McCain’s Abramoff investigation was ‘pure political playback’ for 2000 election.

McCain’s Abramoff investigation was ‘pure political playback’ for 2000 election.

In “The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff,” journalist Gary S. Chafetz details how Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) pursued his investigation into the fallen lobbyist as “pure political payback,” rather than “the high-minded reform crusade he has made it out to be on the campaign trail.” McCain reportedly remained upset that Abramoff had backed Ralph Reed’s effort to defeat him in the 2000 South Carolina primary:

Chafetz argues that McCain nursed the wounds of that defeat for years, and in 2004 jumped on the chance to investigate Abramoff after the Washington Post published a damning expose of the millions of dollars in lobbying fees Abramoff had collected from his casino-rich Indian tribal clients.

Peppered with new quotes from Abramoff — who met with Chafetz while in federal prison in Cumberland, MD — the book alleges that McCain withheld the vast majority of emails he confiscated during the inquiry, many of which could be exculpatory to the former lobbyist or damaging to McCain allies.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/08/mccain-abramoff-payback/

About the book: "Gary Chafetz is a liberal Boston journalist who set out to chronicle the scandal involving conservative gun-for-hire and super-lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Instead he uncovered a Shakespearean tragedy of deceit, betrayal and political vendetta in which the true villains are Presidential aspirant John McCain, the Washington Post newspaper and the U.S. Department of Justice--all of whom participated in the railroading of an innocent man."

(Why specify he's a liberal Boston journalist? And Abramoff innocent? That's... weird.)

On the other hand, about the author:
"Gary S. Chafetz is a twice Pulitzer Prize-nominated investigative journalist who worked for The Boston Globe for ten years. In 1992, Boston Magazine named him Boston's Best Investigative Reporter. The following year, Boston Magazine named him one of the ten best journalists of the past twenty-five years."

So he's not a loon. I'm still pretty curious about the Abramoff-innocence theory, though.

Sounds like McNasty did find his "soul mate" as he said. John McCain is a mean and vindictive person. I can't believe that any media, unless paid off, would lift a damn finger to help that guy or his mean little protege, after his outbursts and creepy reputation. The "pundits" are the paid off ones, nothing more than foot soldiers for the GOP.

I have no doubt it was political payback -- that's how he rolls.

From what I hear of their actions, they seem to have in common the trait of nursing a resentment until they get an opportunity to take revenge and it doesn't even matter how small the "offense" is either. I don't need 2 such petty fucking people in the White House! We already had Bush that petty coward in there for 8 years and we're this bad off. America can't take any more of this shit.