Jack Abramoff's Dilemma
There must be something to this Christmas thing, 'cos it's the most wonderful time of the year:
With a federal corruption case intensifying, prosecutors investigating Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist, are examining whether he brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors, people involved in the case have said.No. You are shitting me.
The attention paid to how the aides obtained jobs occurs as Mr. Abramoff is under mounting pressure to cooperate with prosecutors as they consider a case against lawmakers. Participants in the case, who insisted on anonymity because the investigation is secret, said he could try to reach a deal in the next six weeks.Redd, reporting in from Phoenix, says this is a very, very bad sign for young Jack. No matter what your client plans to do, she says you always maintain you're going to trial. And if you're leaking to the media that you're looking to deal, it probably isn't some fleeting thought that just happened to spring to mind.
Many forces are bearing down on Mr. Abramoff. Last week, his closest business partner, Michael Scanlon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for cooperating in the inquiry, being run by an interagency group, into whether money and gifts were used in an influence-peddling scandal that involved lawmakers.Atrios is right, the specter of Abramoff flipping is probably sending more DCers into prickly heat than even TraitorGate. Abramoff knows where the bodies are buried. You know, figuratively speaking and all. Not literally. Okay sort of literally.
Despite charging Indian tribes that were clients tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees, Mr. Abramoff has told friends that he is running out of money.
(Illustration by Roberto Parada from a Mother Jones article on Abramoff that is also well worth the read.)
posted by Jane Hamsher @ 12/02/2005 06:00:00 AM
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