05-03-2007, 09:59 AM
|
#49 (permalink)
|
|
Banned
|
The allegedly "liberal media", has not bothered to provide "in depth" coverage for this yet....even though it is my opinion that it will send many government officials into prison, or at least into retirement. The trouble is....can the compromised DOJ even do a fair and ethical job of investigating it?
Quote:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/...n2721717.shtml
WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007
Abramoff Scandal Figure To Plead Guilty
Investigations Into Lobbying Scandal Are Gaining More Momentum
(CBS) By CBS News Justice Department producer Stephanie Lambidakis
Mark Zachares, one of the more minor figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, has agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge at a plea hearing Tuesday.
According to one source, the investigations have been picking up speed because Abramoff, who is in jail, has been "spilling his guts" in continued debriefings with federal prosecutors. The source noted wryly that while the Justice Department was once dubious of Abramoff's credibility, prosecutors are embracing much of what he's telling them.
Tuesday's plea indicates that the investigations have new momentum and are likely to lead to additional charges.
The criminal information cites Zachares' "extensive contact" with Abramoff going back to the mid-1990s. Zachares worked for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, then took key staff positions on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee while Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, was the chairman. Abramoff tried and failed to get Zachares a job with the Office of Insular Affairs at the Interior Department.
The headline in the plea is the cryptic reference to "Representative #3." We're told this is a member of Congress who has not been publicly named before in the Abramoff investigation.
Zachares went on the $160,000 golf trip in August of 2003 with Abramoff and six others, including a member of the House identified as "Representative #3. That lawmaker is not identified, but Rep. Tom Feeney acknowledged the golf trip on his financial disclosure forms but claimed it was paid by the National Center for Public Policy Research, not Jack Abramoff.
Earlier this year, the House Ethics Committee ordered Feeney to repay $5,643 and Feeney did so. With their reference to "representative #3," prosecutors are signalling that Rep. Feeney could be their next target.
Zachares got more than $30,000 in sports tickets from Abramoff. <h3>There are a few interesting details: Zachares tried to get a non-public Department of Justice Threat Assessment Report about Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands for Abramoff. He also tried to procure reorganization plans for the Department of Homeland Security.</h3>
Abramoff had told Zachares that his activities on the Hill would serve as "credits" that would translate into dollars when and if Zachares went to work for Abramoff.
|
Quote:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070416/berman
..........The apparent purging of Black at Abramoff's behest demonstrates the clout the lobbyist wielded at both the DOJ and the White House. Then-White House political director <b>Ken Mehlman, the recent chairman of the Republican National Committee, told White House official Leonard Rodriguez, a protégé of Karl Rove, to "reach out to make Jack aware" of all Guam-related information, including candidates for US Attorney, according to the IG report.</b>
In May 2002 Abramoff used his influence to kill a risk-assessment report of Guam and the neighboring Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI), requested by Black, that called for federalizing immigration laws on the islands, a move that might have jeopardized the influx of cheap labor to CNMI and Abramoff's $1.6 million lobbying contract with its local government. <b>Abramoff learned of the report from John Ashcroft's then-chief of staff, David Ayres, whom he hosted at a Washington Redskins game. "We'll hope that higher ups will take some time to squash this," Abramoff wrote. Sure enough, the report never came out, and the DOJ demoted its author, regional security specialist............</b>
|
Quote:
http://www.adn.com/news/politics/sto...-8739449c.html
Young aide's link to Abramoff sheds new light on Marianas bill
By RICHARD MAUER
Anchorage Daily News
Published: April 29, 2007
Last Modified: April 30, 2007 at 05:45 PM
The guilty plea last week by a former senior committee aide to Rep. Don Young sheds new light on the circumstances surrounding Young’s success seven years ago in blocking reforms of the sweatshop industry on the Mariana Islands.
But the plea also raises new questions about why Young, R-Alaska, took the actions he did.......
|
I've provided much more documentation....and commentary on this latest, republican corruption "time bomb", on the "Another Bush Crony" thread:
http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthr...t=96966&page=4 |
|
|