DNC: Post-Holiday Sale - All Republican Corruption Scandals Have Got to Go

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DNC: Post-Holiday Sale -- All Republican Corruption Scandals Have Got to Go 18 minutes ago

Contact: Karen Finney of the Democratic National Committee, 202-863-8148

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee regarding Republican corruption scandals:


Amid the announcement this morning that GOP super-lobbyist and DeLay confidante Jack Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and corruption charges, the scandals plaguing Republicans in Washington, D.C. continue to mount. From details of DeLay's relationship to shady Russian businessmen to new details about the Pentagon propaganda program to new revelations about the Bush White House's strategy to skirt civil liberties and spy on Americans, the Republican culture of corruption has grown even stronger with new scandals emerging. As 2006 begins, it's clear that Americans in both parties deserve and are demanding the truth at the start of the new year.


Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney issued the following statement:


"The culture of corruption and abuse of power that have been the hallmarks of the Bush Administration and Washington Republicans did not take a break during the holidays. From Jack Abramoff's felony convictions today, ongoing corruption investigations, and the President's potentially illegal domestic spying, to news of Tom DeLay's special interest group funded by Russian oil tycoons, more reports of Republican wrongdoing cannot be good news for Republicans who find themselves on the ballot this election year. Americans deserve the truth from the President and the Republican Congress."


Republican Super-Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Pleads Guilty; Will Cooperate In Ongoing Investigations. "Lobbyist Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to federal charges in Washington and Miami, clearing the way for him to cooperate in a massive government investigation of influence peddling involving members of Congress, lawyers said Tuesday. As part of the deal, prosecutors were filing conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion charges against the embattled lobbyist, a Justice Department official said." (AP, 1/3/05)


Russian Oil Companies Funded DeLay Advocacy Group to Influence His Votes. "The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group. During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins. Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay (R-Texas). The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy." (Washington Post, 12/31/05)


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http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20060103/pl_usnw/dnc__post_holiday_sale____all_republican_corruption_scandals_have_got_to_go111_xml

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