Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff today pleded guilty to conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion. Why a guilty plea? First because, obviously, the guy is totally, totally guilty. Nobody has ever seriously questioned that. But secondly, and more important, because he’s turning on the Republicans. The Republican culture of corruption in Washington is about to come to a storied conclusion, with Abramoff serving as the top witness. Members of Congress will be the first to go down, we now know. With any luck, the indictments will be handed down by summer, which will make possible a Democratic revolution in Congress.
There are some notable Virginia connections here. Rep. Virgil Goode has been named by the DNC as having apparently accepted a bribe from Abramoff, but things may be much worse for Attorney General Elect Bob McDonnell. McDonnell is deeply enmeshed in the Abramoff money machine — whether or not any of that is illegal may well be revealed by Abramoff in the coming months. The web of connections between McDonnell and Abramoff is breathtaking: it would be truly startling if he’s done nothing improper.
Great work on this Waldo.
Has anyone in the mainstream press got onto the McDonnell story? Should McDonnell even bother taking his oath of office?
Has anyone in the mainstream press got onto the McDonnell story?
In fact, all that I’ve done thus far is repeat information from the media, notably the work of James Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt for the Washington Post. Their October 16 piece had just a brief portion about the Virginia connection, but their November 3 article (“Consultants for Va. Candidate Linked to Indicted Lobbyist”) was dedicated to the extensive ties between McDonnell and Abramoff.
At a certain level, the culture of corruption (or buying favor) is endemic in both parties.
But the corruption is far greater in the Republican Party, in no small part because they’re in control right now. That said, the current DeLay/Abramoff-led corruption is clearly the worst in a generation or more. It’s been raised to something closer to an art form.
Waldo, I just wanted to remind you of the standards National Democrats have set for reviewing contributions from convicted felons.
Not only has the DCCC kept contributions from felons who have been found guilty in a court of law, but they have justified doing so by taking the position that only contributions received during the current election cycle are subject to review. FEC reports show convicted felon and former North Carolina Democrat Rep. Frank Ballance donated $29,500 to the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) during the 2004 election cycle.
During that same cycle, the DCCC also accepted $5,000 in contributions from crooked Chicago attorney and Democrat fundraiser Joseph A. Cari, Jr., who pled guilty to extortion charges in a kickback scheme involving high-ranking Illinois state officials. (Chicago Tribune, 9/16/05)
The DCCC has indicated they have no intention to return these funds because “we do not believe that under the current DCCC leadership we have taken contributions that are inappropriate.” (Roll Call, 10/19/05) The bottom line is that ethics is yet another non-issue where National Democrat attempts to gain traction have grown trite.
And yet everything that I said remains true.
I’m just a little disgusted with ALL politicians at the moment.
With the all the recent scandals plus the war in Iraq, Democrats really have a golden opportunity to make some ground on the Republicans, but I just don’t see them getting their act together anytime soon. The rest of the world must think we are a bunch of idiots.
Yup, Dems have totally failed to make hay out of this, in part because of the plank/splinter problem, or in part because of apparently incompetence. The DCCC better get to work — we’ve got an election this year.
Corruption is hardly the exclusive perview of the GOP. (Remember James Traficant?) The argument can be made that the lobbying profession is legal bribery. Trade associations from industries as diverse as the dairy industry to the landscaping industry each seek passage of its own agenda. Having personally witnessed the process as a former staff member on Capitol Hill, I can tell you that there are members of both parties who walk on the edge of the current ethics laws.
Having said this, formal bribery is wrong, no matter who is involved. Wrong is wrong, and the process shouldn’t (but always will ) be politicized.
Corruption is hardly the exclusive perview of the GOP.
I can’t see why anybody would claim otherwise.
[…] Via Waldo Jaquith, we know that Attorney General Elect McDonnell can be deeply connected to Abramoff money. […]
What’s going on with “Co-conspirator #1” and “Co-conspirator #2”; aka Brent Wilkes and Mitchell Wade? Any word on their indictments, and any conjecture on whether they will flip against Goode and others? If those two guys were to sing like Abramoff, that would about wrap it up for this Republican Congress.
There’s every reason to think that they’ll spill their guts — they both pleaded guilty. But these things, unfortunately, take months — the feds seem to be very meticulous about this sort of thing.
If the Democratic Party in Virginia is smart and serious about public corruption, they should formally request federal investigation of Bob McDonnell.
I believe the date has passed by which the Republican State Leadership committee, the 527 that funded the ‘child molester’ smear ad against Deeds, had to disclose its donors to the IRS. That information needs to be made public as soon as possible.
When the same thing happened in the early Democratic presidential primary season in 2003-4, the ‘Americans for Jobs’ donors were known within ten days after the IRS filing — Gephardt unions, Kerry fundraisers, massive chunks from the Yankees TV network (Gep supporter), and S. Daniel Abraham, (for reasons best known to himself).
However, that was a national story. The AP and others are not likely to be exploring this small corner of the giant GOP slush fund network, so the DPVA and Virginia political reporters had better be…
I believe the date has passed by which the Republican State Leadership committee, the 527 that funded the ‘child molester’ smear ad against Deeds, had to disclose its donors to the IRS. That information needs to be made public as soon as possible.
I wish I knew how that data became public. If such disclosures are provided on the IRS’ website, I can’t find where. I guess that’s why I’m not a reporter. :)
Ya know, Commonwealth Conservative hasn’t mentioned anything about Jack Abramoff. You’d think a prosecutor would, at the very least, have a professional interest in the case. I guess not.
Eh, I figure you have to be living in a hole not to know about Abramoff. :) I don’t know that Chad would be breaking any new ground in writing about the case. Plus, that’s national stuff — he tends to write more about local matters.
As Waldo notes, I don’t spend much time discussing national issues, and when I do, I mostly do it over at Redstate.com (where certain of my colleagues are more informed on this story).
Perhaps I should have more of a professional interest in the case, but frankly, I haven’t followed the Abramoff story very closely. I’ve been too busy lately, I guess.
That said, I did read a highly critical article in National Review more than a year ago. I decided at that point that Abramoff was a piece of garbage and a stain on my party, and anyone who had anything to do with him would deserve what they get.
And that includes McDonnell, I suppose, though I’d be very surprised if he did anything unethical himself.
Finally, while I haven’t mentioned this particular story, I have been on the record as saying that the GOP is digging their own grave with this unethical behavior (very similar to what we saw from the Dems late in their run as a majority party), and it might take a 1994-style Democratic takeover for these guys to wake up. And if the Republicans lose their majority status because of scandal and a lack of ethics, I won’t shed a single tear.
Getting hammered at the ballot box might be the best thing to happen to the party. Of course, the Democratic Party is in such disarray that I don’t sense any ability for them to mount any serious opposition. If Nancy Pelosi and Howard Dean are the best the Dems have to offer, GOP is safely ensconced as the majority party.
Rahm Emmanuel, on the other hand….
I decided at that point that Abramoff was a piece of garbage and a stain on my party, and anyone who had anything to do with him would deserve what they get.
Yay. More of that, please. :)
Of course, the Democratic Party is in such disarray that I don’t sense any ability for them to mount any serious opposition.
The Democratic Party seems wholly unable to make any headway, even as the scandal rages on. Washington Republicans may bury themselves, but that’s not a strategy. As James Carville says, when your opponent is drowning, throw him an anvil.
The Democratic Party seems wholly unable to make any headway, even as the scandal rages on. Washington Republicans may bury themselves, but that’s not a strategy. As James Carville says, when your opponent is drowning, throw him an anvil.
True, true. Both parties seem to be clueless.
Funny you mention Carville, because I’m in the process of watching “The War Room,” that documentary about Carville, Stephanopolous, and the Clinton campaign in 1992. (Well, actually, I’m in the process of watching a football game right now; my wife and I started watching The War Room last night, until she fell asleep. I imagine we’ll finish it tomorrow.)
Anyway, I love these campaign documentaries, and this one is entertaining so far. Carville is hilarious…and brilliant. I wish he were a Republican.