At the beginning of January, GOP "Superlobbyist" Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three federal felonies: fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe public officials. Throughout Washington, the sound of feet running scared can be heard, as President Bush, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and the already beleagured Rep. Tom DeLay, among others, rush to return contributions from Abramoff.Especially for the Bush Administration, Abramoff's contributions are going to serve as another political millstone around the neck of an already weary president. Bush has denied that Abramoff had extensive access to the White House, though he has declined to publically release records on the subject, despite pressure from GOP lawmakers to do so.
(In fact, Abramoff raised over $100,000 for the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, earning himself the coveted title of "Bush Pioneer" for his skill. "Bundling", the campaign finance trick devised by White House insider Karl Rove to circumvent the 2002 McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance reform, is the subject for a whole other post.)
All I can say is that when two Republican congressmen appear on FOX News Sunday and call for the President to fully release the records of his dealings with Abramoff, ethics don't seem so complicated, after all. To use the words of Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Nebraska, on the subject:
“Get it out. Get it out. Come on.”
-Emma
3 comments:
My favorite part of this scandal is a comment made by Scott McClellan last week. When talking about the investigation into Abramoff and Bush's relationship, he declared, "We're not going to engage in a fishing expedition."
Gotta love how the whitehouse belittles any investigation into its many shady dealings.
Excellent point, Jesse--especially given that even their Republican counterparts in Congress have called for a release of pertinent documents. Our man, McClellan, however, has insisted that those who are seeking information are "engaging in partisan attacks" (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/rel eases/2006/01/20060123.html). That's a hard case to make when the likes of Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), Sen. John Thune (R-SD), and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) have argued that the documents should be made public. But then, perhaps it would be more surprising if the Executive were actually as transparent as it alledges to be.
--Rebecca
Now, give the Dems credit where credit is due. Karl Rove didn't invent bundling. A woman by the name of Ellen Malcolm has had success with the idea for quite some time.
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