WaPo now has more info on what Abramoff Plea deal means../New Stuff.

[KoKo]

(It's a long article and I couldn't snip much of the more interesting parts...but there are some new revelations)

Abramoff Pleads Guilty to 3 Felony Charges
Plea Bargain Settles One of Two Fraud Cases Against Lobbyist
By William Branigin, Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, January 3, 2006; 1:39 PM


Prosecutors are expected to seek information from Abramoff about official actions performed for his clients by the lawmakers, including DeLay, the former House majority leader, as well as by the former top Interior official, congressional aides and federal employees.

DeLay has taken three overseas trips with Abramoff since 1997 -- to the Mariana Islands, Moscow and the United Kingdom -- and received more than $70,000 from Abramoff, his associates and tribal clients for his campaign committees.

Investigating DeLay, who is facing separate campaign finance charges in Texas, could take up to a year and require the cooperation of other witnesses before issues surrounding the Texas Republican are resolved, according to people familiar with the case.

Prosecutors are expected to act more quickly in the case of Ney, who accepted campaign contributions, skybox fundraisers, drinks, dinners, gifts and a golfing trip to Scotland while allegedly performing official actions that benefited Abramoff and his clients.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010300474_pf.html

[xchrom]

1. with ney trumpeting his innocence -- i'll get some grim

satisfaction watching him bite it.

[Kensingtonian]

2. No grimness here.

I live in the bastard's district.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. Me too . . .

. . . the pompous, lying, sycophant horse's ass is going to jail.

:nuke:

[oldtime dfl_er]

4. The complete lack of shame and remorse

I guess it shouldn't amaze me, but it does.

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/793803

[troubleinwinter]

5. Part of the plea deal

Should be that Abramoff cannot refer to these dispicable crimes as "mistakes"! JEEZ!

"Abramoff, 46, expressed "profound regret" for what he called his "multitude of mistakes"

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. This is getting GOOD! They are preparing a case against Ney first, then

Delay!

<snip>
Also of interest to prosecutors is former deputy Interior secretary J. Steven Griles, who received a job offer from the lobbyist in 2003 at a time when Abramoff was seeking department actions on behalf of his tribal clients.

Griles, who held the No. 2 job at Interior from 2001 to 2004, has said he never tried to intercede on behalf of Abramoff's clients, but e-mails released by a Senate committee show more than a half-dozen contacts Griles had with Abramoff or with a woman working as the lobbyist's go-between. The contacts concerned gambling-related issues affecting four tribal clients who were paying Abramoff tens of millions of dollars for representation.

Other lawmakers who had close dealings with Abramoff are Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and other members of Congress involved with Indian affairs.

Prior to resolution of any issues involving DeLay, prosecutors are continuing to investigate two of DeLay's top former deputies, Edwin A. Buckham and Tony C. Rudy. Abramoff maintained a business relationship with Buckham, who runs the Alexander Strategy Group with Rudy.

Among the areas of interest are questions about client business steered to the Alexander Strategy Group at a time when the firm was hiring the spouses of members of Congress, including DeLay's wife, Christine DeLay, and Doolittle's wife, Julie Doolittle.<snip>

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. Here's MORE.

<snip>Rudy is under investigation for assistance he allegedly provided Abramoff's lobbying clients while he was working for DeLay. Rudy helped Abramoff scuttle an anti-gambling bill on behalf of an Abramoff client in 2000. In early 2001, Rudy went to work for Abramoff for about 18 months before switching to Alexander Strategy.

Payments from Abramoff clients and associates to Liberty Consulting, a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa, are also under review by the Justice Department.

Tony Rudy met his future wife while working for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a longtime friend of Abramoff's who was listed as a personal reference along with Tony Rudy on loan papers for the SunCruz deal.

Prosecutors have already told Ney and the Ohio Republican's former chief of staff, Neil Volz, that they are preparing a possible bribery case against them, according to two sources knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Ney inserted statements into the Congressional Record to promote the SunCruz deal, praising Kidan and casting aspersions on SunCruz's then-owner, Boulis, during contentious purchase negotiations.

Boulis was killed in a gangland-style hit in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, 2001. Three men -- including a business associate Kidan had hired to provide catering and security services for SunCruz -- were charged last year in the Boulis murder.

Ney's SunCruz statements came even though the gambling enterprise was thousands of miles away from his rural Ohio congressional district. Ney later said he was misled. Ney also promised to help one of Abramoff's tribal clients reopen a casino shut down by Texas authorities.<snip>

[napi21]

8. With all this BS hitting tthe MSM, isn't it funny how all of them

are still saying "I'm certain I'll be found not guilty on all charges!"

I heard that from Ney today, and of course that's all you hear from DeLay!