Breaking News on CNN!!! Abramoff is making a deal and pleading guilty! eo

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

[LiberalVoice]

1. oooooooooooohhhhh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttteeeee!

lmao there in for it now.

[still_one]

2. I am very skeptical

but have my fingers crossed

[Demeter]

3. Because The Damage Is Limited--NO Lengthy Trial, No Juicy Bites

We should get a thorough airing of the whole damn collusion, to rub Freeper faces in it and bring down the 4th Reich.

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. He's going to sing like a canary

heh heh

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/935475

[Mr_Spock]

5. I hope so

I'm skeptical as well...

[zanne]

8. Me too.

We knew this would happen, but I would have enjoyed watching the trial. I just hope we get enough information about this now; I'm afraid it'll be kept on the down-low.

[Lerkfish]

10. I hope so, but a weasel does not sing as well as a canary..

I'm convinced that whatever he sings about, will only be the tip of the iceberg, an iceberg that we may never get to see in its entirety.

[ClintonTyree]

37. But once you find the tip of that iceberg........

it's infinitely easier to find what's beneath it. For any concerned investigator, of course. Fitz seems to fit that bill and I'm sure there will be some cross-over crime here. The whole bloody mess is connected.

[Lerkfish]

51. oh, I agree, its just that I'm always suspicious what we will never know

is much worse than the dribble we discover.
For example, Fitz getting Libby on obstruction is fine, but what if the whole thing BEHIND it is the attempt to shut down Brewster Jennings because we were planning on planting fake WMDs in Iraq, or even something more sinister than that, like a planned MIHOP nuke attack on our soil to justify nuking Iran.

These guys are so despicable, even if you nail them on something, there's no guarantee you'll ever get to see the entire iceberg.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

16. Oh, I doubt that. National security and all

This will be the last we hear of him.

[myrna minx]

23. Oh--I hope so! n/t

[ClintonTyree]

35. Has already sung like a canary..........

he been ratting out his cronies for over a year! Tom DeLay has just shit his pants! :rofl:

[elehhhhna]

6. He's connected to the mob, the 911 "pilots", DeLay, etc.

Should be interesting. Who's he really working for, anyway?

[xultar]

11. That is what they want to keep quiet.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Don't Forget Sniper Schools In Israel

Who is he working for; indeed! Sniper schools in Israel? Huh?
The Professor

[QuettaKid]

38. "sniper schools in Israel" ?

where did you hear this from?

[ProfessorGAC]

46. Yesterday's Washington Post

Among the things he used client money on was founding his orthodox Jewish academy in Ohio and sniper schools in Israel. I was using a different computer (at home) yesterday so i don't have it bookmarked, but the Abramhoff stories are probably still up at the Post's website.
The Professor

[txindy]

58. Yes, I read that WP article, too. Jack funded sniper schools in Israel.

What a sweet guy. :eyes:

[WinkyDink]

7. Well, whatever. I recall chortling over the Fall of Rove by Fitzy.

Still waiting....

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. Fitz WILL INDICT KKKROVE!

Plan on it!

[meganmonkey]

19. Patience grasshopper

Time will tell, and Rove will fall....

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Let JUSTICE PREVAIL! Take the ENTIRE REPUKE PARTY DOWN !!!

Please, please, please!:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo:

[DainBramaged]

12. He's been "ordered" to plead and shut up

I bet I could start a "dead pool" on this guy because he has used up 8 of his 9 lives, I bet a nickle.

Nothing will get out about anyone nothing. He will be mourned. Move along here nothing to see here.

[in_cog_ni_to]

15. I certainly hope he's under proctective cover and

he stays off of small aircraft. He's connected to the mob :scared:. If I were him, I'd BEG for POLICE PROTECTION.

[DainBramaged]

18. They will encourage him to eat lunch alone in small parks

[in_cog_ni_to]

27. lol...I'm sure they will.

:) HOPEFULLY his attorney will not allow him to do that. ;) He has a damn smart attorney, Abbe Lowell. At least he WAS his attorney. Remember Mr. Lowell from the Clinton impeachment?

[DainBramaged]

34. Went swimming at Universal Theme Park while awaiting sentencing

Decided to learn parachuting.

Became a lumberjack.

Started work for a concrete mixing comppany.


You get the picture.

[Mossadeq]

29. Don't be so sure

Would you want Jeb's goons 'protecting' you ? ...The first place they would send you is on a small plane with the mob. :)

[in_cog_ni_to]

30. Oh man...the EVIL men do! That's a thought,

and a scary one at that.:scared:

[gratuitous]

21. So whaddya think?

Shot while attempting to escape or hang himself in his cell?

There's speculation at Talking Points Memo that Abramoff is so integrated into the Washington Ruling Class that prosecuting everyone connected to him would cripple Congress by indicting so many memebers, that this is too big for the Justice Department to deal with.

I think I've said it badly, but you can read the post at TPM, which is just a few paragraphs.

[DainBramaged]

28. Found alone in a lion's cage in DC zoo

Learned amateur electronics fixing 100000 watt power transformers.

Was fixing his own car (now that he's broke) and the jack fell.

Household gas leak.

Got lost and drove into Atlantic Ocean.

You get the picture.

Congress gets to use it's "Get out of jail free card" now.

[in_cog_ni_to]

32. I think I read here that he could take at least 60 members of Congress

down with him. Is that true? Have you read that?

[DainBramaged]

36. He just signed up as a stunt man for the Border guards target team

He's going to become a human cannonball.

A taxi driver in NYC.

Stunt driver for Jesus.

He is going to become a food taster for the National Poison hotline.

[in_cog_ni_to]

41. DainBramaged,

LOVE your screen name, BTW :7, you need to have FAITH! Think GOOD thoughts about this. Abramoff WILL live to tell his story and take the entire repuke party down with him! Come on...you can do it! Repeat after me, "Abramoff will live and take down the entire repuke party with him." :hi: Repeat, repeat, repeat.

[DainBramaged]

45. Read further down, I am no longer hopeful

Too many legs this octopus has, too many people in his net, too much to lose all around.

[TahitiNut]

14. A "plea bargain" is NOT necessarily a "cooperation agreement."

There is no guarantee whatsoever that Abramoff will implicate the HIGHEST ranked collaborators. Fall-guys populate the lower ranks.

[in_cog_ni_to]

17. BUT, if he's going to go down, wouldn't he want to take

the BIG players with him?

[CornField]

22. Even pigs have families

That is, people they love and will take a dive to protect.

[stop the bleeding]

49. 2 things about pigs, they wallow in shit and they all get slaughtered

Squeal like a pig, do I smell bacon???

[CornField]

57. In the interim they roll around in the mud and they enjoy it.

;)

[TahitiNut]

24. I doubt it. There's life after prison.

I have little doubt that Abramoff has assets squirreled away in overseas bank accounts and various real assets held in fictional names and collaborator hands. There are people who'd 'accident' family members - is Abramoff without close family?

[A Simple Game]

50. Exactly why he won't rat out the real power players.

You know the ones that can put the ultimate hurt on you, or can help you get a shorter sentence in a nice place.

[Sydnie]

52. He may not have to

Duke outed himself when the water got hot. Perhaps there will be more that will see that it will be easier on them to come forward and make their own deal too. Who knowws just how many they are negotiating with right now? They had been talking to Duke too. How many others know that they have a scarlett letter on their forehead and are considering the same thing as Duke? Just what did Duke know and what did he tell them?

And, let's not forget that Scanlon made a deal too. That is how they sewed up Abramhoff, right? Chances are they can play them against each other to get the biggest bang for their buck. And they have at least one staff member too. The staff member has all the incentive to tell what he knows because the chances of anyone coming to his defense is slim and he doesn't have a huge bank account somewhere out there to fall back on when the dust clears.

We have to remember, there are lots of angles here and Jackie is only one of them.

[A Simple Game]

53. Good points. I hope you are right.

You should be if the prosecutors are honest and do their jobs.

And shame on me, I promised myself to start the new year with a positive attitude.

Thanks for the reply and reminder to be positive.

[flyarm]

55. well its worse than that ..one of the three arrested and indicted for

murder of the cruise ship company has begun singing...and he was tied to the gambino family..

abramoff supposedly paid off $250,000. before the murder...

depends how much one of the hit men talks..abramoff could be held on conspiring to murder...
scanlon is singing a beatuiful tune to protect his own ass...

these guys know dang well who they have to worry about..and their only protection now is being a states witness..
if they don't out the big guys..the prosecution will turn on them and all their protections will be gone..

they will die an early death in prison...

now its each man to himself to save their own asses...
there will be no hair splitting..they either give up the goods and get protection..or they remain dead man walking...

the bush cabal takes no prisoners...suicide in prison anyone??

abramoff has no protection but the prosecution right now..and in the future...

if he makes it to the future..

just my 2 cents here..

fly

[txindy]

60. Exactly right. It only takes one domino to get the rest toppling over.

:popcorn:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

44. CNN implied he was not going down alone. They started to cite evidence

ie emails and other documents that he is making available. Still waiting for more of an update.

[gratuitous]

25. That's true

But if either the judge in the case or the prosecutor is unhappy with what Abramoff provides in terms of evidence, the bargain can be called off, and Abramoff goes on trial after all. It's in Abramoff's interest to keep his newest buddies on the prosecution team happy.

[TahitiNut]

26. Who can threaten Abramoff the most?

Those who can pose the greater threat are the ones he'll cooperate with.

[flyarm]

56. the prosecution team is now his only lifeline!! n/t

[Spazito]

33. In this case, there is a cooperation agreement AND his jail term

will be determined AFTER he has completed his cooperation which means, imo, he has to COMPLETELY cooperate or his prison term will be longer than what he has negotiated in the interim. It sounds like he will be singing a glorious song, lol.

Sphincter muscles all over D.C. just tightened big time.

[TahitiNut]

40. I'll keep my hopes high and my expectations low.

I've seen this before ... and I've seen how our "Justice System" works (or doesn't).

[Spazito]

48. Very wise! I, too, will watch and read with fascination coupled with

skepticism. It is encouraging, though, that the deal is conditional on FULL cooperation and the prison term will be determined after said cooperation instead of already having been determined in the agreement. From what the news is saying, if he cooperates satisfactorily he will get 10 years.

[flyarm]

59. scanlon had the same deal..and he has till march to complete his

co-operation if i am remembering correctly...i remember thinking ..why did they give him till march..but i was being impatient..it would take that long for prosecutors to nail all the info down and lay out the case...but i do remember their was a timeline on scanlon to complete his co-operation with the prosecutors..it was not open ended..
i believe the deal was give up all the goods by march..or deal is off..and that was put in there i believe by the judge involved..

i would anticipate that abramoffs deal is similar...not open ended or these guys could drag this out forever..i would bet there is an end game date with abramoff or deal is off...

fly

[Spazito]

64. Yep, I agree, the timing is there and these guys have to

cough up everything they promised within a defined timeframe for sure. It makes for fascinating reading so far.

[salin]

39. all it took was a curious investigative journalist,

with a little bored down-time - to go and dig around the funny transactions around Duke's house sale... to start the chain of events that led to exposure of bribery and other illegal behavior. And funny how Wilkes and Wade show up among benefactors of others tied to the Abramoff scandal. And interesting enough, they seem to be completely seperate from the Abramoff web and scandal.

My point being - it is the little fish that can come out that work as bait for other leads. How many other fishy transactions are out there like Duke's that just a little digging if one has the research tools (like Lexis Nexus) are just waiting to be found.

I don't know that we will get all of the biggest kahunas (except DeLay - looks pretty likely that he is going down) - but if we get enough Dukes - the public sentiment/perception of the overall GOP party will shift in a big way. That is what I would like to see. Discredit and brush out of the statehouses, state legislatures and Congress.

[flyarm]

61. k what i don't understand..can someone help me with this one...

why are the repugs all holding out coming back to d.c. till end of january..someone told me they are holding out till delay gets cleared in texas...well they all know he will be caught up in the abramoff deal..so why are they even coming close to looking like they are holding out comngress for delay??

even if it only looks that way...wouldn't you think with all the ball sweating going on they would all want to disassociate in every way from the bug man??????

or does he hold their fates in his grubby bug hands??

and as for the bush spying crap... how would we or could we know if *es boys weren't tapping these prosecutors lines..or better yet ..tapping their own repugs to figure out who would sing and who wouldn't...and to know what their defence will be...

you knowwwwwwwww abramoffs lines have been bugged...in the past year..as well as scanlon..this white house takes no chances and leaves nothing up to chance..

in mho i think the reason * begged the nyt to not publish the nsa story was so

they could stay on top of <this> story with their bugging..

look the new world order boys..are the most powerful in the world..
they have their power grab going full time...whats the chances they are going to let abramoff kill their dream of owning the world?? and the worlds oil and treasures??

abramoff is dead man walking unless he spills the goods on all the top dogs..the little guys will not save his neck...only the prosecutors can do that now...

but i would bet the farm the new world order guys have * sweating..to know whats going on and to stop the bleeding ...and i would bet those nsa boys have been tapping the whole abramoff guys 24/7 for over a year now!

the only anti terror * has been worried about enough to tap is abramoff..and those were his marching orders by the new world order boys...

my 2 cents..fly

[salin]

63. the late January threat wasn't about DeLay, iirc,

it came about as a threat, I think, due to one of the compromises on desired bushco legislation (can't recall if it was the budget, the anti-torture provisions, or the patriot act renewal) - and the response from Hastert was fine... I won't call congress back until after (some deadline or another.) Wish I recalled the details - but I don't think it has to do with DeLay.

[KoKo]

42. Here's a link to a great site for all things Abramoff....analysis:

I've found ReddHead (former prosecutor) at Firedoglake has great analysis and links for this.
For those of us who figure this will be another story swept under the bridge it will buck us up to keep checking the site.

Here's a snip of the reports just in and the link:

----------------

UPDATE: CNN reporting in their breaking news headline that Abramoff has reached a plea agreement -- will plead guilty to corruption and other charges. Will update as I get more information. (Hat tip to reader Excessive Bastard for the tip.) In the meantime, Bloomberg had some speculation yesterday. When I find something more solid, you'll be the first to know.

UPDATE #2: Atrios reporting that CNN's Ed Henry says Abramoff has been cooperating for up to a year without the final plea agreement in place. Well, that's some interesting news, isn't it? Puts that whole Steno Sue article into an even sharper focus, doesn't it? posted by ReddHedd @ 5:45 AM

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[spanone]

47. On CNN they said the terms are tied to results...so he'd better sing.

[flyarm]

54. well if you were dead man walking..wouldn't you want to out

the very people who are the experts in taking out all the other dead man not walking anymore...??

getting the little guys will not keep him alive...and no matter his plea he will spend time in the slammer..do you want the big guys always looking over your shoulder..or do you want th "know" they are incarcerated??...he will always be looking over his shoulder..or he will sing like a beautiful bird to save his own ass...and his family...

understand at least one of the three that killed the cruise line guy was tied to the gambino family...and supposedly that guy is singing...

abramoff has two reasons to sing..his own life and that of his family..
abramoff has now got to fight for his life..and that means taking out the big guys...
the little guys will do nothing towards saving his skin...

abramoff is dead man walking...no one knows it more than him...and everyone below him has sang..his info better match theirs with the prosecution..or he will die in prison unprotected ..

just my 2 cents..
fly

[madokie]

31. I see no good coming from this, sorry

[flyarm]

62. may i suggest you do some reading about this story...

this is bigger than anything since the tea pot dome....

and will be bigger than anything in my lifetime..of 54 yrs..

watergate is kids games in comparrison!!

this includes murder, bribes, possible connection to fla and atta( 9/11)

american indian tribes..4 ...payoffs and congressional quid pro quo...
billions in government contracts...billions....


this is bigger than big..a very serious constitutional crisis...

fly

[DainBramaged]

43. Know why NOTHING is coming from this?

The MSM is already moved on to stupid drivel on all three cable news channels. This guy will wind up working at Wal-Mart under Federal Protection, a few clowns like Ney will bite the bullet and fall on their swords and that will be it.

We won't find out anything until Barrack Obama becomes President.:sarcasm: