The Saga of Jack Abramoff Goes Everywhere

The coming storm: Jack Abramoff's bipartisan sleaze
By Joshua Frank
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Nov 28, 2005, 13:51

It is far too early to tell what kind of impact it will ultimately have on the Republican establishment, but the Jack Abramoff scandal could well be the most perilous of all the storms developing in Washington. And the cloud forming on the horizon is a dark one indeed.

The most fascinating aspect of this whole controversy is the number of people it potentially involves. From elected officials in Congress to top conservative activists, the Abramoff lobbyist sham could ravage the neocons far worse than the CIA-leak affair. It could also take a top Democrat or two down as well.

The Abramoff saga is more than one sordid tale of an insider gone wild; it's a vivid narrative of how business is done in Washington. From legal maneuvering to backroom bribes and pay-offs, big business runs Washington politics and Abramoff is just one in a long line of power hungry lobbyists.

At the heart of the Abramoff inquiry is the work he did for six Indian tribes during the 1990s up until 2004. At question is whether or not Abramoff along with his partner Michael Scanlon bilked at least $80 million from his clients, evaded taxes and violated lobbyist disclosure laws.

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_276.shtml


Abramoff scandal reaches Ralph Reed


According to The Nation, the burgeoning scandal/investigation into the activities of DeLay cohorts Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon is about to reach out and touch former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed.


In early 2002 the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana was desperately trying to kill a planned competing casino that the rival Jena Band wanted to build in southwestern Louisiana. This new casino would have broken the Coushattas' geographical monopoly and cost the tribe--whose casino was grossing $300 million a year-- an estimated $1 billion in gambling revenue over five years. The Jena Band had hired former GOP national chairman Haley Barbour to make sure its casino compact was approved by the heavily politicized Bureau of Indian Affairs. So the Coushatta tribe, which already was in the process of paying Abramoff and Scanlon some $32 million over three years, also hired Reed, according to three witnesses and documents obtained by The Nation. This was not a crime, just furtive hypocrisy.

Two casino industry lobbyists--Philip Thompson and Bill Grimes--say they were in a meeting in Baton Rouge early in 2002 and heard William Worfel, vice chair of the Coushatta tribe, say he was hiring Reed to lobby for the tribe with the BIA to neutralize the influence Barbour had with the Bush Administration. According to Thompson, Worfel, who also did not return phone calls, "said he was putting Reed on his payroll. He said, 'If they have Barbour, we need Reed.'" A third casino lobbyist at the meeting, who requested anonymity, says Reed helped "mobilize Christian radio and ministers against the casino." But, he says, "He wanted to be able to deny it. Or if it came out, he wanted to be able to claim he was against the Jena casino, without anybody knowing he was getting paid by a bigger tribe with a bigger gambling operation."

The documents obtained by The Nation show that Reed sent bills to Abramoff and Scanlon and that one of his consulting companies, Century Strategies of Duluth, Georgia, received $250,000 from one of Scanlon's companies, Capitol Campaign Strategies. An invoice to Abramoff from another Reed company, Capitol Media, for $100,000, states only that the payment is for "Louisiana Project Mgmt. Fee." (The main thrust of the Justice Department investigation involves money laundering among Scanlon, Abramoff and Republican campaigns. Abramoff was fired by his firm for not disclosing $10 million in payments from Scanlon.)

http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/003735.html

If totally revealed the Abramoff Scandal will expose how Beltway Business as Usual is conducted. This is the tip of the iceberg.

to sacrifice a Dem or two in order to make the really slimy repug machine go down.

This is outrageous. Millions of dollars flying around. Christian hypocrites. Politcal assholetry. Racism. Gangland syle murders.
Deceit. Backstabbing. And finally, several members of the House investigated and possibly indicted. Many resignations.

Just back that Orville Redenbacher truck right up to my garage and leave it there.

God I love this scandal.

than "1984."

and then did his bidding then they should be charged as well with Delay. And in a side note--I would love to see Ralph Reed perp walked into to a federal prison.

But will anyone notice the ENORMOUS differential between Pukkkes on the Take vs Dems out for Dollars. Which party is more American, the one dominated by rich crooked a*holes who kick the working class in the teeth? or the poor struggling Dems just wanting to liberate folks and make a difference?

No exceptions. If Byron Dorgan...a man I really like...is found to have taken even one cent from Abramoff to swing a vote for one of his Indian clients...Dorgan has to go. I don't care if he got sticks of gum for his vote...it was still influenced and sold and the party and the amount means nothing to me.

i'm not partisan in that sense.

My objection is to the notion that this corruption is "bipartisan" while only one or 2 democrats out of 60 scumbags is the actual figure. got a bee in my bonnet over that, not your fault!

Hats off to Jane at firedog for staying on Tweety's bullshit that "both parties are involved". That crap he pulled with Blankley (some 'journalist' he is) saying that the Abramoff scandals were bi-partisan sure sounded like both astroturfing and CYA'ing to me.

Abramoff is an overwhelming Repugnican scandal...and allowing Repugnicans to shovel a lot of the sleeze toward any Democrat involved should be called out immediately. We're very much on the same page here...just the corporate media has its marching orders...as long as those Rovian checks and perks keep rolling in.

Cheers...

Never take what Republicans say about Democrats at face value.

There is a good diary on this subject at DailyKos -- be sure to read the comments.

Dorgan supports things that benefit Native Americans in his state, and the attempt to suggest that he did something for them as a quid pro quo for a donation came from a Republican lobbyist.

The GOP wants to muddy the waters by trying to make corruption accusations stick to Democrats.

That said, anyone who REALLY is corrupt deserves to be exposed, regardless of the party. But when everything's come out, let's compare our "bad apples" with their extensive, endemic corruption, and look at the amounts of money, as well. Our party will condemn any wrongdoers. The Republicans will try to cover up their wrongdoers' crimes (or even try to help them dodge their problems, e.g., DeLay).

Yes, I've read the Kos diaries but found Senator Dorgan's initial response...as a non-denial denial.

Again, I appreciate all the great things Sen. Dorgan has done and continues to do. I want to fully believe that he isn't involved...that these reports are distorted, but there's some real smoke there. He made a deposit of Abramoff-related checks right after he casted a voted that worked in Abramoff's favor. Again, I want to believe to the contrary, but I won't give anyone a pass on selling their vote...no one...especially now.

I'm not comparing "their bad apples with ours"...bad apples are bad apples and be it taking $2 million or $2,000...the fact that someone can pay off any public official should not be tolerated, period.

Peace...

Just thinly-stretched attempts at making any sort of connection to Abramoff. An after the fact donation by someone somehow connected to Abramoff is not smoke to me. Nor is voting for something that "worked in Abramoff's favor," since Dorgan's record of supporting issues important to Native Americans would be bound to coincide with the work of some lobbyists with Native American clients. Without more information, I don't see a tie to Abramoff. If there is a problem with Dorgan, it will come out now that he's getting attention, but it's clear that it serves Republicans to try to muddy the waters by accusing Democrats.

I'm not convinced yet.

In addition, as I said in my earlier post, any bad apples deserve whatever they get. I was trying to indicate that the Republican Party, not the Democratic Party, has a widespread corruption problem and deals with it by pretending it doesn't exist, attacking the messengers, and trying to spread the guilt around. The "bad apple" concept suggests that there are few offenders (remember the use of this in re Abu Ghraib), which is my take so far on corruption in the Democratic Party. My impression so far is that the Democratic Party does not have the same problem of extensive corruption that the Republican Party does (although I'll revise my view if evidence to the contrary appears), and that Democrats will quickly condemn those found guilty of corruption, unlike Republicans.

Welcome to DU, Clara T!

:hi:

John McCain has said of the Abramoff scheme, "Even in this town, where huge sums are routinely paid as the price of political access, the figures are astonishing."

Abramoff repeatedly referred to Native Americans as "monkeys", "troglodites" and "idiots."

Abramoff via email once asked his co-conspirator Scanlon to meet a client, saying, "I have to meet with the monkeys from the Choctaw tribal council. You need to close the deal... with the client..."

About one tribal client (date unknown) Abramoff wrote to Scanlon, "These mofos are the stupidest idiots in the land for sure." In another email message he wrote, "we need to get some money from those monkeys!!"

And a little background:

In college, Abramoff organized Massachusetts campuses for Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980. A year later, he graduated from Brandeis University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Abramoff was soon elected chairman of the College Republican National Committee with the campaign being managed by Grover Norquist and aided by Ralph E. Reed, Jr.. "It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left," Abramoff was quoted as saying in the group's 1983 annual report, "Our job is to remove them from power permanently".

<snip>

Abramoff next joined Citizens for America, a pro-Reagan group that helped Oliver North build support for the Nicaraguan contras and staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist rebel leaders in 1985 in Jamba, Angola.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff

:hi:

:wow:

So, are charges being brought against him for that? Or does that just "fill out" the picture of why it was ok to do?

It isn't going to be a pretty site.

:)

Eh? They have a motive for this huh?

Check out the author of that little piece....

I don't think this Joshua Frank Online Journal thing should be posted here. It's just MORE bashing of Democrats in my opinion.

Oh TONS of Repukes are involved in this Abramoff scandal...but Joshua Frank says "I'll IGNORE them...and just concentrate on a few Democrats instead and then rumor-monger and shit kick them ALL over the place."

That Frank article needs flushing down the nearest john.

I'm sorry, I have little time for bashing of Democrats...unless it's bashing of Holy Joe of course.

of that bozo's little 'author blurb' at the bottom of the piece.

He's Ann Coulter in a tie...

So it's been posted twice today? I just don't agree with this, I don't want to be subjected to articles that are bashing Democrats, and that's period.

Fit to line a birdcage with, that's all Franks' stuff is good for.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1953471

They aren't even subtle about it!

Group names Burns one of Washington's "most corrupt" politicians
By WALT WILLIAMS Chronicle Staff Writer

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., has been named one of the 13 "most corrupt" members of Congress by a Washington, D.C., group that Republicans accuse of having close ties to the Democratic Party.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cites Burns' relationship with Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who has been indicted on criminal charges.
It specifically points to Burns' involvement in awarding a $3 million federal grant for poor tribal schools to the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan, one of the nation's richest tribes and Abramoff's client.

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/articles/2005/10/01/news/01burns.txt

Just yesterday a TPM Reader asked me if the Abramoff operation wasn't mainly restricted to the House of Representatives, rather than both the House and the Senate. Mainly, I said. But senators were in the mix too. And I suggested Montana Sen. Conrad Burns (R) as at least one senator who was tangled up in the Abramoff web. Not to the point of legal jeopardy, I figured, but at least to the point of potentially substantial political damage (here's a run-down I wrote in August about the Burns-Abramoff connection).

Well, seems I spoke too soon.

An article out in today's Wall Street Journal (sub.req.) names Burns as one of four members of Congress DOJ lawyers are looking at in the Abramoff scandal -- the other three being Reps. DeLay (R-TX), Doolittle (R-CA), Ney (R-OH).

(Come to think of it, that's sort of comment on the GOP hegemony in the House: delay, do little and ney!)

In any case, the Journal expresses what seems like an odd level of surprise that the Abramoff investigation goes well beyond bilking those Indian casinos and has spawned inquiries into multiple members of Congress, "more than a dozen current and former congressional aides and two former Bush administration officials." I strongly suspect that understates the scope of the inquiry.
-- Josh Marshall

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_11_20.php

Sad to say the scope of this scandal is going to be bi-partisan.

Only. I'm telling you, that Franks article the nutjobs over at Rim Job land will LOVE it, they'll LOVE it to pieces. The Freepers will eat it up.

Whoever Josh Frank is? Keep the eye on the ball, it's only the issues that are important. And in that vein what do you think Mr. Norquist's involvement in this great unravelling might be?


Background

Abramoff, Reed and Norquist all served as officers in the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). In college, Reed would sleep on Abramoff’s couch. According to his book "Active Faith," he also introduced Abramoff to his future wife.
At the CRNC, Abramoff, Norquist and Reed formed what was known as the "Abramoff-Norquist-Reed triumvirate." Upon Abramoff's election, the trio purged "dissidents" and re-wrote the CRNC's bylaws to consolidate their control over the organization. Reed was the "hatchet man" and "carried out Abramoff-Norquist orders with ruthless efficiency, not bothering to hide his fingerprints." (Nina J. Easton, Gang of Five, page 142)

<snip>

According to emails, Reed and Norquist contacted Abramoff separately in 1999 to say they wanted to do business. Norquist complained about a "$75K hole in my budget from last year." Reed said he was counting on Abramoff "to help me with some contacts."

On February 7, 2000, Abramoff warned Reed that an initial payment for antilottery radio spots and mailings would be less than Reed thought. "I need to give Grover something for helping, so the first transfer will be a bit lighter," Abramoff wrote. The transfer was apparently lighter than even Abramoff expected. In a note to himself on February 22, Abramoff wrote, "Grover kept another $25K!" Norquist claims he had permission.

In 2000, Abramoff forced the Choctaws to give the Alabama Christian Coalition $1.15 million in installments. Norquist agreed to pass the money on to the Coalition and another Alabama antigambling group, both of which Reed was mobilizing for the fight against a proposed Alabama state lottery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abramoff-Reed_Indian_Gambling_Scandal

Wherever there is payola in DC Grover is not far away.

That is what needs to be noted here--ya gotta ask yourself, cui bono?
The link to the other thread that discusses this article, that I noted in an above post, is also instructive.

Joshua Frank is the author of the new book, "Left Out!: How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush," which has just been published by Common Courage Press. You can order a copy at a discounted rate at www.brickburner.org. Joshua can be reached at Joshua@brickburner.org.

Griles, flushed and agitated, denied aiding Abramoff. "I don't recall intervening on behalf of Mr. Abramoff, ever," he said. "There was no special relationship with Abramoff in my office."

...an e-mail obtained by the committee in which Abramoff told his lobbying colleagues that he had met with Griles and expected him to join their team.

"This cannot be shared with anyone not on this distribution list," Abramoff wrote. "I met with him tonight. He is ready to leave Interior and will most likely be coming to join us. He had a nice sized practice before he joined Interior, and expects to get that and more rather soon. I expect he will be with us in 90-120 days. This will restrict what he can do for us in the meantime," wrote Abramoff, but said Griles "gave me some suggestions" on several tribal related issues.

<snip>

But Rossetti said that in late 2003, with Norton about to make a decision on the Jena, Griles presented him with a binder full of legal arguments and congressional letters arguing against the Jena bid. Rossetti demanded to know where it had come from, and after much discussion, he testified, Griles acknowledged it had come to him "by way of Mr. Abramoff."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/02/AR2005110202800.html

Please let the evidence build and do not detract from the numerous other articles which impugn the integrity of numerous Republicans. If you continue to focus on that one piece then the thread gets watered down and we wouldn't want to dim the lights on these Republican greedheads would we?

Better yet put up several more articles concerning the Abramoff scandal so everyone can see various positions on the gory details. Maybe you could dig for some info on the question above.

:toast:

specific on this subject, posted this morning, and linked to by me in a post above. More than one article on this very matter appeared in that thread.

The point is, the dilution of this issue IS occurring, and it is coming from the GOP. I think most of us here know full well who the thieves are....and they ain't Harry Reid or Brian Dorgan.

But operatives like old Joshua are attempting to equate minescule contributions AFTER the fact to quid pro quos, money for votes, and they are also trying to blur the distinction between Democrats who receive small unsolicited contributions after their votes are cast, and GOP thugs who demand pay for play amounting to millions in exchange for votes and influence.

That's problematic, and that is what needs to be slapped down, early and often.

You're absolutely correct on all points MADem :)

So Sen. Conrad Burns says he didn't really know Jack Abramoff that well at all and that he's getting a bad rap for alleged ties to the disgraced power-lobbyist.

So let's review a little history.  Burns and Abramoff ... the early days.


Aug 11, 2005 -- 02:00:01 AM EST

Now, come the following year, Burns becomes chairman of the Interior subcommittee on Apropriations.  That's a nice branch for Burns to be perched on as far as Abramoff is concerned, since that's where all the money for Indian affairs stuff gets parcelled out.  And it is of course here that those goodies for the tribe in Michigan -- the one at the center of the disputed TV ad -- got doled out.  

So why did Sen. Burns help get the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, one of the wealthiest tribes in the country, $3 million from an Interior Department program designed to restore dilapidated schools on impoverished Indian reservations?  Interior itself was against the funding, seeing as the tribe didn't qualify under the program's rules.  But Burns office pulled out all the stops for the money, even delegating a special staffer, Ryan Thomas, to haggle with Interior over the funds.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/8/11/201/95527

the poor has to do without
Outsourcing is OK
army men has to do without
So Americans lose their jobs thats OK
Bankruptcy let them go to the poor house
it goes on and on and on!!!

but they are thieves and peddlers. The contributions are bribes, just asking for favors huh?

Who is Mr. Abramoff?
Jack Abramoff was once Washington's most powerful Republican lobbyist.  But now his former partner Scanlon has pled guilty in a case that threatens to explode into one of the biggest scandals in congressional history. 

Who will be caught in this web?
“This is a scandal that could reverberate over the next couple of years and implicate many members of Congress, top administration officials and major outside political operatives,” said Norm Ornstein, a Congressional expert of the American Enterprise Institute.  

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10166830/

walking? Maybe to his office or his restaurant but the video camera was recording and it focused just on him (sorry don't remember where I saw it) but he had this look on his face like he was on his way to kill somebody. :scared:

I can't wait. I do hope DeLay won't disappoint us by not crying like the "Duke" did, and then junior today.

The inquiry has already reached into the White House; a White House budget official, David H. Safavian, resigned only days before his arrest in September on charges of lying to investigators about his business ties to Mr. Abramoff, a former lobbying partner.

"I think this has the potential to be the biggest scandal in Congress in over a century," said Thomas E. Mann, a Congressional specialist at the Brookings Institution. "I've been around Washington for 35 years, watching Congress, and I've never seen anything approaching Abramoff for cynicism and chutzpah in proposing quid pro quos to members of Congress."

Even by the gold-plated standards of Washington lobbying firms, the fees paid to Mr. Abramoff were extraordinary. A former president of the College Republicans who turned to lobbying after a short-lived career as a B-movie producer, Mr. Abramoff, with his lobbying team, collected more than $80 million from the Indian tribes and their gambling operations; he was known by lobbying rivals as "Casino Jack."

Mr. Abramoff's lobbying work was not limited to the casinos, though. Newly disclosed documents from his files show that he asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of Gabon, in West Africa, to set up a White House meeting with President Bush; there was an Oval Office meeting last year, although there is no evidence in the public record to show that Mr. Abramoff had a role in the arrangements.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/20/politics/20lobby.html?ex=1290142800&en=b7550c05e3dd13b0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Thanks for the New York Time article. I missed it!

Corrupt Connections
Widening Abramoff Scandal Exposes GOP Cronyism
by Robert Scheer

In the last fortnight alone, the spreading stain of Abramoff's legacy is seen in the possible undoing of Bush's nominee to the nation's No. 2 law enforcement position, the resignation and arrest of the Office of Management and Budget's former procurement chief and another blow to the already tawdry reputation of top Bush political advisor Karl Rove.
It was reported last week that Timothy Flanigan, Tyco International Ltd. general counsel and Bush's nominee for deputy attorney general, stated that Abramoff's lobbying firm had boasted that his access to the highest levels of Congress could help Tyco fight tax liability legislation and that Abramoff later said he "had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue.

Flanigan's statement was in response to scathing criticism from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee – which is considering his nomination – that he had not been sufficiently responsive in his testimony. Records and interviews show that Flanigan supervised Abramoff's successful efforts two years ago to lobby Congress to kill the legislation, which would have penalized companies such as Bermuda-based Tyco that avoid taxes by moving offshore. Abramoff's firm was paid $1.7 million by Tyco in 2003 and 2004.

In his statement, Flanigan said Abramoff also boasted of his ties to Tom DeLay, the House majority leader. DeLay once described Abramoff as "one of my closest and dearest friends" and accompanied him on several foreign junkets. DeLay denies that the Abramoff-arranged trips were political favors. DeLay continues to be tangled in myriad ethics investigations, many of them linked to his relationship with Abramoff.

<snip>

Tyco's current lobbyist, Edward P. Ayoob, who once worked with Abramoff at a Washington law firm, is lobbying for another cause these days: Flanigan's confirmation as the nation's second-highest law enforcement officer. Ayoob insisted last week that he is acting on his own and not on behalf of Tyco. And, oh yes, Flanigan promises that, if confirmed, he will recuse himself from any Abramoff investigation involving Tyco. Sure.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0927-28.htm

of the Estes Kefauver and the way he went after organized crime. But organized crime was so deep into attorneys and judges and politicians that very little came from it!! I hope this will be different.


The hero of yesteryears

Top Ten Things You Never Knew About Jack Abramoff

**World Exclusive**
**Must Credit The MadCowMorningNews**
by Daniel Hopsicker

The MadCowMorningNews has learned that the same so-called "war cabal" being accused of selling a "bill of goods" to justify the war in Iraq also led earlier efforts to convince the American people of the necessity of going to war, in support of the Contras in the mid-1980's, and before the Gulf War under the first President Bush, and funded through the same methods and sources being investigated in the Abramoff scandals today.

Evidence surfacing in the widening scandal around Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff indicates the cabal being lavishly funding in recent years though his efforts was originally supported through the infamous "off the books" Enterprise headed by Marine Lt. Colonel Oliver North, only partially exposed in the Iran Contra Scandal.

Con't-
http://www.madcowprod.com/10272005.html

Checked out your worldcan'twait link- excellent

"The one (scandal) that people are most worried about is Abramoff, because it seems to have such long tentacles," former congressman Vin Weber, a lobbyist with close ties to the White House, told the Los Angeles Times. "This seems to be something that could spread almost anywhere. That has a lot of people worried."


David Kelly and Cliff Baxter deaths comes to mind when I read this, the motive is there.
Abramoff is now under indictment, along with henchman Adam Kidan, for the SunCruz gambling cruise scandal, with a gangland-style murder attached offering a vivid example of the GOPMOB making someone an offer they couldn't refuse and then whacking them before they could squeal.

I think this one will work wonders.
Imelda Marcos is an ally of Abramoff’s clients in Manila, one of two warring Philippine factions competing for ownership of a Guam-based telecommunications company, which—if Abramoff’s pals get their way—will be used as a home portal for worldwide Internet gambling in a venue (Guam) which offers more opportunities for money laundering than almost anywhere in the world.


Craig Fuller No introduction is needed here.

When three Gambino Mob associates were charged in the Gus Boulis murder three weeks ago, authorities in Fort Lauderdale wouldn’t say what led investigators to the suspects.

What they did say was further arrests are anticipated. This is big

ABRAMOFF’S SCANDAL PARTNERS INCLUDE BUSH PIONEERS, THE MOB, U.S. DEFENSE CONTRACTORS, AND "PROFESSIONAL CHRISTIANS"

This is a keeper.

Thanks a lot for the link.

theft is very big. With Abramoff, and his partner Kiden, virtually stealing the business from Gus Boulis, and then, Gus is found murdered. This story alone would make for a great book.

Craig Fuller, the man responsible for the discredited 1991 propaganda about Iraqi soldiers bayoneting babies in Kuwaiti nurseries, for example, was also part involved in an operation in 1999 which included Abramoff associates in the Republican Party as well as members of the Sicilian Mafia, a joint push to establish a Cuban "beachhead" in anticipation of an "opening to Cuba" after the death of Fidel Castro.

This may explain why, while legal imbroglios consume Karl Rove, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, Bill Frist, David Safavian, chief of staff at the General Services Administration, and pest-exterminator- turned-‘Hammer’ Tom DeLay, according to published reports it’s Abramoff Republican strategists are most worried about.

"The one (scandal) that people are most worried about is Abramoff, because it seems to have such long tentacles," former congressman Vin Weber, a lobbyist with close ties to the White House, told the Los Angeles Times. "This seems to be something that could spread almost anywhere. That has a lot of people worried."