Lobbyist's Guilty Plea Seen as Threat to DeLay Return (NYT)

Lobbyist's Guilty Plea Seen as Threat to DeLay Return

By CARL HULSE and ADAM NAGOURNEY
Published: January 5, 2006



WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 - House Republicans arranged an unusual monthlong January recess to give Representative Tom DeLay ample time to escape legal troubles in Texas and retake his post as majority leader. But a triumphant return was dashed this week when his longtime associate, Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to public corruption.

The decision by Mr. Abramoff to cooperate in a broadening federal inquiry reaching deep into Mr. DeLay's inner circle led some influential Republicans on Wednesday to issue new calls for Mr. DeLay to abandon his goal of regaining his post. The scandal also emerged as a serious new distraction to the White House and Congressional Republicans as they seek to right themselves after a rocky 2005.

Leading Republicans warned in interviews that the scandal could threaten party dominance of the capital that extends from the White House to Congress to K Street unless Republicans move quickly to embrace ethics reform and show they will not tolerate criminal abuse of the substantial power they have been handed by American voters.

"The House and Senate leadership has to decide that they have got to aggressively deal with what I think is a much broader problem than just Abramoff: the lobbying process, the election process, the way this city has spun out of control," said Newt Gingrich, the former Republican House speaker. "I think the party will be in an uproar if they don't do something about it."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/05/politics/05delay.html

:nopity: :nopity: :cry:

as if Newt had any moral superiority in doing so. The low-lifes.