick, Md., pastor named Christopher Geeslin who served as the U.S. Family Network's director or president from 1998 to 2001, said Buckham further told him in 1999 that the payment was meant to influence DeLay's vote in 1998 on legislation that helped make it possible for the IMF to bail out the faltering Russian economy and the wealthy investors there.

[txaslftist]

55. I would have f*cked him anyway, claims accused whore, Delay...

The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy.


A spokesman for DeLay, who is fighting in a Texas state court unrelated charges of illegal fundraising, denied that the contributions influenced the former House majority leader's political activities. The Russian energy executives who worked with Abramoff denied yesterday knowing anything about the million-dollar London transaction described in tax documents...

[Scurrilous]

56. Lock them up...

...throw away the key.

:kick: