AP: Bush to Give Up $6,000 Linked to Abramoff >>>

[Stephanie]

*edit - I had to change the headline - now he is only giving back $6000!

New article just posted:

Abramoff raised at least $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney '04 re-election campaign, earning the honorary title "pioneer" from the campaign. But the campaign is returning only $6,000 directly from Abramoff, his wife and one of the Indian tribes that he worked to win influence for in Washington.

Abramoff, his wife and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan each donated $2,000 to the Bush campaign, said Republican National Committee spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

"As it stands, this is what we are returning," Schmitt said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_go_pr_wh/lobbyist_fraud_44

Original article is below:

Bush to Give Away Abramoff Donations

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
27 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush's re-election campaign will give the American Heart Association thousands of dollars in campaign contributions connected to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the White House said Wednesday, as the government pressed forward with a broad-ranging corruption investigation.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Wednesday that Abramoff, his wife and the tribal associates that he helped win influence on Capitol Hill donated thousands to the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign. Donations to charities has been the policy in similar situations in the past, McClellan said.

Abramoff raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election effort, earning the honorary title "pioneer" from the campaign. It was unclear how much exactly the campaign would be giving to charity since McClellan referred questions about the matter to the
Republican National Committee, which did not immediately return phone calls about it.

McClellan said Bush does not know Abramoff personally, although it's possible that the two met at holiday receptions. Abramoff attended three Hanukkah receptions at the White House, the spokesman said.

<more>

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_go_pr_wh/lobbyist_fraud_43

Hah hah hah hah hah! Remember when Bush didn't know Ken Lay, either?

[htuttle]

1. Ooh, ooh, hot potato! Hot Potato!

"Here -- somebody else hold this bundle of cash for me, quick!"

[Stephanie]

6. "He did not know Abramoff personally"

that is cracking me up!

[LeftNYC]

8. ...and Iraq has weapons of mass destruction...

:sarcasm:

[Dinger]

18. Jackey Boy Ol' Buddy Pal

Or something like that

[Atman]

2. Will they still give themselve the Charitable Tax Deduction?

They'll all still make out like bandits. Literally.

[tuvor]

3. Didn't Howard Dean call for such action just yesterday? n/t

[rogue emissary]

4. Yeap, but he he called on Bush to give it ALL back. n/t

[w13rd0]

5. Yep...

...and even if they'd done this yesterday, it would have still been too late. Bush is a blight upon the American Dream.

[Skidmore]

7. So does that mean he took away the title of "pioneer" from Jackie

as well?

[Stephanie]

How many "pioneers" are there?

Don't you think George would know them all?

[Stephanie]

11. There are 327 "pioneers"

Bush's Rangers and Pioneers

Rangers are an elite class of fundraisers created for the 2004 election cycle who have bundled at least $200,000 for the Bush campaign. Pioneers are those who have pledged to gather $100,000. For the 2004 campaign, there are 221 Rangers and 327 Pioneers, so far. In the 2000 campaign, 550 fundraisers signed up to be Pioneers, and at least 241 of them reached their goal. Use this search engine to find information about Rangers and Pioneers, which is presented in cooperation with Texans for Public Justice.

http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/ContributorsAndPaybacks/pioneer_search.cfm

[LeftNYC]

9. Since Georgie didnt know him, I guess he wont pardon him...

right? right?

[Earth_First]

10. Is it me? Or does this sound like an admission of guilt?

...thus shoring up the fact that when Abramoff claimed ties to the white house (Rove) that he really did?

[Stephanie]

12. I don't think you charge $9 Million for a meeting with the president -

unless you are quite sure you have the pull to make the meeting happen.

[emulatorloo]

13. That Rove and Abramoff share an "executive asst" seems suspicious to me

much much more at the link

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Susan_B._Ralston

<snip>

Susan Bonzon Ralston, Special Assistant to the President & Assistant to the Senior Advisor Karl Rove, was Jack Abramoff's executive assistant at Preston Gates and Ellis and later at the Greenberg Traurig law and lobbying firm, where "she served as the assistant director of governmental affairs. Before moving to the nation’s capital, she was an office administrator for M&J Wilkow, Ltd., a commercial real estate firm in Chicago, Illinois." <1><2>

"Ms. Ralston assists Mr. Rove in overseeing the strategic planning, political affairs, public liaison, and intergovernmental affairs efforts of the White House." <3>

<snip>

[Stephanie]

17. that's right - I forgot about that

So Rove looks vulnerable in this too

[Poiuyt]

14. Bush is only giving $6,000 of over $100,000 back

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/04/politics/main1176617.shtml

(CBS/AP) Wanting to avoid any link to corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the White House said Wednesday that President Bush's re-election campaign was donating $6,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his wife and an Indian tribe he represented to charity.

more-

[Stephanie]

16. I just saw that - AP updated their story

Dang Bush is cheap, isn't he? Why doesn't he give it all back? :rofl:

[mod mom]

15. Instead of giving $ to RW Charities, why not give to Native American

Tribes that were bilked out of millions? they are just funnelling money back to the organizations who will return it back to the corrupt GOP.

[stepnw1f]

19. This Guy Thinks He's a Mobster

What a dork! He even dresses like one too. Can you say dellusional?

[Stephanie]

20. Looks like one, acts like one -

might as well dress like one.

[stepnw1f]

21. I Know, It's Just Weird (nt)

[madokie]

23. if he looks like one, talks like one, dresses like one

He probably is one. after the hit on the former owner of the gambling ship I can see nothing else. sorry

[CornField]

22. He looks a lot different than he did

He was quite a bit thinner and had a beard. I don't understand this new mobster get-up and what he expects to gain by it.

[madokie]

24. The pigs life is in peril now, I would think there were head gear

and body armor under that getup. me thinks