Justice Department Didn't Act on Warning About Abramoff Client...

[Peter Frank]

Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department never acted on a post-Sept. 11 proposal, contested by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, calling for increased federal control over immigration to the Mariana Islands...

"The agency reassigned the two officials who produced a 34- page report that contained the proposal, and House members of both parties who oversee the Homeland Security and Justice departments said they were never told about it. The 2002 report, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News, warns that continued local control over the Marianas' borders will ``seriously jeopardize the national security'' of the U.S. ..."

Abramoff, whose law firm was paid $3.5 million by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, to lobby between 1998 and 2002, tried to block the report, according to an e-mail released this month by House Democrats...

Abramoff is under investigation by a Justice Department-led task force and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for his lobbying on behalf of Indian tribes and other clients. In a separate case, he was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida in August in connection with his purchase of a casino cruise company...

Abramoff was also a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election, bringing in at least $100,000...


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=axUOlJHtjiXI

[AtomicKitten]

1. face it, this administration and congress don't investigate anything ...

unless, of course, it's a Democrat.

Good news though because the Abramoff stink affects lots of the big boys in the GOP. That trial will be delicious.

[Peter Frank]

2. You May Be Correct...

...The name Abramoff could easily eclipse names like Plame, Miers & Scooter in Bush's legacy.

edit for syntax

[goforit]

21. Well what are we gonna do?

[sandnsea]

3. Delay's "model of reform"

"..the United States should establish an identical “guest worker” program ‘where particular companies can bring Mexican workers in.’ The Mexicans would be paid ‘at whatever wage the market will bear.’”

Among the “free market” practices of the Mariana Islands was the ability to label garments “Made in the USA” and ship them to the US, duty free, while dispensing with all US immigration, minimum wage and labor standards. Unscrupulous manufacturers brought Chinese workers into the CNMI and kept them under harrowing conditions.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=668

[MagickMuffin]

4. Jack, Mohamed Atta, Suncruz, Marianas Islands

SunCruz Casinos turns over documents in terrorist probe

TAMPA, Fla. - SunCruz Casinos has turned over photographs and other documents to FBI investigators after employees said they recognized some of the men suspected in the terrorist attacks as customers.
Michael Hlavsa, chairman of the gambling cruise company, said Wednesday two or three men linked to the Sept. 11 hijackings may have been customers on a ship that sailed from Madeira Beach on Florida's gulf coast.

9/26/01 By VICKIE CHACHERE Associated Press Writer and Florida Times-Union

http://www.casinowatch.org/terrorists/terrorists_at_casinos.html


The cookie's starting to crumble!

[No Exit]

6. HOLY SHIITE! That's very interesting!!

PS Love your graphic!!

[MagickMuffin]

7. Oh, what a tangle web we weave

when all we know is how to deceive....

They had already announced plans to bring a 150-foot casino boat to the Northern Mariana Islands, represented by Abramoff and his firm.

Now my theory is that I think they were planning on not only using it for their clients to gamble, but I have a sneaking suspension they were going to use some of their "Slave Labor" to offer up their services for these despicable men. It is a known fact that the girls working at the sweatshops are being forced into prostitution and forced abortion if she becomes pregnant.

http://www.forbes.com/services/2005/08/12/abramoff-suncruz-casinos-cz_mf_0812abramoff.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/04/30/AR2005043001147_pf.html




"We need that moolah," Abramoff e-mailed Scanlon on Jan. 16, 2002. "We have to hit $50M this year (our cut!)."

[Peter Frank]

11. Crumbling...

[MagickMuffin]

12. WoooooooScary

although they look more like they're melting!

:scared:

[Peter Frank]

18. Either Way Works For Me... n/t

[sofa king]

13. Don't forget Ralph Reed and Susan Ralston...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/24/abramoff.tm/

"Ten days after 9/11, for instance, Abramoff was promoting a business venture to rent cruise ships to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to billet rescue workers off New York City.

"Reed assured Abramoff he had "put in a tag call to karl to find out the best contact at fema." Four months later, Abramoff wrote Reed that he needed some "serious swat from Karl" to get the Justice Department to free $16.3 million for a jail that his Choctaw Indian clients were planning to build in Mississippi. As it happened, Abramoff had caught Reed at a ripe moment."

Which for some reason makes me wonder if Jack, Ralph, and Karl were trading e-mails a couple of weeks earlier, just after the 9/11 terrorists showed up on Jack's boat with the mission of laundering their remaining funds back to al Qaeda before they attacked.

As for Susan Ralston, when things got hot, she got moved out of Karl's office, but not too far away to quit doing the laundry. She's now whispering in the ear of the President's Advisory Council Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which presumably includes the illegal sweat-shop workers in the Marianas.

http://rawstory.com/news/2005/ROVE_AIDE_CALLED_TO_TESTIFY_TOOK_HIS_MESS_0802.html

[MagickMuffin]

14. I would have to have a "really big canvas"

to include everyone involved in this scandal/s. They are all interconnected, like the aspens turning the same color, because they turn in clusters, because their roots connect them.

At the present time I'm trying to work on a graphical chart. So far I have 30 something players and that still only covers a small portion of the people involved.

I'm hoping to turn it into an interactive game.

But here's something I've posted on my blog

[Peter Frank]

15. Can you give a list of the players? n/t

[MagickMuffin]

16. I'll have to get back to you on that

right now I'm at 30 something entries. Add me to your buddy list and I'll keep you posted.

[donkeyotay]

19. great graphic nt

[MagickMuffin]

20. Thanks

If you care to take a look at my blog, I have more pics available.

I am starting my cartoon series!

• • • Visit my Blog: • • • This site is dedicated to all the blunders, slips of the tongue, gaffs, etc. Their words will now come back to haunt them. A combination of Comics, Logic, and Blogging • • • http://comlogic.blogspot.com/

[DeepModem Mom]

5. kick

[Lindsay]

8. If all the Abramoff scams, scandals and connections

ever see the light of the corporate media, rational people will be appalled and outraged.

[Peter Frank]

9. No Doubt...

"Recent news reports indicate that Burns accepted more than $136,000 in tainted contributions from Abramoff and his associates. Of course, Cheney and the Bush Administration are no strangers to Abramoff's tainted cash: the scandal-plagued lobbyist raised more than $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004. Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today issued the following statement:

"It appears that no level of scandal is enough to scare off the Dick Cheney cash machine. Sadly, the culture of corruption led by Vice President Cheney and the Republican leadership in Washington has ensnared Senator Burns. For the Vice President to raise cash from special interest donors just days after Senator Burns was linked to Abramoff and his cronies' tainted cash and gifts is shameful. Vice President Cheney should use his trip to Montana to set an example for Senator Burns by returning Abramoff's tainted cash and encouraging the Montana Republican to do the same..."

http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/08/abramoff_scanda.php

[Peter Frank]

10. This is Patently Outragious!...

WASHINGTON --Jack Abramoff, the GOP lobbyist under investigation by federal authorities for possible fraud, repeatedly sought the help of Bush strategist Ralph Reed to open doors at the White House for his business clients...


...In a third set of e-mails, Reed acknowledges having "weighed in heavily" with the White House on behalf of Abramoff to block Angela Williams from being appointed head of the Interior Department's Office Insular Affairs.

Williams is the wife of Orson Swindle, former member of the Federal Trade Commission and a Vietnam prisoner of war with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

Abramoff, not satisfied, responds in a Dec. 5, 2001 e-mail: "Any ideas on how we can make sure she does not get it? Can you ping Karl on this?"

Reed writes back: "i am seeing him tomorrow at the WH and plan to discuss it with him as well."

Williams didn't get the appointment.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/23/report_abramoff_sought_help_from_reed/

[sofa king]

22. The Office of Insular Affairs is in charge of the Marianas.

That's what Jack's interest in the position was about.

The Marianas angle is of secondary interest to me. But if I may be allowed some speculation here....

Nobody wants to touch the al Qaeda/Abramoff part of the story, because if that part of it holds water then everyone's worst fears would be one step closer to being revealed as truth. It could mean that Abramoff knew or had a good idea that something was about to go down prior to September 11, and since he had a good line of contact to the White House, well... you can see where that goes.

But as the story unfolds, I can already see a plausible line of inquiry. The http://www.gpoaccess.gov/911/">9/11 Commission Report tells us that on September 5, 2001, the future hijackers received instructions to begin laundering their remaining funds back to al Qaeda.

That same day, http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:1UeufYqqE6IJ:www.bonitanews.com/01/09/florida/d678875a.htm+%22SunCruz+Casinos+has+turned+over+photographs+and+other+documents+to+FBI+investigators%22&hl=en&client=opera">they showed up on Jack's SunCruz boat.

The unregulated SunCruz operation was a perfect laundering mechanism, and in fact Jack is under investigation for doing just that.

Jack also had strong ties with the Tan family in the Marianas. Tan Holdings Corp has strong trade ties with the Philippines. And a shipping line.

The Philippines, specifically the southern islands, are the easternmost outpost of al Qaeda. Both the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Jemaah Islamiyah are active there.

The grand jury investigating Abramoff has reputedly questioned http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/47/news-dubose.php">Imelda Marcos.

Susan Ralston is a Filipino-American.

Therefore, Jack Abramoff was uniquely placed to launder the 9/11 terrorists' funds back to al Qaeda, via the Philippines, via the Marianas. Cash money could have been exchanged for goods or services in the Philippines, or shipped it directly to the terrorists in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.

It's also worth pointing out that John Ashcroft tenaciously defended his practice of "sequestering" mere criminal activity from terrorist activities. This would have very conveniently separated the Abramoff investigators from the tracking of al Qaeda's financial dealings. Even if the Abramoff investigators stumble upon a direct connection between SunCruz and the terrorists, those investigators are prohibited from investigating the financial ties.

All of the above is speculative, but since our government has placed secrecy above informing the public, I think we're perfectly justified in making guesses... even if those guesses lead to the suspicion that the entire Bush Administration is culpable for the murder of 3000 people as well as aiding and abetting the terrorists who planned the attacks.

(I deleted an irrelevant and unproveable paragraph on put options. No use looking totally cukoo.)

[Peter Frank]

23. Very Impressive Work...

I sure hope that everything comes out in the wash over the course of this investigation. The day of sacred cows in America must come to an end asap. The sooner we return to a nation of laws, not men -- the sooner we'll regain our stature as the world's greatest democracy. Let the deserving heads roll as they may.

I was around for Nixon's collapse. While others were mourning how terrible this was for our country -- I was rejoicing that our country reaffirmed that, like every American, the president de jure is ultimately accountable to the rule law.

I didn't hate Nixon (I didn't trust him). I don't hate Bush. I believe he was hand-picked green & propped up by Jim Baker & the boys in order to build a bridge to their 1980's.

Regardless of what's behind abuse of power, it is what it is. ...And our America was founded on successfully rebuking it.

As the truth comes out, let the heads roll as they may -- in this, and every other investigation.

[donkeyotay]

27. Coming from me, I don't know if you can take it as a compliment, but

I don't think that looks cuckoo at all. It's a shame our free press doesn't spend more time chasing down these things for us. But, just in general, you make two good points. One, that because this administration is so secretive, we are entitled to speculate on what's going on and two, if it can be shown that there was an operation to achieve this war, it calls 9-11 into question again, as that made Iraq sell-able to the public.

[Peter Frank]

29. Great points...

...especially that this secretive cloister of oligarchs, by their its very nature invites and deserves whatever scrutiny and speculation comes its way.

America needs to return to the core principle, "No man is above the law."

[sofa king]

33. Thanks to all of you!

I'm sure some of you are familiar with the difference between a deductive, evidentiary argument and an inductive, circumstantial argument. If not, it's worth learning a little bit about logical arguments and logical fallacies here:

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/

So long as the Bush Administration and their sycophants in Congress refuse to provide documentation to the public, we are forced to make inductive arguments about what they are doing.

Together, Americans and interested people worldwide are in the process of building an inductive argument against the Bush Administration. At a much slower pace, actual evidence is ponderously revealing that the conclusions many of us began to draw much earlier are valid. At this point, the "inductors" are far, far ahead of the "deductors," and while it would be nice to know what the bad guys are really up to, it provides us with some advantages.

We have been able to use the predictions made by our inductive arguments to guide the direction of evidentiary searches. DU wasn't surprised when Scooter Libby was indicted. DU wasn't surprised when the scandal expanded to include forged documents and false rationale for war.

We won't be surprised when the dual-citizenship conflicts of various Bush Administration appointees are exposed. We won't be surprised to find that the Senate Intelligence Committee has been coordinating its investigation with the perpetrators. We won't be surprised when the Republicans eventually have to feign outrage and claim ignorance.

Perhaps another time, I will post some more predictions which can be made about what has really been going on, but I won't hesitate to tell you in general what I think is going on, judging from the roiling of the stage curtain: this is the most criminal government in America's modern history, and they will stop at nothing to protect themselves and their power. They are enemies of democracy and enemies of the nation, and I fear that they will stop at nothing to protect themselves, their ill-gotten gains, and their grip on power.

But we can defeat them and bring them to justice. We must.

[salin]

17. Wow.

Selling national security for profit. Again. This is what the DeLay era of 'slush fund' politics (taking the whole pay-to-play system of political contributtions returned in big govt contracts which fund, among other things, more political contributions to new heights;) pay-to-play on steroids = Abramoff, DeLay and the dirty theives of the God is Greed party.

[Peter Frank]

24. And the Beat Goes On...

"Two former associates of Jack Abramoff, the embattled lobbyist, left
the country Monday night en route to a new life in Israel. The
relocation comes as a Justice Department taskforce presses forward with an investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing stemming from Abramoff's business dealings...

http://www.thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/071305/abramoff.html

[Gnostic]

25. It makes sense now

The "Israel first" agenda that infects DC is becoming more understandable.

[donkeyotay]

26. Some are, apparently, above the law

At a November hearing, former Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) expressed frustration with van Horne’s lack of response to the subpoena.

“There’s another person who I believe rather flouted the authority of this committee. That person is John van Horne, who was served with a document subpoena that was due on October 5th. To this date, the committee has not received the documents called for under the subpoena, nor an explanation for his non-compliance,” Campbell said.It was unclear at press time whether that situation had been resolved.

[Peter Frank]

28. Stay Tuned For Another Exciting Episode of...

..."As the Turds Whirl"

Actually, the investigation is on C-Span as we speak.

[WiseButAngrySara]

30. This is a fascinating thread. I'm looking forward to updates on the turds

...:kick: since I can no longer recommend.

[Peter Frank]

31. Not to worry, there will be plenty more... n/t

[Peter Frank]

37. Why can you no longer reccomend?... n/t

[sofa king]

32. Some thoughts on McCain and SCIA

Tribes are the canary in the coalmine for government corruption. Usually, they are the first to be exploited and the last to be noticed. This time, however, the Republicans made a crucial mistake in not stifling the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (SCIA) investigation into Jack Abramoff.

Why, when they went to such lengths to kill and muddy virtually every other investigation into the Bush Administration, did Congressional Republicans overlook the SCIA? Because they don't give a damn about Indians. They barely know they exist except when there is money or political hay to be made from them. While the rest of Congress has been complicit in the giant cover-up of the Iraq War, the Plame Affair, and the Abramoff scandals, the SCIA has been chugging along, virtually unnoticed both by the public and the Republican Party. This has been helped by the fact that SCIA is chaired by a relative outsider within the GOP, John McCain.

The SCIA is the one body in Congress with an exclusive duty to protect American Indian and Alaska Native tribes. (In the House, Indian affairs are under the jurisdiction of the House Resources Committee, an irony not lost on many tribal members.) The existence of the SCIA is consistent with the now-otherwise-dead Senate tradition of majority rule and minority rights.

The SCIA, in general, has been relatively fair toward tribes. It has also done a relatively decent job of using its authority to protect tribes. This is now John McCain's duty, and he well understands that partisan obfuscation will is not conducive to performing that duty. (Outside of that duty, however, McCain may shy away from exposing the vast Republican laundering operation which is the underpinning of their criminal empire.)

I think that we can expect the SCIA to do a good job of pursuing the Abramoff scandal as far as its impact on tribes goes. I think we can also count on the SCIA to make some of its findings and documents public. Because of this, it will almost certainly become the most important primary source for outside investigators of the Abramoff scandals.

The focus of SCIA will be very narrow in one sense, being solely concerned with the effect of Abramoff's exploitation of tribes. But the money that came from tribes went throughout the vast Abramoff empire, and SCIA followed that, too. It is from SCIA that we first learned of Safavian's GSA hijinks, the Eshkol Academy, the Capital Athletic Foundation, and the Israeli sniper school, which were all ancilliary Abramoff operations.

However, this is the last hearing planned on the Abramoff scandals. After today, the SCIA will probably uncover no new or useful revelations--and I for one believe there are many more to be had.

From now on, the job is up to us. And we, the people, have been presented with a unique opportunity. Outside of SCIA, the Republican Party has managed to kill virtually every oversight responsibility it has regarding the myriad criminal operations of the Bush Administration. The leads provided by the SCIA investigations into Abramoff may allow we, the people, to soon become better informed about the scandals of the Bush Administration than Congress itself.

If Republicans don't know what's coming, they will be vulnerable to an ambush on a scale far larger than Harry Reid's maneuver yesterday. We must continue to pursue the matter, no matter where it leads.

http://indian.senate.gov/index.html

[Peter Frank]

34. Amen to that...

If what you say is true, and the focus will as narrow as you say -- we all need to become investigators. ...And I'm sure you're right about the leads.

Loose ends will be exposed; and if enough of us yank on them hard enough & report what we find -- we may be able to unravel the entire fabric of lies.

[Peter Frank]

35. Kick...

:kick:

[Peter Frank]

36. Kick...

:kick: