Eleven Members of Congress Now Under Investigation, PLUS ten former members

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At Least 11 Members of Congress Now Under Investigation
Submitted by Elliott Fullmer on Thu, 05/03/2007 - 15:47.
http://www.prwatch.org/node/6013


While Congress has been busy dealing with issues such as the Iraq War, the U.S. attorney firings controversy, and the federal minimum wage this year, some members have had their attention diverted by legal problems. By our count, eleven members of Congress (and ten former members who departed with the 109th Congress) are currently the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. Over the past few weeks, new details have emerged in several of these cases. Here’s a quick rundown of the latest info (with the appropriate background):

Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) is under investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ......
Recent News: ABRAMOFF-Gate: Rep. Doolittle says he won't resign, 2 more Congresspersons get searched by FBI - http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x822221

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) has been mentioned multiple times in court documents filed by the Justice Department as "Representative #3" in the criminal investigation of Mark Zachares, a former congressional aide to Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) and lobbyist who, last month, pleaded guilty to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from Jack Abramoff. .............

Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) is under investigation by the Justice Department for his real estate transactions................

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) is currently the subject of two Justice Department investigations. The first centers on his involvement in a federal land swap deal, in which Renzi allegedly agreed to introduce legislation in 2005 completing a swap for a former business partner, James Sandlin. Second, Renzi is being probed for introducing legislation (which became law) exempting the Fort Huachuca Army base in Arizona from maintaining water levels in the nearby San Pedro River. ManTech International, a military contractor who has been one of Renzi’s largest contributors and currently employs his father, has over $450 million in contracts at the base...............

..............

Category:Members of Congress under investigation
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation

This article is an index of the members of Congress currently under investigation by the congressional ethics committees or law enforcement authorities, based on credible media reports. In cases where it is contested whether or not the member is being investigated, it is noted in that member's profile. All information here is taken from the members' personal profile pages. If you wish to edit or contribute to this article, please make sure to first add the information to those profiles (with a source).

# 1 Senators

* 1.1 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Sen._Bob_Menendez_.28D-N.J..29

# 2 Representatives

* 2.1 Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._John_Doolittle_.28R-Calif..29
* 2.2 Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Tom_Feeney_.28R-Fla..29
* 2.3 Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Jane_Harman_.28D-Calif..29
* 2.4 Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Dennis_Hastert_.28R-Ill..29
* 2.5 Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._William_Jefferson_.28D-La..29
* 2.6 Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Jerry_Lewis_.28R-Calif..29
* 2.7 Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Gary_Miller_.28R-Calif..29
* 2.8 Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.V.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Alan_Mollohan_.28D-W.V..29
* 2.9 Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Tim_Murphy_.28R-Pa..29
* 2.10 Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Rep._Rick_Renzi_.28R-Ariz..29

# 3 Former members of Congress

* 3.1 Former Rep. Bob Beauprez (R-Colo.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Bob_Beauprez_.28R-Colo..29
* 3.2 Former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Sen._Conrad_Burns_.28R-Mont..29
* 3.3 Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Randy_.E2.80.9CDuke.E2.80.9D_Cunningham_.28R-Calif..29
* 3.4 Former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Tom_DeLay_.28R-Texas.29
* 3.5 Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Mark_Foley_.28R-Fla..29
* 3.6 Former Rep. Jim Gibbons (R-Nev.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Jim_Gibbons_.28R-Nev..29
* 3.7 Former Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Katherine_Harris_.28R-Fla..29
* 3.8 Former Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Jim_Kolbe_.28R-Ariz..29
* 3.9 Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Bob_Ney_.28R-Ohio.29
* 3.10 Former Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Curt_Weldon_.28R-Pa..29

There are 26 articles in this category.

B
* Bob Beauprez http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Beauprez
* Conrad Burns http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Conrad_Burns

C
* Randy "Duke" Cunningham http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Randy_%22Duke%22_Cunningham

D
* Thomas D. DeLay http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Thomas_D._DeLay
* John Doolittle http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Doolittle
* John Doolittle/Articles http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Doolittle/Articles

F
* Mark Foley http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mark_Foley

G
* Jim Gibbons http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jim_Gibbons


H
* Jane Harman http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jane_Harman
* Katherine Harris http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Katherine_Harris
* Dennis Hastert http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Hastert

J
* William Jefferson http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=William_Jefferson

K
* Jim Kolbe http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jim_Kolbe

L
* Jerry Lewis http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Jerry_Lewis

M
* Bob Menendez http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Menendez
* Gary Miller http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gary_Miller
* Alan Mollohan http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Alan_Mollohan


N
* Bob Ney http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bob_Ney

R
* Rick Renzi http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Renzi
* Republican 'culture of corruption' http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_%27culture_of_corruption%27
* Republican 'culture of corruption': Articles & Commentary 2003-2004 http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_%27culture_of_corruption%27:_Articles_%26_Commentary_2003-2004
* Republican 'culture of corruption': Articles & Commentary 2005 http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_%27culture_of_corruption%27:_Articles_%26_Commentary_2005
* Republican 'culture of corruption': Articles & Commentary 2006 http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_%27culture_of_corruption%27:_Articles_%26_Commentary_2006
* Republican 'culture of corruption': Related SourceWatch Resources http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Republican_%27culture_of_corruption%27:_Related_SourceWatch_Resources

T
* Tom Feeney http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tom_Feeney

W
* Curt Weldon http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Curt_Weldon

and one democratic Senator under investigation...

All deserve to be presumed innocent, including the republicans, until proven guilty but we must not mimic the behavior of our Friends across the aisle...

If a democrat is guilty, we should be swift in condemnation...

All scoundrels must be driven from congress in order to regain the trust of the citizens they step forward to represent...

I'll go along w/getting any, regardless of party, corrupt individuals out of there. Personally, I find it incredible, w/the amount of evidence against Jefferson, that he ever got re-elected...but it's not my state...:shrug:

But you know how the MSM will report it (if they report it at all): "both Democrats and Republicans...". They won't mention the numbers. And Faux News will go on and on about the 4 Democrats without mentioning the Repubs.

And I remember Governor Dean on one of the Sunday shows after the raid on Jefferson's office, that if he is indicted, he should resign

Is this just the ones that they've substantiated are under investigation?

There were earlier reports here in San Diego of Bilbray being investigated for making false residency claims when running a year ago and that there was a grand jury looking into this. Also, many here feel that Duncan Hunter is probably being looked at for a lot of the same things that Cunningham was looked at earlier for.


And here's an article that indicates an old neighbor of mine from high school, none other than former Indiana congressman "Count Chocula" Chris Chocola, who lived right next door to Mark Foley in DC, might be under investigation with Feeney, as well as Brett Loper, a top aide to Tom Delay in the Abramoff messes...

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17131098.htm

"Mr. Bush himself has said that he doesn't recall meeting Abramoff" and Abramoff says that is a LIE. ??

There is a lot of "I do not recall" going around. Did the contagion start in Texas?

==========================
White House Disputes Abramoff Ties
Says Nothing 'Nefarious' About Purported Photos Of Bush And Ex-Lobbyist
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/23/politics/main1227860.shtml
WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2006

....reporters have been digging hard for pictures that prove the disgraced lobbyist's ties to the White House. Now, two publications claim to have found them.

The Washingtonian and Time magazine both reported the existence of about a half-dozen photos showing the two together. They appeared to have been taken at White House functions, according to the reports.

The White House insists the pictures amount to a coincidence and should not be interpreted any more seriously than that.

White House counselor Dan Bartlett (video) acknowledged Monday that Abramoff has attended some events where people "go through receiving lines and get photos with the president." But, he said, "The president does not have a personal relationship with Mr. Abramoff."

Mr. Bush himself has said that he doesn't recall meeting Abramoff, ..................

............. the Washingtonian magazine reports that Abramoff says not only did the president know him, but Mr. Bush knew details about his family, his twin children, even their names.

The White House has not released any photos featuring the president and Abramoff, who was declared a Bush "pioneer" for raising at least $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney '04 re-election campaign.

The Bush-Cheney campaign donated contributions that came directly from Abramoff, his wife and one of the American Indian tribes he represented — a total of $6,000 — to charity just days after Abramoff entered his guilty pleas. ......

====================
http://www.billpress.com/columns/010506.html

Even before Abramoff’s guilty plea, President Bush pretended he’d never heard of him. In classic Bushspeak: “I’m umm-ahhh, you know the, the Ambramamoff — I’m frankly, I’m not all that familiar what’s going on up there in Capitol Hill,” he told Fox News. This was just as honest as Bush’s telling reporters, four years ago, he couldn’t remember meeting Enron chairman Ken Lay — a close family friend and financial supporter, whom Bush had actually nicknamed “Kenny Boy.”

As first reported on the blog Daily Kos, Bush’s ties to the A-Bomb go way back to when he was governor of Texas, writing letters in support of the North Marianas Island, Abramoff’s client. As president, he met with Marianas Gov. Juan Babauta. Abramoff’s office records clock over 200 meetings with administration officials, including former Attorney General John Ashcroft and top aides to Vice President Dick Cheney. And Bush appointee David Safavian, head of procurement for the White House, has already been arrested and charged with lying to investigators about his dealings with Abramoff.

The A-bomb torches every corner of Republican-controlled Washington. And, of course, it comes on top of scandals already swirling around Tom Delay, Bill Frist, Duke Cunningham, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove.
Remind me. What did candidate George Bush say about bringing honesty and integrity back to the nation’s capitol?

Jack Abramoff: The A-Bomb Drops On Washington
January 5, 2006
http://www.billpress.com/columns/010506.html

Meet Jack Abramoff. President of the national College Republicans. Top Republican lobbyist in Washington. A Bush “Pioneer,” who raised over $100,000 for the 2000 Bush for President campaign. Member of the Bush-Cheney transition team. Friend and ally of former House Majority Leader Tom Delay and other top Republicans in the House and Senate.

Meet Jack Abramoff: Self-convicted felon. First-class schmuck. Poster boy for the Republican Party.

Abramoff admits milking his clients for tens of millions of dollars, and delivering very little in return. He also admits showering members of Congress with free meals and drinks, campaign cash, golf outings, and luxury junkets to England, Russia, South Korea, and the North Marianas Islands. Now, in order to spend less time behind bars, Abramoff has dropped the A-bomb on official Washington, agreeing to name members who accepted gifts in return for official acts benefiting his clients.

That’s made many a Republican in Washington sweat like a pig, starting with the ill-fated Tom Delay, already indicted in Texas on unrelated charges of laundering campaign funds. Delay enjoyed Abramoff-paid junkets to England, Scotland, Russia — and then to the North Marianas, after which he blocked legislation cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory. Then there’s Montana Sen. Conrad Burns, who accepted $150,000 from Abramoff — and immediately reversed his vote on the Marianas legislation from yes to no. And Ohio Congressman Bob Ney, who agreed to introduce legislation sought by, and placed statements in the Congressional Record in praise of, Abramoff clients.

No sooner did Abramoff plead guilty of wire fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to break the law than the Republican spin machine went into high gear, peddling two lines of bull: ....................

Attorney General John Ashcroft's Ties To Jack Abramoff, Guam, And The CNMI
http://www.firedupamerica.com/abramoff_ashcroft

Rep. George Miller (D-California) recently wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, asking him to:

   appoint an outside counsel to investigate two instances of potential political manipulation 
   by Justice Department officials in criminal and immigration matters concerning Guam and the 
   Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and the indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

For such an action to be necessary, there would have to be reason to believe that political manipulation could have taken place, and that internal Justice Department officials might have a conflict of interest.

Could either of those things possibly be true? Let's take a look and see.

Senator John Ashcroft And His Ties To Jack Abramoff .......

Defiant Doolittle says he won't resign amid inquiry
Bee Washington Bureau
05/04/07 04:48:47
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/45655.html


Rep. John Doolittle, bucking pundits in The Wall Street Journal, The Sacramento Bee and other newspapers, said Thursday that he wouldn't resign his seat in the House of Representatives because investigators were looking at his wife and him in the ramped-up federal corruption investigation arising out of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

"There is no way I am stepping down," Doolittle declared in a telephone news conference with California reporters. "I am not resigning. Absolutely not."

......................

======================
Editorial: Doolittle's dilemma
Plot thickens, but final chapter not written
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, April 26, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B6
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/161154.html


What a difference a year makes. This time last year, Sacramento-area political leaders made their annual pilgrimage to Washington, an event known as Cap to Cap. On that trip, Rep. John Doolittle was the man to meet. The Roseville Republican was in the majority party. He was on the key Appropriations Committee that doled out the dough. He was a coveted insider. And while Republican pillars such as Tom DeLay found themselves out of politics and in trouble, Doolittle seemed defiant and confident that none of it would ever affect him.

............

Now he has an attorney, and he seems to need one. Department of Justice officials recently raided his house in Virginia. A former Doolittle aide who once worked for Abramoff resigned suddenly from a Washington law firm at about the time the raid occurred. Doolittle has stepped down from his key post on the Appropriations Committee.

It is too soon to say where all this is leading. .......

..............

:applause: Keep the truth rolling! :woohoo:

in CA -- Hunter, Rohrabacher and Issa. And in particular,, I'd like it to happen before they open up Blackwater West outside of San Diego. :(

I didnt even know about that!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x822221

Doolittle said he had information from sources he wouldn't name that federal agents had executed search warrants recently against two other members of Congress - a Republican and a Democrat - in raids that hadn't become public yet. He said he thought that those raids were related to the Abramoff probe.

................

Doolittle says stepped-up probe 'not clear'
Lobbyist's revelations reportedly fuel more cases, now including ex-aide to DeLay.
By David Whitney and Greg Gordon - Bee Washington Bureau

Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, April 29, 2007
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/163019.html


WASHINGTON -- First the FBI raided the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville.

Then prosecutors began asking questions of Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla. Now it appears federal prosecutors are weighing charges against Ed Buckham, a former aide to Tom DeLay, who could drag the former House Republican leader into the swirl.

The common denominator is Jack Abramoff, the once-mighty Republican superlobbyist and influence peddler. Suddenly the federal investigation into his scandalous deceptions and fraud has taken a new life, at a blistering pace -- all without a peep from the Justice Department.

................

......... on April 13, FBI agents raided Doolittle's home in Oakton, Va., taking computers and files related to the consulting business of his wife, Julie, who had worked for Abramoff. Doolittle said he was hoping to get the seized equipment and files back Thursday.

On the same day as the raid, Kevin Ring, who worked five years for the congressman before joining Abramoff's lobby shop, suddenly announced to his bosses that he was quitting his job at a law firm.

Ring is presumed to be talking to federal prosecutors, although neither he, his lawyers or the Justice Department are talking. ........

..............

At least one parallel investigation is under way on Capitol Hill. On March 30, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sent a formal request for testimony from Susan Ralston, a onetime personal assistant to Abramoff who later took a job as an aide to White House political guru Karl Rove.

Our view: Time for answers
Public deserves a full accounting from Rep. Feeney on FBI's Abramoff probe
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/705030314/1004

There are a lot of questions that demand answers -- answers the public isn't getting but has a right to know.

We're talking about Rep. Tom Feeney's refusal to address specifics of the FBI probe into his relationship with influence-peddling felon Jack Abramoff and the widening congressional corruption scandal in his wake.

An investigation that includes the FBI contacting FLORIDA TODAY and requesting a videotape copy of an interview Feeney did with the newspaper's editorial board last year during which he discussed Abramoff.

The Oviedo Republican accompanied Abramoff on a Scotland golf junket in 2003 -- the same kind of junket Abramoff used to draw other members of Congress and their staff members into his criminal activities.

...............

brought back dignity and ethical behaviour to Washington? :shrug: :banghead: :banghead:

YES, and they keep bringing it back, over and over again!!!!

==============
Pair of House resignations reignites GOP ethics woes
By Jonathan Weisman - The Washington Post


WASHINGTON — The resignations last week of two Republican House members from their sensitive committee assignments have thrust lingering legal and ethics issues back into the limelight, potentially complicating GOP efforts to retake Congress next year.

...............

Ethics troubles loomed large last year in the Democrats' sweep of Congress. Republicans lost seats in eight states where ethical lapses were key issues.

And Democrats will use the new ethics charges to remind voters why they turned the GOP out, said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., the DCCC chairman.

"It's all a stark reminder to voters about why they don't want to turn power back to a Republican Congress that betrayed the public and used their majority for personal financial gain and to reward special interests," he said.

.............

05.02.2007 One More Down (3 comments )
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-pope/one-more-down_b_47483.html

Washington, DC -- Julie MacDonald, the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, resigned yesterday. Mcdonald was most recently in the headlines for sending copies of confidential Interior Department memoranda to her children and personal friends. More seriously, she also got in trouble in March when Interior Department Inspector General, Honorable Earl E. Devaney, reported that MacDonald had released non-public, internal government documents to oil industry and property rights groups and manipulated scientific findings to favor Bush policy goals and assist land developers.

Her case is merely the latest example of the serious corruption that appears to be common among senior officials at the agency. The former Deputy Secretary of Interior, Stephen Griles, recently pleaded guilty to crimes that made him the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted to date in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal. That same probe is creeping ever closer to former Interior Secretary turned energy industry lobbyist, Gale Norton. The Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy -- co-founded by Norton and Italia Federici, Griles' former girlfriend -- has also come under serious scrutiny for illegally lobbying on behalf of Abramoff's clients while Norton was at Interior.

...........

Fri, Apr. 27, 2007
Justice Dept official resigns over investigation connected with Abramoff
by Marisa Taylor and David Whitney
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/news/columnists/david_whitney/17145860.htm


WASHINGTON - A senior Justice Department official has resigned after coming under scrutiny in the Department’s expanding investigation of convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a Justice Department official with knowledge of the case.

Making the situation more awkward for the embattled Department, the official, Robert E. Coughlin II, was deputy chief of staff for the criminal division, which is overseeing the Department’s probe of Abramoff.

He stepped down effective April 6 as investigators in Coughlin’s own division ratcheted up their investigation of lobbyist Kevin Ring, Coughlin’s long-time friend and a key associate of Abramoff.

.................

Coughlin appears to be the first Justice Department official to come under scrutiny in the wide-ranging probe that has implicated a veteran congressman, a deputy Cabinet secretary, a White House aide and eight others. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to three counts in the corruption probe and could face up to 11 years in prison.

..............

Renzi, Doolittle, and the “DC Madam”
Capitol Hill awash in corruption and criminality
By Tom Carter - 2 May 2007
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/may2007/repu-m02.shtml

April was a not a good month for the Republican Party. Two Congressional Republicans were forced to step down from their seats on powerful House committees amidst separate corruption and influence-peddling investigations—and may eventually lose their seats in Congress or go to jail—while the head of the US Agency for International Development, Randall Tobias, resigned from his post Monday after he was named as a client of a Washington DC call girl service.

While the mainstream media treats these affairs as largely isolated, abnormal incidents, a closer look at these scandals contributes to a portrait of truly rotten political superstructure, everywhere rife with corruption, nepotism, and lawlessness. The crisis afflicting the middle layers of the Bush administration and the Republican Party reflects deepening political rifts and tensions presently wracking the entire American political establishment.

The “DC Madam”

On Monday, Bush administration’s foremost opponent of prostitution, Randall Tobias, resigned after he was named as a client of an alleged DC-area prostitution service, called variously the Pamela Martin Escort Service or Pamela Martin & Associates.

He admitted that he paid for massages at his condo ..................

.............

Federal Probe Moves Closer To DeLay
( Air Date: 4/25/2007 )
http://216.87.159.39/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=14482

Federal investigators in a corruption probe are focusing on a Tom DeLay`s former chief of staff, who`s accused of later giving a job to DeLay`s wife.
The investigation is related to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who`s in prison on corruption convictions. ..........

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

DeLay associate tied to Abramoff probe
Investigation widens to include the lawmaker's former staff chief
By MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Washington Bureau
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4746052.html

WASHINGTON — The federal probe into corruption related to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff could be inching closer to former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land as investigators focus on a former DeLay chief of staff who later employed the Republican leader's wife.

.........

Some similarities

The Zachares and Doolittle cases have no direct involvement with DeLay but they echo connections between the ex-House majority leader and Abramoff, who is in prison after pleading guilty to corruption charges.

Like Zachares, DeLay took a golfing trip to Scotland. Although lobbyists cannot fund such trips, the 2000 excursion was indirectly funded by Indian gaming clients of Abramoff. DeLay's airfare was charged to an American Express card issued to Abramoff. DeLay has said he believed the trip was properly paid for by a nonprofit public interest group.

And like Doolittle's wife, DeLay's wife, Christine, received payments from lobbyists that are now being scrutinized by investigators to determine whether they were part of an improper granting of favors.

Investigators have looked closely at the $115,000 that Buckham's lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, paid Christine DeLay at a rate of $3,200 a month beginning in 1998, soon after Buckham left his job as DeLay's chief of staff.

...............

"The San Pedro is dying. Its aquifer is being sucked dry by growth in the Sierra Vista/Fort Huachuca area. In fact the river went dry for the first time on record on July 5, 2005, and remained dry for 8 days. The river is predicted to go dry again in 2006 unless rains move in and mask the loss of baseflows. If nothing is done, the San Pedro will join dozens of our rivers, such as the Santa Cruz, which have become dry washes in the last 100 years. Arizona's last wild river will be gone."


http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/factsheets/sanpedro.html

Politicizing Government Service
Rahm Emanuel
April 25, 2007
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/04/25/politicizing_government_service.php


Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. These remarks were prepared for delivery Wednesday at a forum hosted by The Brookings Institution.

..............

Not since the days of Watergate, when our judicial system and intelligence community were deployed by the White House in the service of partisan politics, have we seen such abuses. And in many ways, what we have seen from this administration is far more extensive than that scandal.

Partisan politics has infiltrated every level of our federal government - from scientific reports on global warming to emergency management services to the prosecutorial power of the federal government itself. Even the Iraq War - from our entry to the reconstruction - has been thoroughly politicized and manipulated.

Recently, even those who had become somewhat inured to the intense partisanship of this Administration were shocked by the political manipulation of our U.S. Attorneys. And we have just begun to feel the impact of this scandal. Just as Hurricane Katrina exposed the issue of incompetence, the U.S. Attorney scandal has placed a spotlight on the Administration's pattern of always placing the Republican Party's interests before the public interest.

Now, the U.S. Attorney scandal will be to public corruption what Hurricane Katrina was to incompetence in the Bush Administration.

And the scandal has created a new context for viewing and evaluating scandals in the Bush Administration. Americans have learned just how the Bush Administration works and are discovering that under President Bush, no function of the federal government is free from the influence of politics.

...................

:kick:

and adding to my feeble attempt in E&O

:kick:

EDITORIAL - http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-rove30apr30,0,3371048.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail
Choose the right investigations, Congress
Too many inquiries into minor scandals could be counterproductive.
April 30, 2007

THANKS TO Democratic control of Congress and its own ineptitude (or worse), the Bush administration is under investigation on so many fronts that you can't tell the sleuths without a scorecard. But not all scandals are created equal.

The weightiest investigations are the ones being conducted by two Justice Department agencies — the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Office of the Inspector General — into the controversial firings of eight U.S. attorneys. If Inspector Gen. Glenn A. Fine, who demonstrated his independence with a report to Congress about the FBI's misuse of national security letters to obtain bank and phone records, finds fault with Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, it's hard to see how Gonzales could cling to office.

Somewhat down the scale we find the hitherto obscure Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch, who is investigating both the firing of U.S. Atty. David C. Iglesias and allegations that the administrator of the General Services Administration once asked how the agency could "help our candidates" for Congress after GSA political employees were briefed by an aide to Karl Rove.....

...............

Entranced as Democrats may be by visions of Rove in the dock, too many inquisitions into minor affairs may prove to be counterproductive.

The U.S. Attorney, the G.O.P. Congressman and the Timely Job Offer
By ADAM COHEN = Published: May 4, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/opinion/04fri4.html?bl&ex=1178596800&en=3362241afe12880d&ei=5087%0A


There is yet another United States attorney whose abrupt departure from office is raising questions: Debra Wong Yang of Los Angeles. Ms. Yang was not fired, as eight other prosecutors were, but she resigned under circumstances that raise serious questions, starting with whether she was pushed out to disrupt her investigation of one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress.

If the United States attorney scandal has made one thing clear, it is that the riskiest job in the Bush administration is being a prosecutor investigating a Republican member of Congress. Carol Lam, the United States attorney in San Diego, was fired after she put Randy Cunningham, known as Duke, in prison. Paul Charlton, in Arizona, was dismissed while he was investigating Rick Renzi. Dan Bogden, in Nevada, was fired while he was reportedly investigating Jim Gibbons, a congressman who was elected governor last year.

Ms. Yang was investigating Jerry Lewis, who was chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. Ms. Lam and most of the other purged prosecutors were fired on Dec. 7. Ms. Yang, in a fortuitously timed exit, resigned in mid-October.

Ms. Yang says she left for personal reasons, but there is growing evidence that the White House was intent on removing her. Kyle Sampson, the Justice Department staff member in charge of the firings, told investigators last month in still-secret testimony that Harriet Miers, the White House counsel at the time, had asked him more than once about Ms. Yang. He testified, according to Congressional sources, that as late as mid-September, Ms. Miers wanted to know whether Ms. Yang could be made to resign.

................

.......The way to put to rest the questions about Ms. Yang’s suspicious departure, and the firings of the other prosecutors, is to require that Ms. Miers, Mr. Rove and other White House officials tell what they know, in public and under oath.

U.S.A. Investigating Rep. Jerry Lewis Quit To Work For Lewis’ Own Defense Team
By: Logan Murphy on Saturday, May 5th, 2007 at 7:15 PM - PDT
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/05/usa-investigating-rep-jerry-lewis-quit-to-work-for-lewis-own-defense-team/

.......

A $1.5 million signing bonus sure sounds like a payoff to me. It's not known how Yang's departure affected the investigaton, but as the NYT ariticle points out, if the investigation is still moving forward it may likely be due to the intense scrutiny of Congress and the media. There appears to be strong evidence that Harriet Miers wanted Yang fired to stop the investigation of Lewis and that Yang may have been tipped off that she was on the chopping block.

...........

that we should know about?" The Conyers hearing is in progress.

Sanchez is questioning Yang's departure and the 1.5 million dollar signing bonus.
Yang was conducting an active investigation, and was firm hired her away by the firm representing "target" Congressman Lewis in the investigated matter.

=====================
http://www.commonblog.com/tag/Ethics%20in%20Government

Debra Wong Yang of L.A. Yang was the prosecutor in charge of the federal investigation of Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA). She resigned her post in mid-October of 2006; the "purge" of the other prosecutors came on December 7.

And here's where it gets murky. Yang said she was leaving for personal reasons, but she took a very well-paying job at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, a Republican-affiliated firm that, oddly, was also defending Lewis in Yang's investigation. They gave her a $1.5 million signing bonus.

That doesn't sit right. Yang was on the White House's list of prosecutors being talked about. If she thought she might lose her job, it makes sense that she would look for a position elsewhere. However, it's also possible that Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher offered her a job with a compensation package she couldn't resist - conceivably (and conveniently) stalling the Lewis investigation.

Whatever the case, this is yet another instance of possible impropriety for investigators to look into....

Rep. Tom Feeney facing FBI questions about golfing trip with Jack Abramoff
Submitted by crew on 24 April 2007 - 8:44am. Jack Abramoff Tom Feeney
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/27773


Another of CREW's 20 most corrupt Members of Congress is in the news this week. This time it's Florida Congressman Tom Feeney (R). And, like his colleagues, it's not good. According to the St. Petersburg Times, Rep. Feeney is facing questions from the FBI about Jack Abramoff:

...........

The Times notes that Feeney was one of three members of Congress on that now infamous golfing trip to Scotland. The other two were former Rep. Bob Ney, who is now in prison, and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

=================

Feeney says he was "duped" by Abramoff
Submitted by crew on 4 January 2007 - 6:17pm. Tom Feeney
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/27061

Feeney got an all expense paid trip to go golfing in Scotland. Has no idea who paid for the trip. Didn't care apparently. But, now the defense from Tom Feeney (R-FL) is he was duped. Oh, and lied to. Because, really, how was he supposed to know how he got to golf in Scotland?:

................

Sat, May. 05, 2007
Congressional records link conservative think tank to Abramoff
By Mark K. Matthews - The Orlando Sentinel
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17183120.htm


WASHINGTON - When Rep. Tom Feeney first told Congress about a 2003 golf junket he took with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Oviedo, Fla., Republican named a conservative think tank called the National Center for Public Policy Research as the trip's sponsor.

... congressional records show a direct link between the Washington-based policy group and a foundation identified by Senate investigators as Abramoff's personal "slush fund" that he used to evade taxes and lavish luxuries on his friends on Capitol Hill.

Financial statements show that the National Center for Public Policy Research gave $450,000 to Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation in 2002 and $250,000 in 2003.

The NCPPR was nothing more than a "front organization" for Abramoff, who was one of its officers until 2004, according to an October minority report from Democrats on the Senate Finance committee.

................

For Abramoff, the center provided an easy way to shift funds among his interests. According to a 2002 e-mail sent to a colleague at Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff said the research center "can direct money at our discretion, anywhere if you know what I mean."

................

'Representative No. 3'
Palm Beach Post Editorial
Saturday, May 05, 2007
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2007/05/05/m10a_feeney_edit_0505.html


Among the latest to claim the "I was stupid, not corrupt" defense is Florida Congressman Tom Feeney. ...... Playing dumb is Rep. Feeney's only defense ...........

Rep. Feeney says he didn't know that Abramoff paid for the trip, a violation of House rules, even though Abramoff's firm e-mailed Rep. Feeney's staff instructions to list the trip's cost at $5,643.

And Rep. Feeney says he didn't know that figure was way low - investigators have put the average cost per participant at $20,000 - even though the group flew to Scotland on a private jet and got lavish meals and golf at the exclusive Royal & Ancient Golf Club.

... the St. Petersburg Times reported that in 2003, before being invited on the golf trip, Rep. Feeney wrote the Energy Department opposing a rule change that an Abramoff client also sought to kill. .....

CQ TODAY MIDDAY UPDATE
April 25, 2007 – 1:22 p.m.
FBI Seeks Hill-to-Newspaper E-mails as Part of Abramoff Probe
http://public.cq.com/docs/cqm/cqmidday110-000002497774.html


Two Florida newspapers reported today that they have been asked for information about a local congressman who took part on one of lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s Scotland golf trips.

The St. Petersburg Times told readers the FBI has asked for e-mails the paper received from Jason Roe, a former chief of staff to Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla., in response to questions from the paper about Feeney’s 2003 trip.

......

The Orlando Sentinel reported that it was also asked for documents, but did not describe the request in detail.

The newspaper Florida Today reported Tuesday that the FBI asked it for copies of a tape recorded interview in which Feeney was asked about his connections with Abramoff.

.......

Our view: Time for answers
Public deserves a full accounting from Rep. Feeney on FBI's Abramoff probe
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070503/OPINION/705030314/1004


There are a lot of questions that demand answers -- answers the public isn't getting but has a right to know.

We're talking about Rep. Tom Feeney's refusal to address specifics of the FBI probe into his relationship with influence-peddling felon Jack Abramoff and the widening congressional corruption scandal in his wake.

...... new information has raised serious questions and requires that he speak openly and candidly now -- not wait, as he said Wednesday, until "after this matter has been resolved."

..... a former aid to U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who has pleaded guilty to corruption for his involvement with Abramoff.

Zachares, who was on the same Scotland golf trip as Feeney, has admitted he worked with Abramoff's office to lie about how the trip's cost and who paid for it. Their cover story? The trip was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research and cost $5,643. Which is exactly what Feeney reported and the story to which he's sticking.

........................

WOW. The RNC is paying out whopping HUGE legal fees for SOMETHING?????

=======================================================
Legal Bills = Scandals and Inquiries Mean More Fees
By John Solomon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 26, 2007; Page A27
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/25/AR2007042502760.html


It's springtime in Washington and some of the biggest things blooming are politicians' legal bills.

The large number of political figures, including current and former members of Congress, who are embroiled in criminal, ethics and civil cases helped rack up more than $2 million in legal bills in the first three months of the year, an unusually large amount for the first quarter of a non-election year.

The Republican National Committee ran up one of the biggest tabs, reporting it paid $500,000 last month alone to the D.C. blue chip firm of Covington & Burling. Officially, the GOP offered no explanation.

"As a matter of policy, the RNC does not comment on legal fees," spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt said. ........

...............

Frost: House should not need outside ethics panel
By: Martin Frost - April 30, 2007 05:45 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3757.html

For some time now, various reform groups have been arguing that ethics complaints against sitting members of the U.S. House of Representatives should be handled by an outside panel rather than by the House ethics committee.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the House ethics committee policing ethical conduct by current members of the House. It only becomes a problem when the ethics process is corrupted by people like Tom DeLay and former Speaker Dennis Hastert.

Let's review the bidding on ethics charges brought against DeLay.

DeLay, over a five-year period, was admonished by the House ethics committee on four different matters. They were as follows: ..........

..................

Hastert, DeLay and company had no shame in attempting to water down and derail ethics complaints against sitting members.

...............

DeLay's PAC closes shop
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/capitol-briefing/2007/05/delays_pac_closes_shop.html


The political action committee for former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) was quietly closed last week after a decade-long run as one of the most influential - and infamous - PACs run by members of Congress.

.... Americans for a Republican Majority then filed its termination papers with the commission April 24.

.....

Unlike congressional re-election committees - used solely for campaign efforts back in members' districts - so-called leadership PACs are designed almost purely for lawmakers to gain influence inside the Capitol. These PACs take in cash in larger chunks ($5,000 per year) and are used to make contributions (up to $10,000 per election cycle) to other lawmakers.

And, in an 11-year run among GOP leadership ranks, no one in Congress used political money to maximize his own influence more than DeLay. From 2001 through 2005, as DeLay's power reached its apex, his PAC dished out more than $2.6 million in donations to other House and Senate candidates as well as national political party committees.

.............

.... ARMPAC also helped precipitate DeLay's fall. In the late 1990s, the PAC was run out of a Capitol Hill townhouse that housed a lobbying firm and a questionable non-profit, both of which were run by lobbyist Edwin Buckham, a former chief of staff to DeLay. For several years Buckham's firm employed DeLay's wife, paying her more than $100,000 for what has been widely considered undefined work.

Several years later, the FBI and Justice Department began investigating DeLay's connections to now imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ........

...........

Amid FBI investigation, Renzi steps down from 2 more panels
By Jackie Kucinich and Jonathan E. Kaplan - April 25, 2007
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/amid-fbi-investigation-renzi-steps-down-from-2-more-panels-2007-04-24.html


Following his decision to step down from the House Intelligence Committee after the FBI raided his business last week in Arizona, Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) is temporarily stepping down from the Resources and Financial Services Committees, according to a statement released late yesterday by Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). Boehner said: “I appreciate the decision Rick has made and know it was a difficult one .....”

..........

House Republican leaders said last year that they would revoke members’ privileges and perks, such as committee assignments, if they were under investigation. ......... “Given the amount of time the GOP leadership team has spent making ethics a priority, it’s safe to say the decisions made by Doolittle and Renzi were no-brainers … The writing was already on the wall for them,” a GOP leadership aide said. ....

..........

But the GOP aide noted that House leaders have not reprimanded other House members facing ethics problems because there has been no legal action taken against them. Those include California Republicans Jerry Lewis and Gary Miller, who have come under scrutiny for allegedly earmarking funds for a former lawmaker’s business and neglecting to report lucrative land deals, respectively.

The decision to crack down on wrongdoing is a far cry from a more confident House Republican Conference last year. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) famously received a standing ovation following his pledge to the House GOP to fight any federal indictment.

...................

THE MORNING BRIEF by JOSEPH SCHUMAN
Investigations and Politics, Politics and Investigations
April 25, 2007 6:59 a.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117748263972281821.html?mod=googlenews_wsj


Scrutiny of Alberto Gonzales's Justice Department leadership may mark the most high-profile inquiry into Bush administration business, but it is just the tip of an investigatory iceberg that -- to mix metaphors -- is starting to heat up.

The latest revelation concerns Republican Rep. Rick Renzi, who temporarily stepped down from the Resources and Financial Services Committees yesterday. This follows his decision to quit the House Intelligence Committee last week in the wake of an FBI raid on his office back in Arizona. People close to the case tell The Wall Street Journal that ahead of last November's election, federal investigators faced unexpected obstacles when trying to get Justice Department approvals for search warrants and subpoenas in the corruption probe of Mr. Renzi. Those delays postponed these approvals until after the election, and the Journal says they "raise new questions about whether Attorney General Alberto Gonzales or other officials may have weighed political issues in some investigations." Among the eight U.S. attorneys fired last fall was the one in Arizona overseeing the case, Paul Charlton. A Justice Department spokesman denies there was any intentional delay in the Renzi case.

..................

.........several congressional Republicans and aides snared in what The Hill notes are "widening scandals," including several who lost reelection bids when the House changed hands last fall. Today, three now-Democratically led congressional committees will look at issuing subpoenas for half a dozen senior administration officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and ex-White House chief of staff Andrew Card, the Washington Post reports: To Republicans the inquiries are a "witch hunt," to Democrats they are a "return to their constitutional role of executive-branch oversight."

.........

FEC Fines Renzi $25K, Renzi Pays $323,830 in Additional Taxes
5/1/2007
http://www.fecinfo.com/

The FEC also made public its file (MUR 5655) on the Renzi for Congress Committee reporting violations and questionable loans. The conciliation agreement calls for a $25,000 civil penalty. The agreement was signed on January 10, 2007, but is just now being made public.

The FEC audited the campaign and sought more information on $369,090 in loans to the campaign, possibly from Renzi & Company and Renzi Investments. The FEC General Counsel's report stated Rep. Renzi, his spouse, and the two companies filed amended federal and state tax returns. Rep. Renzi and Mrs. Renzi paid an additional $285,421 in federal taxes and $38,409 in state taxes.

http://www.beyonddelay.org/node/94

Administrative Assistant’s Outside Income
... since January 2006, Rep. Renzi has paid Ms. Roe $5,000 a month as his fundraiser, and she has made an additional $30,000 by fundraising on behalf of Reps. Tom Feeney (R-FL), whose chief of staff is Ms. Roe’s husband, Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL), and Patrick McHenry (R-NC). In total, it appears that Ms. Roe will earn about $90,000, in addition to her congressional salary. ...committee ought to investigate whether Rep. Renzi and Ms. Roe are attempting to end-run the outside income restrictions.

House ethics rules limit outside earned income to $24,780 per year.

Financially Benefitting His Father

In 2003, Rep. Renzi sponsored legislation that dealt hundreds of millions of dollars to his father’s business while, according to environmentalists, devastating the San Pedro River. A key beneficiary of Rep. Renzi’s legislation was ManTech International Corp., a Fairfax, Virginia based defense contractor where Rep. Renzi’s father, Retired Major General Eugene Renzi, is an executive vice president. The company, which has an office in Sierra Vista, Arizona, was the largest contributor to Renzi’s 2002 congressional campaign and the second largest in his 2004 campaign.

If Rep. Renzi accepted campaign contributions from ManTech in exchange for pushing through legislation benefitting the company, he would be in violation of federal bribery laws. His actions on behalf of his father may have also violated conflict-of-interest rules and the requirement that
Members of the House conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.”

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON REP. RICK RENZI (R-AZ) >> http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Renzi.pdf

Hastert's wealth is grounded in land
Booming suburbs yield bounty for longtime real estate investor
6 Jul 2006 - http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/22038


During his long career in public service, House Speaker Dennis Hastert has amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune through real estate holdings that belies the humble image of a former small-town high school wrestling coach.

..........

Hastert's accumulation of wealth through a series of land deals has been the subject of recent scrutiny since a private research group last month questioned his sale of land near a federally funded highway project that he championed. The transactions appear to comply with the law.

.....

His biggest payday as a real estate investor -- $2 million -- has stirred controversy because it dovetailed with federal assistance he secured for the Prairie Parkway. As part of a real estate partnership, Hastert sold land that is 3 miles from the proposed freeway. The $207 million funding was inserted into the fine print of a mammoth federal transportation bill.

.............

Miller’s 2005 Transportation Bill Earmarks Benefited Longtime Business Partner
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/03/miller-earmarks/


The Hill reports today that in 2005, Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) placed several earmarks into the transportation bill that directly benefited his business partner, Lewis Operating. Miller, a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is currently under investigation by the FBI for land deals with the City of Fontana, CA.

Miller’s interventions on behalf of the company include a provision to close the Rialto Municipal Airport — the first time an airport has been closed by an act of Congress — allowing Lewis Operating to win a contract from Rialto to redevelop the airport property as a planned community.

Miller’s other Lewis Operating-friendly earmarks included: ..............

.........

According to his financial disclosure report, in 2005 alone, Miller made $1.1 million to $6 million in profits from real-estate deals involving Lewis Operating in some part of the transaction. The company is also one of Miller’s top campaign contributors. Employees of the company have donated $22,150 to Miller’s campaign committee since his election to Congress in 1998.

Despite his clear record of abusing his seat to benefit himself and his business partners, Miller remains on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Miller earmarks aided partner
By Susan Crabtree - May 03, 2007
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/miller-earmarks-aided-partner-2007-05-02.html


Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) helped secure several earmarks in the 2005 transportation bill that would benefit projects of his business partner, Lewis Operating, according to House sources and an analysis of the bill’s earmarks and San Bernardino County, Calif., land records.

In the years leading up to the bill’s passage, Miller’s financial ties to the company, one of the largest privately held real-estate development companies in the country, have grown. The year before the transportation bill passed, Miller borrowed $7.5 million from Lewis Operating to purchase land from it. Lewis Operating Corp. is also one of Miller’s top campaign contributors; employees of the company have donated $22,150 to Miller’s campaign committee since his election to Congress in 1998.

Miller also has partnered or been involved with a number of real-estate transactions with the company in the past five years, making $1.1 million to $6 million in profits from deals involving Lewis Operating in some part of the transaction, according to the lawmaker’s financial disclosure reports.

The FBI has been investigating several of Miller’s land deals, particularly the sale of 165 acres ....

.............................

Former congressional aide expected to plead guilty in Abramoff case
By Kevin Diaz - mMcClatchy Newspapers
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17123808.htm


WASHINGTON - A former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a federal conspiracy charge in connection with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Mark Zachares, who was part of Young's transportation committee staff from 2002 to 2004, was named in charging documents Monday alleging a pattern of rewards and favors that he and Abramoff termed their "two year plan."

Young was not implicated in the scheme, which represents a broadening circle of influence-peddling surrounding the once high-flying GOP lobbyist, who's now in prison. A Young spokeswoman said Zachares left Young's office a year and a half ago and that the congressman had no comment.

....................................more......

=================
Former Hill Staffer to Plead Guilty in Abramoff Probe
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 24, 2007; Page A04
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301743.html?hpid=sec-politics


A former senior staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to defraud the public by steering potential clients and inside government information to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for cash, gifts and the promise of a high-paying job on K Street.

Mark Dennis Zachares admitted to prosecutors that he accepted more than $30,000 in tickets to 40 sporting events, a luxury golf trip to Scotland and $10,000 in cash from Abramoff and his lobbying team. He acknowledged providing them with information about the reorganization of the Homeland Security Department, federal disaster and highway aid, and maritime issues.

..............

In late 2000 and 2001, Abramoff tried to get the Bush White House to hire Zachares as director of insular affairs at the Interior Department, a post in which he could aid the Northern Marianas and other Abramoff clients. The Washington Post previously reported that Abramoff contacted his former assistant, Susan Ralston, who went to work for White House political aide Karl Rove, seeking the position for Zachares. Ralston refused to arrange a meeting, and Zachares did not get the job.

...............

If he doesn't get indicted for something soon, I'm going to be very, very unhappy. He gives new meaning to the word "sleaze."

I don't have time right now to dig out a bunch of links for you, but this page on last year's Democratic candidate Diane Benson's website will give you some flavor. And this is BEFORE the recent revelations about his aide Mark Zachares and also some shady dealings with an indicted trucking firm from somewhere or other.

http://bensonforcongress.com/newspage

Another good page is this one:

http://www.topix.net/us-house/don-young

He's been "congressman for all Alaska" since 1974, I believe, so he's had time to get fully entrenched in the Washington Republican sleaze. Besides being corrupt as hell, he's dumb as a stump, and has apparently gone to the George W. Bush School of Malapropisms, which would be falling down on the floor funny if it wasn't so pathetic.

So many of us want him gone. With the recent arrests of four Republican state legislators here we're hoping the FBI keeps moving up the food chain. :)

ed. You can also go to the Alaska forum where I've posted a bunch of Don Young newspaper articles over the past few months. He's really just pathetic.

It's the little things in life, but that's so much better than the MSM mealy-mouthed "disgraced lobbyist" or disgraced former lobbyist". The man was top-drawer. Let's give credit where credit is due, and Abramoff was tops in the GOP crime party.

Salute to you, Kevin Diaz.
:thumbsup: :patriot:

McClatchy connects dots U.S. Atty.MO Republicans.2006 Elections.Karl Rove
by standingup
Wed May 02, 2007 at 10:38:38 PM PDT
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/5/3/13838/70725


McClatchy continues to be front and center on the U.S. Attorney scandal. They are walking the story backward from Karl Rove to the national Republican strategy to use the faux voter fraud issue in the battleground states. The story weaves back and forth between the current U.S. Attorney scandal, the White House, the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. DOJ, the Republican controled Missouri State legislature, fake non-partisan voting rights group and more.

2006 Missouri's election was ground zero for GOP is a must read. ........

Alaska editorial: Young should answer questions about aide
Juneau Empire (subscription), AK - 6 hours ago
http://juneauempire.com/stories/050707/opi_20070507013.shtml


Was he responsible for hiring and supervising Mark Zachares, the recently convicted aide who traded favors with lobbyist Jack Abramoff? ...

Jack Abramoff and Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 07:30:01 PM EST
http://www.commonblog.com/story/2007/4/30/19301/6080

Given the recent developments with former Rep. Don Young (R-AK) aide Mark Zachares, the Anchorage Daily News decided to take a close look at Young's ties with Jack Abramoff. What they found is actually kind of startling.

I get the sense it may have surprised them a little, too:

   The guilty plea last week by a former senior committee aide to Rep. Don Young 
   sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding Young's success seven years ago in blocking reforms of the sweatshop industry on the Mariana Islands.

   But the plea also raises new questions about why Young, R-Alaska, took the actions he did.

Zachares worked for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI) from 1994-1998; Jack Abramoff was paid $11 million to lobby for the CNMI from 1994-2001. It was during these years that their paths intersected and they became personal and political friends. At the same time, efforts were afoot to institute labor reforms to CNMI garment manufacturers, who were running sweatshops under the legal label of "Made In the USA." Abramoff's chief task was to derail this reform legislation.

Enter Representative Don Young, chairman of the House Resources Committee, the committee of jurisdiction over the CNMI.

   Young stopped the bill cold, saying it interfered with the commonwealth's right to self-rule. 
   He was supported by then Majority Whip Tom DeLay, who described the Marinas as "a perfect petri dish of capitalism."

   "I'm not going to move anything," Young said ...........

...............

whether Don Young has been selling votes to VECO (oil field service company) in light of the recent scandal in the Alaska state legislature involving three former and current legislators indicted for fraud and bribery, with more waiting in the wings. VECO, whose CEO and vice president have also just pled guilty to said bribery charges, has been Don's main campaign contributor for several years. He has received several hundred thousand dollars from them.

Oil Company in Scandal Gave Outside of Alaska
VECO executives and employees have contributed $1 million to federal politicians and parties since 1989, Center finds. In Alaska, lawmakers have rushed to dump the money.
By Massie Ritsch
http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=263


May 09, 2007 | The multinational oil services company at the center of a political corruption scandal in Alaska’s statehouse has been a generous contributor to federal lawmakers as well, the Center for Responsive Politics has found. From 1989 through 2006, VECO, its employees and their families contributed about $1 million to current and former members of Congress from 26 states, as well as to President Bush, political parties, other committees and issue advocacy groups.

VECO has been the top Alaska-based contributor to federal politics for at least the last five election cycles, the Center found. Like most oil and gas companies, VECO is staunchly Republican; 97% of its contributions have gone to Republican interests.

The top recipients of money from the company (shown in a table below) are, not surprisingly, members of Congress representing Alaska. Rep. Don Young, a Republican who is the state’s only congressman, has taken in at least $257,320 from VECO in the last 18 years through his campaign committee and political action committee. VECO has been Young’s most generous campaign contributor over that period, according to CRP’s research.

Alaska’s senior statesman in Washington, Sen. Ted Stevens, has received at least $156,000 through his campaign and committees that he uses to support fellow Republican candidates. Stevens’s son Ben, a former president of the Alaska state Senate, has been implicated in the VECO scandal. ....

============================
May 9, 2007 3:43 p.m. PT
Alaska politicians examine VECO donations
By STEVE QUINN - AP
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6600AP_WST_Pipeline_Bribe.html

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Guilty pleas from two oil field services executives who admit bribing legislators have Alaska officials examining whether they should give up campaign contributions connected to their company, for years a major player in state politics.

Campaign donation records also show that VECO Corp. sent tens of thousands of dollars to candidates outside Alaska, including President Bush. One of the executives, VECO founder and CEO Bill Allen, served as state financial co-chairman in Bush's 2000 campaign.

Since 1990, Anchorage-based VECO, its employees and their family members gave the state and national Republican parties, GOP congressional candidates and Bush slightly more than $1 million, according to an analysis by watchdog Center for Responsive Politics. .............

Allen and a VECO vice president, Rick Smith, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to spending more than $400,000 to bribe state lawmakers. One current and two former members of the state House pleaded not guilty last week to federal charges of bribery and extortion..........

========================
Web posted October 30, 2006
Young's campaign amasses $2 million
Congressman ranks eighth in donations from outside states
http://www.alaskalegislature.com/stories/103006/leg_20061030019.shtml


The Associated Press

ANCHORAGE - With the Nov. 7, election approaching, Don Young, Alaska's powerful U.S. representative, has more than $2 million in his campaign account.

The 73-year-old Republican from Fort Yukon has amassed one of the richest campaign accounts in Congress, soliciting donations from Alaska to Arkansas.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that road builders, doctors and others in Pine Bluff, Ark., are among the most generous donors to Young's re-election campaign. More money comes from two sections of Pine Bluff than from any ZIP code in Alaska.

Sitting congressmen often secure donations from out of state, but Young is especially adept. He ranks eighth out of 435 congressmen in terms of the percentage of campaign dollars drawn from outside their home state, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. .........

Subpoenas Likely for Justice Officials in Prosecutor Firings
By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 8, 2007; Page A07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/07/AR2007030701546.html


Senate Democrats said yesterday they are preparing to subpoena five senior Justice Department officials ......

The fallout from the investigation into why the prosecutors were dismissed continued yesterday. Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) hired a top defense attorney to handle a related probe by the Senate ethics committee, which is investigating allegations that he pressured a New Mexico prosecutor to bring indictments against a Democrat just before the November elections.

............

Former New Mexico U.S. attorney David C. Iglesias testified that Domenici called him at home in October to ask whether indictments would be issued before the election in a probe of alleged courthouse construction kickbacks related to a prominent local Democrat. Iglesias said he received a similar call earlier from Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), who allegedly quizzed him about "sealed indictments."

..........

Domenici Lawyers Up
By Paul Kiel - March 7, 2007, 4:00 PM
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002700.php

What a small world. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) has nabbed Lee Blalack, best known as Duke Cunningham's lawyer, to represent him in the Senate ethics investigation, The Washington Post reports:

====================
Prosecutors Say They Felt Pressured, Threatened
Hill Republicans, Justice Dept. Cited
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030600606_pf.html

By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2007; A01

Six fired U.S. attorneys testified on Capitol Hill yesterday that they had separately been the target of complaints, improper telephone calls and thinly veiled threats from a high-ranking Justice Department 8official or members of Congress, both before and after they were abruptly removed from their jobs.....

Iglesias's allegations of congressional interference have prompted a Senate ethics committee inquiry. Yesterday he offered new details about telephone calls he received in October from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), saying he felt "leaned on" and "sickened" by the contacts seeking information about an investigation of a local Democrat. ........

Prosecutors Say They Felt Pressured, Threatened
Hill Republicans, Justice Dept. Cited
By Dan Eggen and Paul Kane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 7, 2007; A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/06/AR2007030600606_pf.html


Six fired U.S. attorneys testified on Capitol Hill yesterday that they had separately been the target of complaints, improper telephone calls and thinly veiled threats from a high-ranking Justice Department 8official or members of Congress.....

In back-to-back hearings in the Senate and House, former U.S. 8attorney David C. Iglesias of New Mexico and five other former prosecutors recounted specific instances in which some said they felt pressured by Republicans on corruption cases and one said a Justice Department official warned him to keep quiet or face retaliation.

Iglesias's allegations of congressional interference have prompted a Senate ethics committee inquiry. Yesterday he offered new details about telephone calls he received in October from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.), saying he felt "leaned on" and "sickened" by the contacts seeking information about an investigation of a local Democrat.

========================
GOP struggles as woes mount up
By: Jeanne Cummings
April 20, 2007 03:19 PM EST
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0407/3614.html

" .... the DCCC has begun airing radio ads criticizing New Mexico Rep. Heather Wilson for allegedly putting pressure on U.S. attorney David C. Iglesias to hasten an investigation of state Democrats so the story might break before Election Day....."

Congresswoman on page board buried file on husband's child abuse allegation
Brian Beutler
Published: Thursday October 19, 2006
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Congresswoman_on_page_board_buried_file_1019.html


A file allegedly suppressed by Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) has been obtained by RAW STORY.

In 1995, just three days into her tenure as Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, Wilson removed a routine working file alleging that her husband had engaged in inappropriate contact with a minor. The file was then transferred to the department's attorney in her own Albuquerque office, where it soon went missing.

At the time, a local investigative news team learned about the swap, but could not confirm certain details of the file. They were not able to recover the document itself.

More than ten years later, RAW STORY has uncovered and confirmed the authenticity of the police incident report believed to be contained in the missing dossier. Filed as a case of child abuse in 1993, it contends that Wilson's husband Jay Hone, an Albuquerque attorney, touched a then-16 year old boy "in a manner that was not welcome."

Charges were never filed against her husband, but Wilson's handling of the affair drew the ire of Bob Schwartz who at the time served as district attorney in Bernalillo County. He described Wilson's actions to the news team as "absolutely inappropriate," citing her "obvious conflict of interest."

........................

Wednesday May 2, 2007
Make Domenici, Wilson testify
By Jonathan Strong
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/OPINION/705020314/1005/OPINION


While the constitutional/political clash between Congress and the president continues regarding the testimony of key executive officials about the Bush administration's firing of eight U.S. attorneys that the president had previously appointed, both Congressional Committees ought to seek the sworn, transcribed testimony of their own colleagues, New Mexico's Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson. This testimony should begin with questioning about the telephone inquiries each made to ousted U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, about which Iglesias testified and in that testimony hypothesized that his responses to Domenici and Wilson had triggered his ouster. The Congressional inquiries of Domenici and Wilson should include exploration of the contacts either had with the White House or the Justice Department about Iglesias (Domenici reportedly contacted the attorney general and his deputy about Iglesias).

There is no reason for either House of Congress to delay such an examination. Indeed, it may well lead to a sounder footing for the subpoenas each Committee has authorized.

The Constitution's Speech or Debate Clause, which states that "for any Speech or Debate in either House, shall not be questioned in any other Place," would not immunize Domenici and Wilson from such questioning. The Supreme Court has stated repeatedly that that Clause "generally forecloses from executive and judicial inquiry," but not legislative inquiry. U.S. v. Johnson, 383 U.S. 169, 179 (1965). See also U.S. v. Gravel, 383 U.S. 606, 614 (1972); U.S. v. Helstoski, 442 U.S. 485, 492 (1979).

...........................

The Cleanest Congress in History?
Craig Holman (Craig Holman is a lobbyist for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch.)
May 07, 2007
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/07/the_cleanest_congress_in_history.php


“The cleanest Congress in history” was a big—and appropriately ambitious—promise from incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Cal., as she assumed the reins following the scandal-ridden 109th Congress.

But making that promise come true, and getting Americans to believe it, will be no easy task. As the nightly news lurches from the revolving door scandal involving Mark Zachares to the lucrative employment Paul Wolfowitz arranged for his girlfriend, it is clear that the Congress and administration still have a long way to go to win back the confidence of the American people.

An on-going wave of corruption scandals captured new headlines for the past couple weeks, including: .......

...............

These breaking scandals drive home the point that cleaning up Washington takes a lot more than adding a few ethics and lobbying disclosure rules. The “culture of corruption,” to use Pelosi’s idiom, is fraught with sex scandals, bribery, lavish gifts, luxury travel, secret deals for future employment, earmarking, money laundering and who knows what else.

..................

Renzi does not intend to resign seat in House
Eastern Arizona Courier, AZ - 1 hour ago
JD Hayworth and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom federal authorities convicted of influence peddling, played a key role in Hayworth’s defeat in November. ...

Renzi does not intend to resign seat in House
By Walter Mares, Copper Era Managing Editor
http://www.eacourier.com/articles/2007/05/07/local_news/news09.txt


The ground has become shaky and storm clouds are brewing over the political landscape, but Rick Renzi, Greenlee and Graham counties’ representative in the U.S. Congress, said he has no plans of resigning. He says he has not done anything wrong.

However, Renzi, the subject of a federal investigation, has stepped down from three House of Representatives committees he sits on. He said the leaves of absence are only temporary until the federal probe is resolved.

Legal Affairs - Critics Question Status of Abramoff Probe

Listen to this story... by Nina Totenberg
CLICK the LISTEN button: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9469936

Morning Edition, April 9, 2007 · Amid turmoil over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Bush administration critics are wondering whether the Justice Department is paying enough attention to the ongoing Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation.

Long and GOOD REPORT by Nina Totenberg. Link between Abramoff and the USA firings scandal discussed. Cunningham cited.

Skies Haven’t Brightened for California Rep. Doolittle Since ’06 Close Call
By Rachel Kapochunas | 7:23 PM; May. 07, 2007
http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/05/skies_havent_brightened_for_ca.html


John T. Doolittle of California’s 4th District was one of many Republican House incumbents who slipped from safe to highly vulnerable during the 2006 campaign,... . Doolittle managed to survive his bid for a ninth term, but by just 3 percentage points ....

Now, as the 2008 campaign begins to take shape, it appears very possible that Doolittle may face a rematch with Democrat Charlie Brown, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel who made an impact last year as an aggressive political newcomer and hasn’t ceased campaigning since.

Moreover, the specter of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff — a major factor in Doolittle’s poor showing in 2006 — has brought the incumbent negative headlines over the six months since Election Day and cost him his position of greatest legislative influence.

After a campaign that raised questions about whether Doolittle himself had close links with the man at the center of a sweeping Washington corruption scandal, Doolittle has had to deal with news reports of an ongoing federal investigation of Abramoff’s ties to a consulting firm run by Doolittle’s wife Julia — a probe that included an FBI search in April of the Doolittles’ home in Oakton, Va. Soon after the FBI search was made public, Doolittle voluntarily resigned his seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee.

................

And though Doolittle appears headed for a tough rematch with Brown, another scenario is possible. Gerston said the prospects of Doolittle possibly losing his party’s grip on the seat might prompt the Republican leadership to pressure him into retirement.

...............

Conrad Burns Pays $160K in Legal Fees
4/18/2007 - http://www.fecinfo.com/

Former Sen. Conrad Burns reported paying Powell Goldstein LLP $72,348 on 1/3 and $88,029 on 3/28 for legal fees.

http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/burns.php

...His ethics issues stem from campaign contributions he accepted in apparent exchange for exercising his authority as Chairman of an appropriations subcommittee and on a trip some of his staff members took to the 2001 Super Bowl. Sen. Burns was defeated in his November 2006 bid for re-election by Jon Tester.

Senator Burns and Jack Abramoff

Sen. Burns' campaign committees have received substantial contributions from former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Mr. Abramoff's associates and Mr. Abramoff's tribal clients. In fact, Sen. Burns received more money from Mr. Abramoff than did any other Member of Congress. Between 2000 and 2002, these donors contributed a whopping 42% of the total money received by Burns' political action committee, totaling more than $137,000.

In apparent exchange, Sen. Burns applied pressure to the Interior Department to direct a $3 million federal grant intended for poor tribal schools to the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan, one of the wealthiest tribes in the country (each member of the tribe receives $70,000 annually) and a client of Mr. Abramoff's. When that failed, Sen. Burns earmarked the money for the Saginaw Chippewa in a 2004 Senate appropriations bill.

By trading legislative assistance for campaign contributions, Sen. Burns may have violated federal laws prohibiting bribery and honest services fraud as well as Senate rules......

A GOPer sending a letter is hardly news!!

Judicial Watch Calls On Attorney General To Investigate Rep. John Conyers
By Tom Fitton - May 9, 2007
http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/guest/2007/tf_05091.shtml

On April 25, I sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales calling for an investigation of Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers.....Our understanding is that the FBI was specifically investigating Conyers. But it seems from the outside that the investigation has shut down. I hope that it has nothing to do with the fact, that as the new chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Conyers has oversight over Justice Department and FBI matters (and budgets).

You may recall that last year, Conyers landed on Judicial Watch's "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians" list as a "dishonorable mention." Here's why: It appears Conyers, who is now Chairman of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, repeatedly violated the law and House ethics rules, forcing his staff to serve as his personal servants, babysitters, valets, and as campaign workers while on the government payroll.
......
Of course the House Ethics Committee "investigated" these allegations last year. While substantiating a number of the accusations against Conyers, the committee's solution was to blame the staff and then require additional administrative record-keeping and employee training. Case closed. Well, not exactly. Judicial Watch continued to investigate .....

Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.)

Bush administration U.S. attorney firings controversy/Firings and activities of fired U.S. attorneys
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bush_administration_U.S._attorney_firings_controversy/Firings_and_activities_of_fired_U.S._attorneys#Rep._Doc_Hastings_.28R-Wash..29

During the March 6 testimony, fired Washington attorney John McKay said that Rep. Doc Hastings’ (R-Wash) senior staffer, Ed Cassidy, called him to inquire about whether or not any investigations were underway regarding voter fraud in the hotly-contested Washington gubernatorial race in 2004 (won by Democrat Christine Gregoire). <37>

During the call, McKay reminded Cassidy that calling to recommend a federal investigation would be improper. According to McKay, Cassidy "agreed it would be improper" and ended the call. McKay immediately told his staff about the call and agreed with them that "I had stopped Mr. Cassidy from doing anything improper." He continued, however, that he "was concerned and dismayed by the call." <38>

Also during his testimony, McKay said that when he made a bid to be a federal judge in 2006, he was asked by former White House counsel Harriet Miers and deputy counsel William Kelley to explain "criticism that (he) mishandled the 2004 governor's election." <39>

37 ↑ Laurie Kellman, "Fired Attorneys Allude to Justice Threat," The Guardian, March 7, 2007. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6462827,00.html
38 ↑ "McKay: Hastings' office called about probing Gregoire's election," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 6, 2007. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/306295_mckay06ww.html?source=mypi
39 ↑ Paul Kiel, "Washington Republicans Chased Ousted Prosecutor," TPM Muckraker, March 7, 2007. http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002699.php

http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
TIGUA CASINO — CORNYN PART OF ABRAMOFF, REED, SCANLON SCHEME TO CLOSE TIGUA CASINO: Abramoff, Scanlon, and Reed (”an avowed foe of gambling”) secretly helped then Texas Attorney General Cornyn shut down the Tigua tribe’s Texas casino. They then exploited “the financial crisis they were helping to create for the tribe” by convincing the Tiguas to pay Abramoff $4.2 million (and $300,000 they doled out in political contributions to Abramoff allies) to get Congress to reopen the casino. (”In the end, Abramoff and Scanlon failed to get the casino reopened.”) “Former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed claimed in a 2001 e-mail to that he choreographed John Cornyn’s efforts as Texas attorney general to shut down” the casino.

TIGUA CASINO — CORNYN RECEIVED $1,000 FROM ABRAMOFF FOR CLOSING CASINO: Cornyn knew of Abramoff’s efforts to help him. On November 12, 2001, Reed sent Abramoff an e-mail stating, “get me details so I can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him.” On January 7, 2002, Reed wrote to Abramoff, “I think we should budget for an ataboy for cornyn.” Abramoff contributed $1,000, the maximum amount legally allowed.

CREW Files Texas Public Information Request Regarding US Senator Cornyn's Involvement With Indian Gaming Scandal
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/19113

Washington, D.C. – Earlier today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed Texas Public Information Act requests with both the Texas Office of the Attorney General and with the Texas Governor’s Office. CREW has asked the Attorney General’s Office for information regarding contacts between former Attorney General (now U.S. Senator) John Cornyn and Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon and Ralph Reed as well as for all documents related to the Tigua Tribe of El Paso, Texas. CREW also asked the Governor’s Office for information documents generated and received regarding the Tigua Tribe.

CREW filed its requests in response to a statement by Sen. John Cornyn that, while working to close down the Tigua’s Speaking Rock Casino, he never met with Ralph Reed, who had been paid by the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to close down the Tigua’s casino. E-mail correspondence between Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed, however, suggest otherwise.

For example, on November 12, 2001, Reed sent Abramoff an e-mail stating, “get me details so I can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him” (sic). Similarly, on November 13, 2001, Reed wrote “I strongly suggest we start doing patch-throughs to perry and cornyn (sic). We’re getting killed on the phone.” Also, on January 7, 2002, Reed sent an e-mail to Abramoff stating “I think we should budget for an ataboy for cornyn” (sic).

..............

George Knapp, Investigative Reporter
Exclusive: Former Employee Says Gibbons Knew of Her Illegal Status
Oct 25, 2006 09:09 PM
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?s=5585256

Congressman and gubernatorial candidate Jim Gibbons is facing more tough questions on a whole new issue. These questions revolve around an illegal immigrant whom Gibbons and his wife Dawn employed as their housekeeper and babysitter.

The woman, Patricia Pastor Sandoval, says she worked for the Gibbons' for years and the family occasionally made her hide in the basement to keep her illegal status a secret.

It is illegal to knowingly employ an undocumented alien. It's also illegal to employ such a person, pay them under the table, and then fail to pay employer taxes.

Sandoval says she worked for Jim Gibbons and his wife Dawn for several years, starting in 1987, and that the family has tried to cover it up. It's a story pregnant with political implications................

February 15, 2007, 8:07 am
Nevada Governor Faces FBI Probe
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2007/02/15/nevada-governor-faces-fbi-probe/


Federal prosecutors are investigating whether Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons accepted unreported gifts or payments from a company that was awarded secret military contracts when Mr. Gibbons served in Congress.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining whether any gifts or payments violated federal contracting rules or were offered in exchange for official acts by Mr. Gibbons, people briefed on the investigation said. Mr. Gibbons, a Republican, represented Nevada for five terms in Congress, where he served on the House Intelligence and Armed Services committees, and was sworn in as governor last month.

The close ties between the congressman and the contractor, Warren Trepp, were disclosed in a Nov. 1 Wall Street Journal article ...
http://votegibbonsout.blogs.com/votegibbonsout/Gibbons_WSJ_Article.pdf

New evidence has emerged that includes emails .... Mr. Gibbons, who helped eTreppid get no-bid software contracts from the Air Force, U.S. Special Operations Command and Central Intelligence Agency. Messrs. Trepp and Gibbons have denied any wrongdoing, and no charges have been filed....

On March 22, 2005, days before Mr. Trepp and his wife embarked on the Caribbean cruise with the congressman and his family, Jalé Trepp sent a reminder to her husband. “Please don’t forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn,” referring to Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons. Minutes later, Mr. Trepp responds, “Don’t you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!” Mr. Gibbons failed to disclose the cruise and travel on Mr. Trepp’s leased private jet, as required by House ethics rules....

==============================
March 29, 2007
Gibbons always there for his friend Trepp
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/mar/29/566646510.html

By J. Patrick Coolican and Jeff German - Las Vegas Sun

When eTreppid wanted a meeting with the National Security Agency, then-Congressman Jim Gibbons arranged it . When eTreppid, a company owned by Gibbons' friend Warren Trepp, wanted introductions to Defense Department officials or Asa Hutchinson, a top Homeland Security official, Gibbons obliged.

When the company had trouble getting payment from a government agency, Gibbons intervened.

Indeed, Gibbons was so concerned about aiding eTreppid that he passed on a special e-mail address so a company executive could contact him directly, bypassing congressional staff. "Dawn has given you the correct e-mail address for me here in D.C.," Gibbons wrote, referring to his wife, Dawn Gibbons. "That e-mail address is a direct link to my desk and does not go through anyone else." ..........

Trepp and his business entities contributed $90,000 to Gibbons' campaign for governor.

Gibbons and Trepp strongly deny any wrongdoing. They say they're old friends interested in nothing more than protecting the security of the United States. .................

=================================
Feb. 16, 2007 - Las Vegas Review-Journal
UNREPORTED GIFTS: Gibbons denies FBI probe
Report: Investigation focuses on military contractor friend
By ED VOGEL
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Feb-16-Fri-2007/news/12633857.html

In a 2003 e-mail, eTreppid executive Len Glogauer told Warren Trepp that Gibbons had been helpful in securing a contract for the company and "we need to take care of him like we discussed," according to The Wall Street Journal.

Gibbons said he knew nothing about the e-mails.

Trepp, through his companies, contributed $90,000 to Gibbons' gubernatorial campaign last year.

Gibbons said the messages might have been about those donations.

"I would never take money to do something my job obligated me to do, to promote the safety and welfare of the people of Nevada and this country," Gibbons said. .........

The life and times of Warren G. Trepp
By Sherri Cruz
02/21/07
http://www.nvtoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=49


........to get some more insight on Trepp, let's start with scandal No. 1.

It was the 1980s and "junk bonds" were all the rage. Junk bonds—high yielding bonds with higher default rates—were used to finance a whirlwind of mergers and acquisitions at the time. The company at the forefront of junk bonds was Drexel Burnham Lambert, headed by another king, Michael Milken, dubbed the "Junk Bond King." To the right of Milken was Trepp, chief bond trader.

Junk bonds led to bad business. Milken pleaded guilty to securities fraud in 1990. He paid $900 million in penalties altogether and the rest of the Drexel officers, including Trepp, paid $300 million in fines, according to the book "Banking on Fraud." Milken was sentenced to 10 years in prison but served less than two.

The Securities and Exchange Commission alleged Trepp had "parked" $366 million in bonds in 1986 for Reliance Group Holdings, an insurance company.

========================
FBI probes Nevada governor for corruption
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18613647

.... Montgomery — who's now at war with his former partner — makes an explosive charge. He says that near the end of the cruise, he saw Trepp pass money to the congressman.

Dennis Montgomery: There was a lot of alcohol and a lot of drinking. And that's when I first saw Warren give Jim Gibbons money.

Lisa Myers: How much?
Montgomery: Close to $100,000.

Myers: How can you know?
Montgomery: Because he gave him casino chips and cash.

Myers: Are you sure about what you saw?
Montgomery: I'm absolutely, positively sure.

So sure that Montgomery has made the same allegations in federal court. Montgomery's wife also says she saw Trepp pass casino chips to Gibbons. In addition, Montgomery provided NBC with hundreds of e-mails, he says, from Trepp's computer. ...........

U.S. Looks Into Gifts to Ex-Congressman, Now Governor
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/16/us/16gibbons.html?ex=1329282000&en=11f2ef7bfd9e3bac&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
By DAVID JOHNSTON
Published: February 16, 2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15 — Federal authorities are investigating gifts and payments that Gov. Jim Gibbons of Nevada received as a congressman from an executive of a software company that got millions of dollars in federal contracts, government officials said Thursday.....

The Journal report said the newspaper had obtained previously unreported e-mail messages that had surfaced in a civil lawsuit in Reno. The paper cited one message in which Mr. Trepp appeared to discuss a payment to Mr. Gibbons..........

The inquiry is part of an expanded effort by federal authorities to investigate accusations of corruption among public officials. Inquiries have been opened involving several House members; most appear to center on abuses relating to military appropriations when Republicans controlled the House.

One inquiry resulted in a guilty plea last year by former Representative Randy Cunningham, a Republican from San Diego who was sentenced to more than eight years in prison for accepting more than $2 million in cash and other gifts from military contractors.

From: Beyond Delay, the 20 most corrupt .........

===========================================
Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO)
http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/blunt.php

Roy Blunt is a sixth-term member of Congress, representing the 7th district of Missouri. His ethics issues stem from his misuse of his position for the benefit of his family.

Benefitting Family Members

In 2003, Rep. Blunt divorced his wife of 31 years to marry Philip Morris (now Altria) lobbyist Abigail Perlman. Before it was known publicly that Rep. Blunt and Ms. Perlman were dating – and only hours after Rep. Blunt assumed the role of Majority Whip – he tried to secretly insert a provision into Homeland Security legislation that would have benefitted Philip Morris, at the expense of competitors. Notably, Altria is Rep. Blunt’s largest campaign contributor, having donated more than $270,000 to political committees tied to him.

In 2003, Rep. Blunt helped his son, Andrew Blunt, by inserting a provision into the $79 billion emergency appropriation for the war in Iraq to benefit U.S. shippers like United Parcel Service, Inc. and FedEx Corp. Andrew Blunt lobbies on behalf of UPS in Missouri, and UPS and FedEx have contributed at least $58,000 to Rep. Blunt since 2001.

By pushing for legislation that would benefit Philip Morris and UPS, and, as a consequence, his then-girlfriend and his son, Rep. Blunt may have violated federal law and House rules.

Family connections have also helped Rep. Blunt’s son, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, .................

PDF: http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Blunt.pdf

Jan. 13, 2006
http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2111

Rep. Blunt Not Fit for Leadership in a Reform Era, Represents More of Corrupting Big-Money Politics, New Public Citizen Report Shows

Blunt Has Strong Ties to Lobbyists and Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay, Doled Out Favors to Campaign Contributors, Accepted Corporate-Funded Travel and More

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), who is vying to be House majority leader, is unfit for leadership because he represents more of the same corrupting, big-money politics that the American public has become disgusted with and that many reformers in Congress are trying to clean up, a new Public Citizen report shows.

The report, Rep. Roy Blunt: Ties to Special Interests Leave Him Unfit to Lead, details how much money Blunt has collected from lobbyists and corporate political action committees (PACs), the favors he has done for contributors, the trips he or candidates he has paid expenses for have taken on corporate jets, and how members of his staff have gone to work for major corporations that later donated thousands of dollars to Blunt’s political committees. The report also delves into the unsettling nature of Blunts’ ties to the fundraising apparatus of indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and admitted felon and former super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. ........

Added Frank Clemente, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, which produced the report, “Rep. Blunt’s tenure in Congress has been marked by exchanges of favors between himself and special interests and a deep embrace of lobbyists. He is an architect of today’s sleazy, big-money politics, not the agent of change that Congress so desperately needs right now to regain credibility with the public.”

Main findings of the report are: ..........
===============================================

REPORT: http://www.citizen.org/congress/govt_reform/ethics/congethics/articles.cfm?ID=14852

House Majority Whip Exerts Influence by Way of K Street
By Thomas B. Edsall
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 17, 2005; A19
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051601334_pf.html

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the man one step behind Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) in the Republican leadership, has built a political machine of his own that extends from Missouri deep into Washington's K Street lobbying community.

Blunt, who entered politics as a protege of former senator John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), has assembled an organization of whips and lobbyist vote counters that has delivered more than 50 consecutive victories for the GOP leadership on tough fights ....................

.................

Blunt's lobbyist son Andrew includes among his clients Altria-owned Kraft Foods, Philip Morris, and 36 percent Altria-owned Miller Brewing, along with SBC Missouri, Burlington Northern and UPS. Hartley has among his clients Verizon (paying $320,000 a year), SBC ($120,000) and BellSouth ($120,000).

Matt Blunt, the governor, has awarded one of the few remaining patronage plums in the state -- franchises to collect fees for driver's license renewals, tax payments for new cars and processing motor vehicle titles and registrations that can provide recipients with as much as $1 million over four years -- to the wife of U.S. Attorney Todd P. Graves, Tracy Graves, and to Graves's brother-in-law, Todd Bartles. The U.S. attorney's office has jurisdiction over Blunt's congressional district and the state capitol.

Responding to a complaint from the Missouri Democratic Party, David Margolis, associate deputy attorney general in Washington, wrote to Todd Graves: "I have determined that there is no existing conflict of interest that requires further action at this time." Margolis noted the procedures for Graves to recuse himself "from any existing or future matters in which a conflict of interest exists."

Target the Corrupt Republican Campaign (Missouri Focus)
http://corruptrepub.blogspot.com/2005/07/target-corrupt-republican-campaign.html

Roy Blunt (MO-7) and his son Matt Blunt (Governor of MO) are among the most corrupt politicians in America today. Here are some excerpts from Blunt Facts regarding the corruption of the Blunt family in Missouri politics:

Rep. Roy Blunt (MO-7) tried to help Philip Morris (one of his big donors and employer of his son, Andrew, and his then girlfriend, Abigail Perlman) by inserting a tobacco industry backed provision attacking internet cigarette sales into the, get this, Homeland Security Bill.

From CBS NEWS
Reported June 11, 2003

GOP Whip Tried To Aid Tobacco Pals

(CBS) House Majority Whip Roy Blunt is coming under fire for trying to help tobacco giant Philip Morris USA in last November's homeland security bill.

Blunt's ties to the company include large campaign donations from the company - $150,000 since 2001 to committees affiliated with Blunt. His son, Andrew, also works as a lobbyist for Philip Morris

.................

Finally, Governor Matt Blunt has tried to prevent the U.S. Attorney's office from investigating his family's scandals by putting the wife of U.S. Attorney Todd Graves (U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri) on the Blunt Family payroll to the tune of a cool half million dollars a year, and he used taxpayer dollars to do it. This is described in the Kansas City Star. And here is an excerpt from a petition to Attorney General Gonzales demanding an investigation of this corruption:

It has recently been reported that United States Attorney Todd Graves and his family will personally benefit from no-bid state contracts valued at more than $3.6 million given by Missouri Governor Matt Blunt. This raises serious ethical and legal questions ..............

Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff

CONTRIBUTIONS — HAYWORTH ACCEPTED $64,520 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: “Hayworth got about $64,520…in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.”

GIFTS — HAYWORTH FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABRAMOFF SKYBOXES: Hayworth, Doolittle, and Ney “were allowed free use of Abramoff’s sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999. They didn’t declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.” Hayworth did not include Abramoff’s name on his updated financial disclosures, but now “has reported repayments totaling $12,880 to the Chitimacha and Choctaw tribes for in-kind contributions at 10 fundraising events.”

====================================
http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/hayworth.php
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)

When named to our Beyond DeLay report in September 2006, J.D. Hayworth was a sixth-term member of Congress, representing Arizona’s 5th district. His ethics issues stem from his relations with Jack Abramoff and the hiring of his wife to run his political action committee. Hayworth lost his November 2006 bid for re-election to Harry Mitchell.

Connections to Jack Abramoff

Rep. Hayworth is one of the “top tier” representatives allegedly under investigation in relation to the Abramoff case, mainly due to the large number of donations to his campaign and political action committee ... Hayworth used Mr. Abramoff’s skyboxes five times without reporting the costs ....failure to report the skyboxes as campaign contributions violated federal election law.

Employment of Mary Hayworth

Since 1999, Rep. Hayworth’s wife, Mary, has been the sole paid employee of TEAM PAC. In that time, according to the most recent TEAM PAC disbursements, Ms. Hayworth has collected $145,212 in fees. Given that the PAC’s bookkeeping is farmed out to an accounting firm, the KAL Group in California, Ms. Hayworth’s role in the PAC is unclear. In addition, $83,000 of the money in the PAC came from Abramoff-related donations. If Rep. Hayworth has been using his PAC to pay money to his wife for their personal enrichment, then it may be a violation of House rules.

REPORT: http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Hayworth.pdf

Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Congressman, resigns after bribery plea
California Republican admits selling influence for $2.4 million
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/11/28/cunningham/

...."The truth is I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office," he told reporters, his voice strained with emotion. "I know I will forfeit my reputation, my worldly possessions -- most importantly the trust of my friends and family." (Watch: 'Now I know great shame' -- 2:16)

Asked by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns if he had accepted cash and gifts and then tried to influence the Defense Department on behalf of the donors, Cunningham said, "Yes, your honor."

Cunningham's plea agreement with federal prosecutors stemmed from an investigation of the 2003 sale of his California home to a defense contractor for an inflated price.

Under the agreement, Cunningham acknowledged a conspiracy to commit bribery, mail and wire fraud and tax evasion. .....

"The citizens who elected Cunningham assumed that he would do his best for them," said U.S. Attorney Carol Lam. "Instead, he did the worst thing an elected official can do -- he enriched himself through his position and violated the trust of those who put him there." ..........

Set aside a little time. It's a really long list. GRREEAT work Carol Lam!!

==============
http://tpmmuckraker.com/cunningham.php

Cunningham accepted a variety of bribes from contractors, notably Mitchell Wade, owner of MZM Inc., and Brent Wilkes, owner of ADCS Inc. Cunningham arranged for MZM to receive over $160 million in Pentagon contracts, while ADCS benefited from $90 million in contracts arranged by Cunningham.

The list of bribes is extensive (see below).

In addition to defense contracts, Cunningham accepted bribes for other services.See the bribe menu and a complete rundown of Cunningham's illicit activities.

Here's what Cunningham got and who gave it to him (sources are Cunningham's Plea Agreement and the indictment of Brent Wilkes):

From Brent Wilkes (a.k.a. "Co-conspirator #1" in Cunningham's plea): ............

Home / Hall of Shame / Former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
http://www.cleanupwashington.org/hos/page.cfm?pageid=27

The guilty plea. Cunningham admitted in November 2005 that he “demanded, sought and received at least $2.4 million in illicit payments and benefits from his co-conspirators.” Much of the money came from defense contractors Mitchell Wade, the majority owner of MZM Inc., and Brent Wilkes, the majority owner of ADCS Inc .............

Both Mitchell Wade and Brent Wilkes are subjects of broader corruption scandals on Capitol Hill. On Feb. 4, 2006, Mitchell Wade pleaded guilty to making over $1 million in payoffs to then- Congressman Duke Cunningham, providing illegal benefits to Defense Department officials, and attempting to curry favor with two other members of Congress by making illegal campaign contributions.Brent Wilkes, still under investigation for bribing Cunningham, gave $840,000 in campaign contributions to 32 congressional officeholders or candidates, was a “Pioneer” in the 2004 Bush campaign (raising at least $100,000 in campaign funds for Bush), and flew Republican lawmakers on his corporate jet, and hired the lobbying firm of former DeLay aides Buckham and Rudy to help secure government contracts and earmarks. There are also allegations that Wilkes provided hospitality suites at the Watergate hotel and a limousine service to public officials accompanied by prostitutes.

......Helped defense contractors reap tens of millions for products the government didn’t need. As a member of the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, Cunningham was ideally placed to broker government contracts for defense companies in exchange for bribes. He took advantage of his opportunity, steering tens of millions to MZM and ADCS. MZM vacuumed up $160 million in contracts from 2003 to 2005. ADCS received $80 million in contracts from 1999 to 2005. The ADCS contracts were even more shocking because the Pentagon didn’t even need the product –...........

Prostitution Alleged In Cunningham Case
Investigators Focus on Limo Company
By Jo Becker and Charles R. Babcock
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, April 29, 2006; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042802345.html

Federal authorities are investigating allegations that a California defense contractor arranged for a Washington area limousine company to provide prostitutes to convicted former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) and possibly other lawmakers, sources familiar with the probe said yesterday.

In recent weeks, investigators have focused on possible dealings between Christopher D. Baker, president of Shirlington Limousine and Transportation Inc., and Brent R. Wilkes, a San Diego businessman who is under investigation for bribing Cunningham in return for millions of dollars in federal contracts, said one source, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Baker has a criminal record and has experienced financial difficulties, public records show. Last fall, his company was awarded a $21 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security to provide transportation, including limo service for senior officials. ..........

Before starting Shirlington Limousine, public records show, Baker compiled a lengthy criminal record. Between 1979 and 1989, he was convicted on several misdemeanor charges, including drug possession and attempted petty larceny, as well as two felony charges for attempted robbery and car theft, according to D.C. Superior Court records. .........

Former Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.)
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Members_of_Congress_under_investigation#Former_Rep._Katherine_Harris_.28R-Fla..29

Katherine Harris is under investigation by both the Justice Department and Defense Department for her relationship with Mitchell Wade, the former head of a defense company who pleaded guilty to a series of criminal bribery offenses in February 2006. Wade made $32,000 worth of illegal contributions to Harris' House campaign in 2004. In addition, he paid for at least two dinners with her at a Georgetown restaurant in 2004-2005 that totaled roughly $6,000. Later, Wade requested that Harris help secure $10 million in federal money for a company project of his in Sarasota, Fla. Federal officials have subpoenaed records from Harris' U.S. Senate campaign office and interviewed several of her former staffers. Harris was defeated in her Senate bid by Democrat Bill Nelson in the November 2006 elections.

===================================
Harris Requested Funds At Behest of Contractor
By Charles R. Babcock
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 4, 2006; Page A06
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/03/AR2006030301836.html

Rep. Katherine Harris (R-Fla.) has acknowledged that she requested last year that $10 million in federal funds be set aside for a Navy intelligence program in her district at the request of Washington contractor Mitchell J. Wade, who pleaded guilty last week to bribing another House member.

Harris, who gained notoriety as secretary of state in Florida during the contested Bush-Gore presidential race in 2000, is running for the Senate this year. News media in her home state have been focusing on her dealings with Wade since prosecutors disclosed last week that she was the unwitting recipient of $32,000 in illegal campaign donations from Wade in 2004...............

n court filings as part of Wade's plea for bribing convicted former representative Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.), prosecutors said Wade had had dinner with Harris early last year and discussed another fundraising event and possible funding for an unnamed Navy counterintelligence program.......

Last year, she first requested five defense projects totaling $15.8 million. A month later, she wrote another letter to Reps. C.W. Bill Young (R-Fla.) and John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), the senior members of the panel, adding the Wade project. It was for Naval Criminal Investigative Service airborne capability, which she placed third on her list of funding priorities. She said it was "to support counterintelligence and combating terrorism missions." .........

=====================================
Katherine Harris Caught Up in Bribery Scandal
Campaign Donations From Defense Contractor Under Scrutiny
By MITCH STACY, AP
http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/katherine-harris-caught-up-in-bribery/20060303035709990014

TAMPA, Fla. (March 3) - U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said Thursday she did not knowingly do anything wrong in her associations with a defense contractor who prosecutors say illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign in 2004. ......

He also admitted making illegal campaign contributions in the names of MZM employees and their spouses to Harris and Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va. Prosecutors said Harris got $32,000 from employees who were reimbursed by Wade. .................

Ney Pleads Guilty to Corruption Charges
Lawmaker's Conviction Is 8th in Abramoff Probe
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 14, 2006; 2:18 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101300169.html

Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) pleaded guilty yesterday to corruption charges arising from the influence-peddling investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, becoming the first elected official to fall in a scandal that may damage his party's chances in next month's elections.

Ney, 52, ... admitted performing official acts for lobbyists in exchange for campaign contributions, expensive meals, luxury travel and skybox sports tickets. Ney also admitted taking thousands of dollars in gambling chips from an international businessman who sought his help with the State Department.

.........."I never acted to enrich myself or get things I shouldn't, but over time, I allowed myself to get too comfortable with the way things have been done in Washington D.C. for too long," Ney said. ...

......The Ohio Republican had been a target of the investigation for a year and came under increasing pressure -- first in January with Abramoff's guilty plea and agreement to cooperate in the investigation, then with the guilty plea in May of his former aide Neil G. Volz, who admitted conspiring to corruptly influence the congressman and others.....

Ney, for his part, sought to insert four amendments into a 2002 election overhaul bill to benefit Abramoff's clients. He also admitted helping another client win a multimillion-dollar contract to provide wireless communication services to the U.S. Capitol.

===============================
http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff

NEY FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABRAMOFF SKYBOXES: Hayworth, Doolittle, and Ney “were allowed free use of Abramoff’s sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999.....

Prosecutors said Scanlon and Abramoff “provided a stream of things of value to Representative #1 and members of his staff,” including a “lavish” Scotland golf trip in 2002, tickets to sporting events, and meals at Abramoff’s restaurant. “The two also allegedly provided campaign contributions to Ney’s political action committee and to other political committees on Ney’s behalf. In return, federal prosecutors allege, Ney agreed to ’support and pass legislation,’ meet with Scanlon and Abramoff clients, and place statements in the Congressional Record.” ...

“Travel ..., totaling $240,416 ... half of that was spent in August 2002 on the chartered jet that flew at least six people — including Abramoff, House Administration Committee Chairman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), lobbyist and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, and then-General Services Administration chief of staff David Safavian — to St. Andrews, Scotland, with a stopover in London on the way back. ....”

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Smells like another Dukestir with a likin' to golf. And his "cover" is a doozy:

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/014097.php

Congressman Says Home Purchase Was 'Pretty Much Aboveboard'
By Al Kamen - Friday, May 11, 2007; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/10/AR2007051002397.html?referrer=email&referrer=email&referrer=email

Rep. Paul Gillmor (R-Ohio) has a nifty new 3,751-square-foot, four-bedroom house in suburban Columbus, Ohio, next to a golf course designed by the great Arnold Palmer.

The $1 million house has some unusual characteristics. It's not in his congressional district, but sits about 90 minutes away from the condo that he uses as his official residence.

Even more curious is that Gillmor's name appears nowhere on the property records. The Toledo Blade, after some fine digging by reporter Joshua Boak, found that the owner is Zenith Holding & Trading Corp.

That, in turn, is a subsidiary of a Columbus law and lobbying firm -- Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease -- whose PAC has contributed $6,500 to Gillmor's campaigns since 1997.......................

=========================

Oh, yea, and a million dollar "pad" on the "green" -- so-to-speak!!!! :rofl:

=========================
Comedic take in BLOG: Friday, May 11, 2007 - http://downwithtyranny.blogspot.com/2007/05/comedy-in-ethics-even-if-rep-paul.html
Comedy in ethics: Even if Rep. Paul "Shecky" Gillmor's deal isn't exactly illegal, does it really live up to his standard of "pretty much aboveboard"?

Sometimes, frankly, digging through the Annals of Republicrookery is just plain depressing. All those arrogant, out-of-control, greed-besotted scumbags stealing every damn thing they can get their grubby paws on, thinking--usually correctly--that they can get away with just about anything.

Today, however, our Washington Post "In the Loop" pal Al Kamen shares a tale that's going to have you howling with laughter.

Gotta love the logic in this quote:



Yes, I'm sure the good Congressman was "forthcoming" when the first phone rang with questions :sarcasm:

If this keeps up, there's be more GOOPers names on indictments next year than ballots. :rofl:

:hi:

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)
http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/santorum.php

Sen. Rick Santorum was a second-term Senator from Pennsylvania when named to our report in September 2006. Sen. Santorum’s ethics issues stem from the manner in which he funded his children’s education and his misuse of his legislative position in exchange for contributions to his political action committee and his re-election campaign. Santorum was defeated in his November 2006 re-election bid by Bob Casey.

School Funding

Sen. Santorum lives with his wife and children in Leesburg, Virginia spending, according to the Senator, “maybe a month a year, something like that” in a home he owns in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, but from 2001 to 2005, five of Sen. Santorum’s six children attended a Pennsylvania cyber charter school in Penn Hills, PA, at an estimated cost to local taxpayers of $72,000. In December 2004, the superintendent of the school district sent a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Education questioning why the school district had to pay for Sen. Santorum’s children’s education. Although the Penn Hills school district initially lost its bid to recover tuition, the Pennsylvania Department of Education agreed to settle the matter in September 2006, by offering the district $55,000.

... Sen. Santorum ignored the Penn Hills school district’s residency requirements and enrolled his children in a cyber school in Pennsylvania at a time when the children clearly resided in Virginia -- at significant cost to Pennsylvania taxpayers....

Improper Loan

In 2002, Sen. Santorum and his wife received a $500,000 five-year mortgage for their Leesburg, Virginia home from a small, private Philadelphia bank, The Philadelphia Trust Company, that makes loans only to the bank’s own affluent investors. Sen. Santorum’s taking the loan violates Senate gift rules, which prohibit Senate employees from accepting loans not available to the general public.

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA)
http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/calvert.php

Ken Calvert is an eighth-term member of Congress, representing the 44th district of California. His ethics issues stem from his use of earmarks for personal gain and his connections to a lobbying firm under investigation.

Earmarking for Personal Financial Benefit

In 2005, Rep. Calvert and his real estate partner, Woodrow Harpole Jr., paid $550,000 for a four acre piece of land at Martin Street and Seaton Avenue in Perris, just 4 miles south of the March Air Reserve Base in California. Less than a year after buying the land, without making any improvements to the run down parcel, they sold the property for $985,000, a 79% increase. During this period, Rep. Calvert pushed through an earmark to secure $8 million for an overhaul and expansion of a freeway interchange 16 miles from the property, as well as an additional $1.5 million for commercial development in the area around the airfield.

In another deal, a group of investors bought property a few blocks from the site of a proposed interchange, for $975,000. Within six months, after the earmark for the interchange was appropriated, the parcel of land sold for $1.45 million. Rep. Calvert’s firm received a commission on the sale.

By using his position to earmark funds to increase the value of his own property, Rep. Calvert violated the prohibition against using his position as a member of Congress to advance his own financial interests. as well as the House rule requiring all members of the House to conduct themselves “at all times in a manner that reflects creditably on the House.”

MORE: Full Report is http://www.beyonddelay.org/files/Calvert.pdf