Lobbying Scandal Brewing In D.C.

[Omaha Steve]

(CBS/AP) A former partner of Jack Abramoff has agreed to cooperate in the fraud case against the Washington lobbyist over his 2000 purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.

Documents filed in federal courts in Miami and Washington say the agreement was part of a plea deal Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, reached with prosecutors in a separate case.

When Scanlon pleaded guilty to bilking clients for millions, it looked like just another white collar crime – only this scandal could shake some of Washington's biggest names, report CBS News correspondent Gloria Borger.

Full story is four pages: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/11/23/politics/main1074800.shtml

[WePurrsevere]

1. Ah... I do so love the smell of "cooked goose" for the Holidays. ;-) n/t

[Eurobabe]

3. I LOVE YOUR KITTY!!!

How adorable....I have three gingers.

[koopie57]

7. about the kitties

is this breed referred to as gingers? Also, are they most generally slower and lazier and fatter and cuddlier? We call ours golden boy. He was abused and is timid but what a sweetie.

[WePurrsevere]

14. Thanks! :-) .... (more OT) - >

We have a houseful of furkids (mostly felines but a few canines as well). They're all special of course. :) The ginger one in the picture is Punkin and is such a loving cuddle baby. He'll crawl under my shirt, sweater, blanket, etc and let me carry him around in whatever "pouch" I create by folding it under him... we now call that a Punka-pouch. B-)

The black one in my avatar is another sweetheart, Hecate. She's a pure black long hair bob-tail and is one of my older ones. She's also one of the foster mommy's to any new kitties that come in. :)

Photography is a long time hobby of mine and my furkids are my favorite models.. of course. :D I could talk all day about cats... or for that matter many other animals... we dearly love them here. :)

[pushycat]

21. Furkids. What a purrfect term!

[Melsky]

2. Something to be thankful for

I love it that this is starting to snowball.

[sofa king]

4. Potentially, there is no end to it.

People are going to start dying of old age before the final details of the GOP's criminal enterprise, of which Abramoff appears to be the primary money manager, emerge. In the DU research forum, I tried to list the various sub-scandals tied to Abramoff. Here's what I listed then, now with linkage:

Abramoff ripping off Indian tribes
Abramoff's influence on the Department of the Interior (including CREA)
The murder of Gus Boulis and the fraudulent acquisition of SunCruz
Abramoff and the GSA (David Safavian)
Abramoff and Israel (faking his Orthodox credentials, the sniper school, the Eshkol Academy)
Abramoff and the 9/11 terrorists
The Scotland golf trip
Abramoff and Congress
Abramoff and the College Republicans
Abramoff and Signatures restaraunt
Abramoff and the skybox tickets
Abramoff and the Marianas Islands
Abramoff and the Philippines

And I forgot to add:

Abramoff and Tyco
Abramoff and the Council of Islamic Banks and terrorist financing
Abramoff and Foxcomm
http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/010474.asp">Abramoff and Ashcroft
http://rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/abramoff_florida_recount_bush_505.htm">Abramoff and the Florida election theft

And I'm sure I'm leaving others out. We're not talking about Abramoff being responsible for the movement of millions of dollars through the GOP and the White House. We're talking about the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars, a slush fund which ebbs and flows into sweatshop labor, gambling, murder, and terrorism, all of it ruthlessly obfuscated and protected by our own Department of Justice.

Jack is well on his way to being the biggest political criminal in our nation's history, a fitting title which sits prominently underneath the aegis of the most criminal Presidency in our nation's history.

[psychopomp]

10. Thank you for posting those links

A scandal that rivals BCCI in its assemblage of corruption.

[jazzjunkysue]

15. "Abramoff and the 40 Thieves." This sounds like Rocky XXII.

"Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials."

Three words:

Which. Public. Officials.

"I'm makin' a list, checkin' it twice...."

Merry Fitzmas, Everyone!

[Demeter]

17. More Likely 400 Thieves

enough to decapitate if not depopulate the GOP.

[Gman]

5. This will soon be a mushroom cloud growing and rising on the horizon over

DC. People have no idea right now how deep and how bad the corruption in DC is right now. I suspect by November next year they will and they will vote accordingly.

[readmylips]

6. Abranoff taking big $$$ setting up meetings with little bush....

I read somewhere that he was making lots of money setting up meetings with people out side of the US, to meet with bush. What a bunch of criminals.

[Polemonium]

8. yep could get ugly inside the beltway, hope it does

Imagine people and community coming first inside the beltway. Well apathy will probably keep it from happening, but fun to think about.

[liberalnurse]

18. Maybe I can buy

a nice brownstone home there after the fall out. A quick sale type at a bargain. I'm looking for a part-time home there on Capitol Hill.....somewhere SE like around C-Street.

[513GreenPAC]

9. More on this...

An Ohio Congressman has been identified as "Representative #1". Bob Ney is the new poster boy for GOP Corruption in Ohio. He is accused of recieving dozens of vacations, sporting tickets, and other gifts from douchebag lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for influence.

Read more.

[peacebird]

11. Welcom to DU 513GreenPac!

:hi:

Always nice to have new posters adding to the forums!

:toast:

[Lochloosa]

12. A BIG Turkey Welcome to DU!

[newyawker99]

19. Hi 513GreenPAC!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[depakid]

13. "brewing?"

Seems to me this has been going on quite a long time. Where's CBS been?

Oh, I forgot- covering up for Republicans....

[jazzjunkysue]

16. This one went through the printer... Thanks.

[JackBeck]

20. Bradblog had an interesting piece on SunCruz a few months ago

Saying how Mohammad Atta took in a trip on a SunCruz casino boat(Florida based) a few days before 9/11, linking Abranoff to the shady underbelly of financial neocon ties to the 9/11 attacks.