Officials Focus on a 2nd Firm Tied to DeLay

By ANNE E. KORNBLUT and GLEN JUSTICE
January 8, 2006

Having secured a guilty plea from the lobbyist Jack Abramoff, prosecutors are entering a new phase of the corruption investigation in Washington and are focusing on a lobbying firm that may hold the key to whether Tom DeLay or other lawmakers will face criminal charges in the case. The firm, Alexander Strategy Group, is of particular interest to investigators because it was founded by Edwin A. Buckham, a close personal friend of Mr. DeLay's and his former chief of staff, and has been a lucrative landing spot for several former members of the DeLay staff, people who are directly involved in the case have said.

Although the firm's name has circulated in connection with the case for many months, prosecutors' questions about Mr. Buckham and Alexander Strategy - which did not respond to requests for comment - have intensified recently, participants in the case said. The firm openly promoted the idea that it could deliver access to Representative DeLay, the former majority leader. The firm paid Mr. DeLay's wife $115,000 in consulting fees, while conducting business with Mr. Abramoff's firm. Mr. Abramoff helped Mr. Buckham set up his firm.

In overseas trips and domestic meetings, Mr. Buckham and at least one member of his firm worked with clients who, prosecutors suspect, helped funnel money and perks to Mr. DeLay, his fund-raising operations and other lawmakers in ways intended to curry favor with the Republican leadership and could have directly led to "official action" in Congress, a potentially criminal act. Mr. DeLay has denied any wrongdoing. At one time, Americans for a Republican Majority, or Armpac, the leadership committee that raised money for Mr. DeLay, was run out of the offices of Alexander Strategy.

But its web of contacts on Capitol Hill reach well beyond Mr. DeLay, and in ways that prosecutors suspect could have criminal implications for other lawmakers. Alexander also did lobbying work for a defense firm tied to former Representative Randy Cunningham, Republican of California, in a separate corruption investigation, putting the firm in the crosshairs of two grand jury probes.



more
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/politics/08alexander.html

having worn a wire. This paragraph stood out for me given DeLay's stepping down completely from his leadership position today. Could it be that the repubs know DeLay was caught on Randy's tape? The timing of these two revelations is interesting, to say the least, imo:

"But its web of contacts on Capitol Hill reach well beyond Mr. DeLay, and in ways that prosecutors suspect could have criminal implications for other lawmakers. Alexander also did lobbying work for a defense firm tied to former Representative Randy Cunningham, Republican of California, in a separate corruption investigation, putting the firm in the crosshairs of two grand jury probes."

are shitting their pants today with the news that Cunningham was wearing a wire. At the moment, no one knows who else is wearing one. I expect to see a lot of these ongoing investigations to start bringing down indictments in the next few weeks, now that the cat is out of the bag.

politicians. The repubs are 'crapting' their pants as we type, lol. I think the dems will be fine and the 'culture of corruption' fact is starting to stick squarely on the repubs.

Alexander Strategy Group in the K Street Gutter

"Representative Tom DeLay's campaign to get Republicans to dominate Washington lobbying may have worked too well for the Alexander Strategy Group," writes Bloomberg. The lobbying and political strategy firm "has links to no fewer than three of the scandals convulsing the U.S. capital." Alexander Strategy Group (ASG) partner Tony Rudy "is now a focus of the federal investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff." Founder Ed Buckham "set up a South Korea junket for his old boss," DeLay, "that violated ethics rules." Lobbyist Jim Ellis "faces money-laundering charges in Texas along with DeLay." Lastly, ASG represents Group W Advisors, Inc., a defense contractor owned by Brent Wilkes, who "is one of the four un-indicted co-conspirators in a Nov. 28 criminal complaint for allegedly bribing" Representative Cunningham, who pled guilty to graft and resigned from Congress.

Enron was ASG's biggest client; they received at least $411,000 from Enron between 1999 and 2001.

"Ed Buckham and ASG were involved with a "secret 'grassroots' campaign -- spearheaded by Enron -- to deregulate energy markets... An outline for the plan was faxed to Tom DeLay's Washington office. It was printed on Alexander Strategy letterhead complete with Ed Buckham's name in print. The only problem was that Alexander Strategy's CEO was still in the employ of the federal government at the time... Alexander Strategy Group was, as Enron promised, awarded the $750,000 contract to drum up support for electric power deregulation -- a goal that Enron believed would open the $300 billion a year electric markets to Enron. The stealth campaign would operate out of an energy consortium dubbed, 'Americans for Affordable Electricity' -- a name that Californians would find bitterly ironic just three years later." <9> (http://www.alternet.org/print.html?StoryID=13104)

Blackwater USA

The North Carolina-based private military contractor Blackwater USA hired ASG for crisis management, public and media relations as Blackwater - and private military contractors in general - came under increased public scrutiny following the public killing and mutilation of four employees in Fallujah, Iraq on March 31, 2004. <10>

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alexander_Strategy_Group

The point man on the Group W “account” for the Alexander Strategy Group, which received almost $200,000 of gratitude for "client services," was former DeLay aide Karl Gallant, who apparently made a specialty of stealing money from widows and orphans, having signed Enron Corp. to a $750,000 lobbying contract a few years earlier.


http://www.madcowprod.com/11302005.html

I get a "Sorry, the page you've requested cannot be found." message.


I worked it out


http://www.alternet.org/story/13104/

coffee being made!!!!!!

I have to wonder if Jackie A. didn't wear a wire as well, seeing as he was, too, looking at three decades behind bars--he could have hidden a friken camera crew and editing team under that coat and hat he had on coming outta the courthouse!!!