Lobbyist Probe Glance

<snip>

Those convicted so far are:

_ Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion charges in connection with his lobbying work.

_ Tony Rudy, lobbyist and one-time aide to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who pleaded guilty in March to conspiring with Abramoff.

_ Safavian, who was found guilty Tuesday of covering up his dealings with Abramoff while a General Services Administration official.

_ Michael Scanlon, a former Abramoff business partner and DeLay aide, who pleaded guilty in November to conspiring to bribe public officials in connection with his lobbying work on behalf of Indian tribes and casino issues.

_ Neil Volz, an Abramoff partner who pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to corrupt his former boss, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and others with trips and other aid.

read on
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/14862815.htm
for details of the others under scrutiny for their ties to Abramoff:
Ney, R-Ohio, DeLay, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., Steven Griles, Rep. Charles Taylor, R-N.C., Harry Reid of Nevada, and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.

I mean, technically, yes, "scrutiny" applies. Media scrutiny at least. Still....

is that Reid took the money and worked for the tribes.

The GOP took the money, then took gobs of money, then lied and worked against the tribes.

Also the GOP took money directly from Abramoff which Reid did not do. For some reason the media doesn't want to respect such distinctions, because they don't want to accept that Abramoff was part of Team DeLay for all intents and purposes.

"But in spite of the apparent push by the DoJ to pursue “public integrity” cases, Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond, says it is too early to gauge how aggressively the DoJ will investigate allegations that top lawmakers, particularly Republicans, accepted bribes in an election year – especially when Democrats are looking to capitalise on the so-called “culture of corruption” within the Republican party."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6698e8d2-0077-11db-8078-0000779e2340.html

It could be important for the 2006 election that we keep an eye on this...