"An extraordinary story of betrayal" Abramoff, Reed, Norquist & DeLay

[paineinthearse]

"It is an extraordinary story of betrayal."

See DU prior coverage:

Ralph Reed to run for Lt. Governor (Georgia forum) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=146&topic_id=1732

Ralph Reed files to run for Lt. Governor (GD) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3060984

Abramoff, Lobbyists, and Extremists Pay Tribute to Tom Delay's Record (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1779427

10 Former House Republicans Express 'Grave Concern' about GOP Leadership' (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1726917

Noam Scheiber: THE DELAY ETHICS REPORT--COMING SPRING '06! (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1752660

Damning Abramoff emails courtesy of Senate Indian Affairs Committee (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1752627

Motherload of DeLay scandal information (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1711159

Delaygate: Abramoff Faced Earlier Billing Inquiry (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1695050

'Complex, tangled web' of political deals listed (GDP) http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1576681

James V. Grimaldi is on CSPAN Jounral today at 9:30AM. If you missed it watch reruns or the stream at www.cspan.org. Susan Schmidt was the lead WP investigative journalist on the Whitewater and Lewinsky "scandals"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921.html

Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds
McCain Cites Possible Fraud by Lobbyist

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 23, 2005; A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff used money from a Mississippi tribal client to set up bogus Christian anti-gambling groups and to fund pet projects including gear for a "sniper school" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to documents released yesterday by Senate investigators. The revelations came in e-mails and testimony made public yesterday by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at its third hearing on the activities of Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, a public relations executive and former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

Abramoff, who is also at the center of a corruption investigation by the Justice Department, laundered tribal money by directing the Indians to donate to tax-exempt groups that the lobbyist later used for his own purposes, the Senate committee said. One project involved Abramoff's effort to arrange for military equipment, including night-vision goggles and a "jeep," for the sniper training conducted by a high school friend. Aaron Stetter, a former Scanlon employee, testified that Scanlon and Abramoff sought to whip up opposition to casinos proposed by rival tribes by setting up bogus Christian phone banks. He said callers would identify themselves as members of groups such as the Christian Research Network or Global Christian Outreach Network and urge voters to contact their representatives.

Material released yesterday also appeared to undermine assertions by former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed, now a candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor. Reed has acknowledged receiving $4 million from Abramoff and Scanlon to run anti-gambling campaigns in the South. Reed has said he did not know where the funds were coming from, but e-mails suggest that he was aware that some of the money he was getting came from the casino-rich Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Other e-mails presented at the hearing -- obtained from Abramoff's former law firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP -- showed that Abramoff and his lobbying team discussed how they would "pump up" their bills and expense accounts to the Choctaws by tens of thousands of dollars a month, raising new questions about the law firm's failure to rein in the lobbyists. The committee chairman, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), said investigators had uncovered possible mail and wire fraud that should be pursued by the Justice Department, as well as tax issues that would be of concern to the Internal Revenue Service. The Justice Department already is looking into more than $82 million in lobbying and public relations fees Abramoff and Scanlon received from tribes around the country.

<snip>

"I'm past anger and bitterness," Rogers, the Choctaw official who had worked most closely with Abramoff, told the committee. "It is an extraordinary story of betrayal."

[seemslikeadream]

1. Once again thank you paineinthearse

There maybe a little more trouble.

Not mainstream news but where there's smoke.... could be a whole lot of trouble for the GANG.

The casino boat ‘industry’ can be traced back to a few seemingly inconsequential sentences buried in a 1992 federal law called ''An Act to provide for the designation of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.''

(The “Flower Garden Banks” are the northernmost coral reefs in the United States, located off Texas and Louisiana.)

The obscure bill offered the perfect place to slip in a few sentences, which, deciphered, added ships of U.S. registry to vessels already covered under the Johnson Act of 1951, which regulated the transportation of gambling devices, and allowed ships of foreign registry, which often offered gambling, to dock at U.S. ports as long as no one used or repaired gambling equipment while in U.S. territorial waters.

The amendment was a Trojan horse which extended this privilege to U.S. ships…

And the result was a burgeoning new industry in Florida, and the state was soon encircled by almost thirty casino boats swarming the peninsula’s ports like the bloodthirsty pirates of yore. The booty these pirates were plundering was the mad money of bored retirees.

They were called “cruises to nowhere.” And in short order the boats were generating hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenues. Hundreds of million of dollars of unregulated revenue…

While not getting ahead of ourselves, we still note that this was more than enough money to help tip the balance in the last two Presidential elections. At a minimum, for the casino operators it provided instant access to anything and anybody worth being accessed.

...

Almost every article we'd read cites Abramoff & Delay's interest in the Marianas being sweat-shop related. Meaning they're in favor of them. Their primary focus wasn't sweatshops. It was gambling.



http://www.madcowprod.com/06202005.html

[Warpy]

4. A lot us out west

have been watching the growth of Indian gaming with a great deal of trepidation. It's not that we begrudge the local tribes the ability to fleece the descendants of the people who moved in and grabbed their land; it's not that we want to be killjoys because a small percentage of gamblers will become addicted and wreck their lives. It's because gambling is one of those businesses that draws criminals like flies to shit because it generates a lot of cash very quickly. We were afraid the parasites like Abramof would move in and it looks like we were right.

In the meantime, the local casinos have produced a lot of growth on tribal lands in the form of schools, health clinics and other amenities. The money is being circulated locally to buy everything from groceries to cement and rebar. Nobody much wants to end the whole enterprise. It's been good for the tribes and reasonably good for the local economy.

However, there has got to be a way to attack the parasites and remove them. Abramoff is only the tip of a very large iceberg of grifters, chislers, and fast buck artists in expensive suits.

[paineinthearse]

7. This deserves attention as a stand-alone

Although related, it is an entirely different can of worms! Thanks for the new (to me) information.

[Ilsa]

2. Thanks! Wow! Lots going on. I had heard a snippet last night

either on tv or maybe i read it on DU about Reed getting tied into the Abramoff investigation.

If for no other reason (like legality and ethics), Reed needs to be exposed for his hypocrisy in accepting casino money to help defray his anti-gambling platform.

Does the Justice Dept need to do more, such as get an Independent prosecutor, or will the Justice Dept follow through on this?

I admit to being naive about all of the implications herein, but Dems need to jump on this.

[acmejack]

11. The same Justice Dept that gave away $120B of the People's money?

Consider the odds! These people merit all the disrepute we can heap on them. Unfortunately, the best we can reasonably hope for is some type of action coming from McCain and the Indian Affairs Comm. He still harbors Presidential ambitions & this would be a big chance to grab some headlines.

The gaming ship industry is an angle to be closely examined. Thanx for the heads up on this!

[Cocoa]

3. I wonder if some Christians will wake up

won't they be pissed about how they and their religion was abused so crassly to make these guys rich?

[ClintonTyree]

28. No...

It's all about power with them as well. They see themselves in a position they could have only dreamed of a few years ago. They have one of their own in the White House and running Congress. They will not upset the apple cart now,no they're too close to realizing their dream of a Theocracy.
All Christian values fly out the door in a situation like this. They've made a deal with the devil and now they're going to see it through. They've just stepped into the hypocrites hall of fame.

[Al-CIAda]

5. The entire gulf coast is involved!

Fla- Seminole tribe
Miss- Choctaw tribe
La.- Coushatta tribe
Tx.- Republ. for Tx & Nat. majority

[seemslikeadream]

6. Off shore unregulated gambling

[autorank]

8. Oh my God! You have provided an extraordinary resource thread!

This is just great. Bookmark this thread. It is the gift that keeps on giving! Tommy Boy and Ralphy the man-boy political whore both go down. I'll tell you something right now, if a client paid me $4.0 million, I'd damn well (as would any of you) know where it came from, without any doubt.

I saw McCain questioning the panel from the Mississippi tribe last night. He was efficient, courteous, and he had an agenda. It was an all-business McCain you don't normally see. His staff prepared him well and he did a good job. The tribal representatives were sincere and outraged.

It's all good, thanks Paine, great work!

In a reverie back in March or so, I predicted that "management" would have * "resigned" soon and that they'd show they were really serious with indictments of DeLay and someone "very close" to Cheney as their pincer move. Please, god of politics, grant me my wish!

[paineinthearse]

9. I remember that post

Do us a favor and place a link here.

Be careful what you wish for, it may come true!

[autorank]

16. Here's the link...Endgame--Bush is Finished. The Script from "Management"

Endgame: BUSH is FINISHED. The Script from "Management"

[Ilsa]

10. Big Kick for the afternoon crowd...

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Al-CIAda]

12. .

[autorank]

13. KICK & Recommend -- This a "must read" and essential "bookmark"

:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:
:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:
:kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick::kick:

[Al-CIAda]

14. .

[ClintonTyree]

15. When will Americans.....

wake up and realize that the Republican Party is the Party of greed, corruption and corporate welfare? Republicans represent no one but themselves and their corporate overlords. I'm starting to hate my own country because of what these motherfucking pricks have done to it.

I seriously have to consider finding another a country more attuned to my core beliefs. America surely isn't that country anymore. I'm getting too damned old and tired to fight these scum sucking swine. I need a place to live out my remaining days in peace and sanity. This country is fucked.

[jmcon007]

24. no no no

Don't do that. I've had that fleeting thought myself, but I'll be damned if I'll let these assholes run me out of my country.
We need to hang in there. An administration constructed totally on lies and greed will fall. And I believe soon.

[jmcon007]

17. "......should be pursued by the Justice Department." ?????

Yeah, sure, the Justice Department, aka the Black Hole of Justice. I'm sure they'll file it next to the Valerie Plame case.

[paineinthearse]

19. Right, I'm holding my breath for a special prosecutor

not

[Nothing Without Hope]

23. No, they'll go after the Dems in the case (see my post downthread)

and they may use it to scapegoat especially radioactive GOP congresspeople. Thus they can use the "everybody does it" defense, tarring the Dems as being corrupt, PLUS blame all ills in their party on a few people they'd just as soon get rid of anyway. If these sacrificial goats can be blamed for the big GOP scandals while the other GOPs practice their best holier-than-thou expressions - so much the better. I expect DeLay to be one of the sacrificed goats.

John McCain is going to be the big GOP winner in this, and I don't think that's by accident. There are multiple signs that he is being groomed to take the leadership and probably the GOP presidential nomination. He is being portrayed as brave, smart, practical, and above all Mr. Clean - and we need to be ready to pop this illusory bubble, or he is going to be hard to defeat.

[jmcon007]

25. What about Hagel? He seems to have grown a pair. McCain

could very well be the GOP candidate in 08, but it won't be because the neonuts want him.

[Al-CIAda]

18. .

[paineinthearse]

20. The fantastic four

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/atf/cf/{65464111-BB20-4C7D-B1C9-0B033DD31B63}/home11.jpg

http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=100480#2

The Fantastic Four: Abramoff, Scanlon, Reed and DeLay

In his opening statement from yesterday's Senate Indian Affairs committee hearings, Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) stated, "From our first hearing emerged the utter contempt that Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Scanlon held for their tribal clients. In the second, Mr. Abramoff's and Mr. Scanlon's insatiable greed came to the fore. Today's hearing is about more than contempt, even more than greed; it's simply and sadly a tale of betrayal." Sen. McCain's summation encapsulates how Tom DeLay ally and uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff worked "separately and in concert with Michael Scanlon" to bilk six Indian tribes out of millions of dollars. Yesterday's hearings -- the third in a series of investigations by the committee -- divulged even more details as to the underhanded scheming perpetrated by the duo. So astounding were the revelations that committee vice-chairman Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who has served over two decades in the Senate, described it as "a disgusting story of greed unlike any that I have seen in my service in Congress."

THE SCANLON SHAKEDOWN: While working as a lobbyist for the Choctaw Indians, Jack Abramoff directed the tribe "to hire Scanlon for consulting work." According to the committee's investigations, "the two presented Mr. Scanlon as an independent operator. Never did they confess their secret partnership to the tribe. Never did they reveal that, together, they set prices to account for Mr. Abramoff's stake in the profits. Never did they even hint that the two devoted a small fraction of the payments to the uses intended by the tribe -- pocketing the rest." And when the tribes did start to ask questions, the two claimed that "the sums Mr. Scanlon paid Mr. Abramoff were merely referral fees." McCain described the explanation as one that "strains credulity."

THE HIGH FIVE HEIST: In a scheme that the duo termed "gimme-five," Scanlon and Abramoff allegedly " tribal payments while skimming off a share of the proceeds for themselves." A 2001 e-mail exchange obtained by the committee begins with Abramoff writing, "So let me see. That's $700,000 each for us and $100,000 for the effort. Seriously, what do you think we can score?" Scanlon replies, "If you think they're good for it, then I can slide you $350,000 with no sweat...But that's not all. There will be more when the dust settles. And if we get to 4, 4.6, much, much more. I think the $350,000 strategy is the best way to go. It's good on the 'give me five' front." In that same year, the duo charged the tribe over $7 million for projects; "Scanlon spent $1.2 million on lobbying work, and he and Abramoff split the remaining $6.5 million." All told, of the approximately $15 million that the Choctaws paid to Scanlon's companies, "Scanlon gave Abramoff a $5 million cut."

THE PADDED BILLS PLUNDER: Another fraud scheme allegedly employed by the duo was the padding of bills as well as the "fraudulent billing of fees and expenses." Though the Choctaws "never agreed to pay a flat fee per month," evidence from committee hearings make it "now clear that Mr. Abramoff consistently manipulated the bills...in order to have them approach a minimal billing target of fees and expenses of between $135, 000 and $150,000. When the actual hours of work completed were insufficient to approach that target, Mr. Abramoff routinely directed that the bills be padded and pumped up." One e-mail has Abramoff instructing an associate to "'add 60 hours' for him and to 'pump up Scanlon, Todd and you, give Amy some hours if you have to.'" Additionally, Abramoff and his team left the Choctaws footing the bill for such personal expenses as "nonbusiness meals at Mr. Abramoff's restaurant," "club dues and other items hidden from the tribe."

much more.....

[Nothing Without Hope]

21. WaPo: "Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds"

Nasty stuff. You can bet that John McCain is going to pump this for all he's worth in his continuing "I'm a hero, I'm Mr. Clean, make me President" campaign. My guess is that a lot of this scandal was already known by insiders and this time has been chosen to expose it as a political move.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/22/AR2005062200921_pf.html

Panel Says Abramoff Laundered Tribal Funds

McCain Cites Possible Fraud by Lobbyist
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Page A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff used money from a Mississippi tribal client to set up bogus Christian anti-gambling groups and to fund pet projects including gear for a "sniper school" in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to documents released yesterday by Senate investigators.

The revelations came in e-mails and testimony made public yesterday by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee at its third hearing on the activities of Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, a public relations executive and former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

(snip)

Material released yesterday also appeared to undermine assertions by former Christian Coalition executive director Ralph Reed, now a candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor.

Reed has acknowledged receiving $4 million from Abramoff and Scanlon to run anti-gambling campaigns in the South. Reed has said he did not know where the funds were coming from, but e-mails suggest that he was aware that some of the money he was getting came from the casino-rich Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

(snip)

The WaPo points out that some top Dems benefitted from Abramoff too, including Harry Reid. I'll post that separately. You can bet that the desire to paint the Dems as being as corrupt as the Repubs are a part of this too.

[jmcon007]

26. creative, huh?

This must be some kind of record. How many people can one person offend and steal from in one business deal? Stealing money from Native Americans to place in a fake Christian account for use at a Jewish sniper school? Was the sniper school for real or a slush fund for Sharon?
geez...

[Nothing Without Hope]

22. WaPo: "Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations" (aka "Everybody does it")

As information on the brazen and pervasive corruption of the GOP comes out, you can bet that efforts will be made to use the old "everybody does it" argument to attempt to downplay their guilt. To whit:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/02/AR2005060202158.html

Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations

Abramoff Issue's Fallout May Extend Beyond the GOP
By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Derek Willis
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 3, 2005; Page A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff and an associate famously collected $82 million in lobbying and public relations fees from six Indian tribes and devoted a lot of their time to trying to persuade Republican lawmakers to act on their clients' behalf.

But Abramoff didn't work just with Republicans. He oversaw a team of two dozen lobbyists at the law firm Greenberg Traurig that included many Democrats. Moreover, the campaign contributions that Abramoff directed from the tribes went to Democratic as well as Republican legislators.

Among the biggest beneficiaries were Capitol Hill's most powerful Democrats, including Thomas A. Daschle (S.D.) and Harry M. Reid (Nev.), the top two Senate Democrats at the time, Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.), then-leader of the House Democrats, and the two lawmakers in charge of raising funds for their Democratic colleagues in both chambers, according to a Washington Post study. Reid succeeded Daschle as Democratic leader after Daschle lost his Senate seat last November.

Democrats are hoping to gain political advantage from federal and Senate investigations of Abramoff's activities and from the embattled lobbyist's former ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.). Yet, many Democratic lawmakers also benefited from Abramoff's political operation, a fact that could hinder the Democrats' efforts to turn the lobbyist's troubles into a winning partisan issue.

(snip)

The WaPo includes this helpful graphic (may take a few seconds to load):

GRAPHIC CAPTION:
Bipartisan Spread
Many of the top beneficiaries of the campaign contributions that Jack Abramoff and his team of lobbyists directed from Indian tribes were Democratic legislators. Abramoff is under investigation for charging enormous fees to the tribes.

http://www.washingtonpost.com.nyud.net:8090/wp-srv/nation/daily/graphics/abramoff_060305.gif

[Broken_Hero]

27. Just another example...

Of how tribes get treated. Its sad, and for once it was someone who wasn't directly involved within the tribe, meaning another indian. Most indians do enough damage to one another, that the needs of white men doing it for us, usually isn't needed. I hope these guys fry, for what they have done...Later, Don.

[bklyncowgirl]

29. I LOVE this scandal

What a wonderful cast of characters--sort of like an Carl Hiaaasen novel come to life.

You've got:

The sleazy lobbyist and his sidekick: Abramoff and Scanlon
The not so noble (but still sympathetic) Red Men: The Choctaws
The smarmy "Christian" leader: Reed
The power broker: Norquist
The crooked Congressman: DeLay
The crusading Senator(who just happens to be running for president): McCain

And to top it off, our everyman, David A Grosch, a former "lifeguard of the year" who with his Yoga instructor buddy was tapped by Scanlon to head a fictional think tank who's sole purpose appears to have been to launder money scammed from the tribes, who got out when he realized that what was going on involved indian tribes, gambling and the federal government.

[autorank]

30. "livegurard of the year" -- what next!

[Al-CIAda]

31. .