Corruption Digest - January 6, 2006

As my new book Hostile Takeover prepares to be released in the Spring, here is your January 6, 2006 briefing on how America's political system is being sold to the highest bidders. To sign up to receive the Corruption Digest in your email box, just go to www.davidsirota.com and enter your email address on the righthand side.

WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
As soon as indicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff plead guilty and announced he would be cooperating with prosecutors, many politicians decided to give back all or most of the money they received from Abramoff and his clients - many politicians, that is, other than President Bush. As Thinkprogress notes, Bush gave back just $6,000 of the at least $120,000 Abramoff raised for Bush as one of his top fundraisers...The nonpartisan watchdog group Texans for Public Justice demanded that Bush fully disclose all the campaign contributions he received from Abramoff and his cleints. The 2004 Bush reelection campaign identified Jack Abramoff as a “Pioneer” fundraiser who raised between $100,000 and $200,000 for the campaign by bundling together contributions of up to $2,000 apiece from individuals or $5,000 from PACs. The Bush campaign, however, "has never revealed which contributions Mr. Abramoff bundled together for Bush."...The Brennan Center's James Sample reports that virtually unreported because of the Abramoff scandal was Bush's recess nomination of FEC commissioners who specifically want to weaken election laws.

CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - REPUBLICANS
The Republican Party has tried to put a brave face on the Abramoff scandal, but the stress is shining through. The LA Times reports that Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL) admits "This is going to be a huge black eye for our party." A Senate GOP told the paper that "Republicans soon will unveil ethics reform legislation in an effort to blunt criticism from Democrats" - and that seems to be the GOP's latest talking point right now. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R) - the architect of the GOP's K Street Project and the man who elevated Abramoff to power - is actually trying to lead that charge, berating his party even though he masterminded the systemic corruption for years. He appeared on Fox News claiming that the GOP will emerge unscathed by putting up weak "reform" measures because he claimed the public believes Democrats are "much more tolerant of corruption." He provided no proof of his claim...As proof that the GOP is merely feigning outrage over their own corruption, check out the Hill Newspaper story that notes Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has appointed Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) to spearhead GOP lobbying "reform" legislation. Santorum, of course, is one of the key figures in the "K Street Project" (aka. the GOP's corporate shakedown operation). As the Washington Post noted in 2003, Santorum was charged with "monitor[ing] openings on K Street with officials of the RNC and GOP lobbyists." Santorum would also hold meetings with lobbyists every other week to shake them down for cash...The Dayton Daily News reports "Abramoff's decision to cooperate with federal officials could mean damning testimony against Ohio U.S. Rep. Bob Ney (R)" who is most closely linked to the scandal. As the LA Times notes, Ney is "Representative #1" — the "unnamed lawmaker in federal court documents who allegedly received favors from Abramoff in return for supporting legislation beneficial to one of Abramoff's clients." But instead of fessing up to his behavior, Ney is denying everything - and the Ohio GOP is rushing to his defense, even as that state party has been ravaged by separate corruption charges...The Chicago Tribune reports that the Abramoff scandal "could bring renewed scrutiny of a letter sent by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois to Interior Secretary Gale Norton urging her to block an Indian casino opposed by rival tribes represented by Abramoff just one week after the lobbyist hosted a fundraiser for Hastert's political action committee." Hastert "was joined in his letter to Norton by three of the most powerful House Republican leaders: former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, then-Majority Whip Roy Blunt and Chief Deputy House Whip Eric Cantor, all of whom also received campaign contributions" from Abramoff clients...While many Members of Congress give back Abramoff-related campaign contributions, Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ), recipient of more than $100,000 in such donations, is still refusing - and still offering up perhaps the most laughable defense out there. As the East Valley Tribune reports, Hayworth is waving around "letters [from the Abramoff clients] urging him not to return the donations."...The Abramoff scandal is also now shedding light on new corruption scandals still far away from media attention. As just one example, the Montana Democratic Party dug up evidence showing that Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) - who is at the center of the Abramoff controversy - has been funneling money to an organization called the "Inland Northwest Space Alliance" (INSA). As Left in the West's Matt Singer reports "INSA apparently offers work to former Burns and [Rep. Denny] Rehberg employees [who] have also funneled $15,000 in money back to Burns."...Just in case you thought the Duke Cunnningham bribery scandal was over, think again - the Center for American Progress notes that it could still yet implicate two other GOP House Chairmen - California Reps. Duncan Hunter and Jerry Lewis.

CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - DEMOCRATS
Despite the salivating by Democrats about the Abramoff scandal, they have yet to propose a platform of systemic reform such as public financing of elections. And that at least partially explains why Gallup reports "the latest poll finds virtually no difference in Americans' perceptions of the extent of corruption among the members of each party in Congress."...The LA Times' Ron Brownstein says making the GOP's "culture of corruption" central in the 2006 election "won't be easy for Democrats, partly because members of the party also received contributions from Abramoff clients and partly because polls show most Americans see both parties as equally prone to corruption." Still, there are some courageous Democrats advocating a serious crackdown, and pressing for answers. For example, California Rep. George Miller (D) has long been calling for a 100 percent ban on gifts of any kind from lobbyists to Members of Congress. Miller also demanded a thorough investigation not only into the GOP's corporate shakedown operation, but into what the policy ramifications of Abramoff's vote-buying were in terms of weakening various labor, human rights, and immigration laws.

CORRUPTION - MEDIA
Earlier this week, MSNBC's Chris Matthews used his television show to downplay the corruption scandals embroiling Washington, saying Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA), who plead guitly to bribery charges, "was sort of a lone wolf in that department." But within hours it became clear that Matthews might have a personal motivation for such a comment: he and Fox News' Tony Snow and Brit Hume helped one of Abramoff's shady charities that was funneling money to political causes.

THE CORRUPTION INDUSTRY
Details of just how much GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff ripped off from clients are now emerging. The Albuquerque Tribune reports that Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon "pocketed 80 percent of the $2.75 million paid to them by Sandia Pueblo" Indian tribe...The Associated Press reports that "Abramoff pocketed nearly $11.5 million of the more than $30 million paid by the Louisiana Coushatta Tribe."...In all, the New York Times reports that in less than three years, Jack Abramoff secretly netted more than $20 million from tribes in five states, a sum close to half of the $43.3 million they paid him and a partner to lobby on their behalf."...Businessweek notes that even after the Abramoff scandal, "money isn't going to vanish from politics." All that will happen is that Corporate America will "be a lot more cautious about spreading around its largesse."

STATE CORRUPTION
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that state House and state Senate "lawyers this week are drafting what Senate President Tom Lee called 'guidelines' to help lawmakers navigate the new" lobbyist gift ban. The House also "plans to hold class on new codes of conduct Tuesday, when legislators are in Tallahassee for four days of committee meetings."

EDITORIALS/OP-EDS ON CORRUPTION
The Roanoke Times says that Abramoff's plea deal "will help federal prosecutors determine how completely public officials have sold themselves out...Only a concentrated flood of voter wrath can successfully wash out the institutional stench."...Scripps Howard's Dale McFeatters says that despite the GOP's best efforts to attack Democrats, the corruption scandal "is largely a Republican one."

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