British lawyers linked to $1m payment for favours at US Congress

[cal04]

British lawyers linked to $1m payment for favours at US Congress
A British law firm is at the centre of the investigation into America's biggest influence-buying scandal in decades. The London-based solicitors, James & Sarch, channelled $1 million (£565,000) into a conservative United States pressure group linked to Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist. The firm, which was dissolved in 2000, made the payment by a single cheque in June 1998 to the US Family Network, a now-defunct organisation that had close ties to the embattled Republican Congressman, Tom DeLay, and was largely funded by groups associated with Abramoff.

The revelations that the $1 million is thought to have originated from Russian oil and gas executives seeking to shape US legislation have fuelled pressure for a shake-up in the Republican leadership in Congress. Abramoff, until recently the most prominent Republican operative in the lucrative lobbying industry, pleaded guilty last week to fraud and conspiracy charges after agreeing to work with federal prosecutors.

The deal has sent shock waves through Washington and is expected to lead to further charges against prominent political figures. Christopher Geeslin, the then president of the US Family Network, has said that he was told by Ed Buckham, who was the group's organiser and who was Mr DeLay's former chief of staff, that the $1 million was paid on behalf of Russian energy entrepreneurs. They were, Mr Buckham reportedly said, seeking Mr DeLay's support for legislation backing an International Monetary Fund bail-out of the Russian economy. The Congressman denies any wrongdoing. Mr Buckham did not return a request to comment.

The role of James & Sarch in the transfer of funds is believed to have been handled largely by its former partner, David Sarch, who died aged 57 in May 1998, a month before the payment was made. The $1 million payment to a small advocacy group from a foreign source, although not illegal, is "extremely unusual" and "would raise several red flags" for investigators, according to Marcus Owens, a senior former US Internal Revenue Service official.


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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/08/wus08.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_08012006

[Rainscents]

1. O.M.G. Another scandal link to Abramoff and Delay.

:popcorn: This shit never stop!

[Straight Shooter]

2. The "Culture of Corruption" is a bottomless pit. n/t

[Oversea Visitor]

3. Hmmm

Looks like mecenary outfit more that US goverment
Sell to the highest bidder.

[AlCzervik]

4. Wow!!! Is this new to everyone or just to me?

[Rainscents]

5. It's new to me.

[acmavm]

6. This came out last week. The law firm REFUSES to tell where the

money originally came from. That is the problem. Until someone cracks, it's just 'speculation' where the money came from. Pretty good speculation, but speculation all the same.

[roguevalley]

7. I can't wait until they uncover a LIHOP or MIHOP with something

because you KNOW they would.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Republigate -- the grift that keeps on giving.

This is now the "Energizer Bunny" of scandals.

[missouri dem 2]

9. And roy blunt was tied in:

Last fall, the grand jury indicted three close associates of the DeLay-Blunt leadership team. One of those men, Jim Ellis, was indicted for money laundering. Ellis, who ran ARMPAC, DeLay's federal political arm, once ran a political laundromat for Roy Blunt called the ROYB Fund.

http://www.firedupamerica.com/trmpac_delay_blunt

In 1999 and 2000, when Ellis ran both DeLay's ARMPAC and Blunt's ROYB Fund, ARMPAC made contributions to Blunt's committee totalling $150,000. In return, Blunt made a series of payments to the Alexander Strategy Group (ASG), a firm controlled by former DeLay staffers, that also happened to employ DeLay's wife at the time. Over the course of a two-year period, Blunt's payments to ASG totalled $150,000. For a detailed schedule of the payments, click here.

In the same quarter in 2000 that Blunt received a contribution from DeLay for $100,000, Blunt made a contribution to the mysterious DeLay Foundation for $10,000. Blunt's PAC also paid rent to the U.S. Family Network, yet another DeLay controlled entity.

In fact, ties were so close between the Blunt and DeLay operations, that ARMPAC, ROYB, Alexander Strategy Group--run by former DeLay staffer Ed Buckham, and the U.S. Family Network once all shared the same office space at 132 D St., SE in a DC townhouse owned by Robert Mills, a former DeLay campaign manager.--who ran the U.S. Family Network. They were forced to disperse when DC zoning officials noted that Mills had reported that only 15% of his home would be used for business purposes. (Roll Call, DeLay PAC, Consulting Firm Move Out of House, April 13, 2000. See also, ROYB campaign finance report expenditure for rent to U.S. Family Network at this address.)

[Dunvegan]

10. Sorry, have to wonder: Any connection here with Kath Ward's suicide?

Here's the DU thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x67141

My last post finds her writing about corruption in the oil industry in a trade journal that also has many articles on grabbing Iraqi oil...including one by Chalabi.

Was she a possible whistleblower?

[ClayZ]

11. "the Accumulated Evil of it ALL" understandinglife calls it!

Someone must have hung out the BIG dream catcher!

[xchrom]

12. lol -- goody

more graft and corruption for the repukes.
:rofl:

[sweetheart]

13. oh, had his lady conspirator not committed suicide

the "corruption" attourney had a lot of experience,
and cleary felt that under ANY interrogation, that she
would spill the beans on the criminalss who she loved
so much.... "and better to die in stupidity than to
realize the truth"

-- jesus bush