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Bush, others dump Abramoff donations
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 09:11 For their part, House Democrats have signaled they intend to make ethics an
element in their drive to gain a majority in next fall's elections.
"It's more important for these Republicans to come clean with the American
people about ....what (they) did for Jack Abramoff and his special interest
friends in return for those campaign contributions," said Sarah Feinberg, a
spokeswoman at the House Democratic campaign organization.
Federal prosecutors, armed with subpoena power and a newly cooperative
witness, want answers to similar questions, according to the guilty plea that
Abramoff entered on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Washington.
In a section of court papers headed "corruption of public officials,"
Abramoff acknowledged he had worked to provide "things of value to public
officials in exchange for a series of official acts and influence. ..."
A courtroom sketch shows Jack Abramoff,
center, standing before U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, far left, at the
federal justice building in Miami where he plead quilty to two of six
counts of wire fraud and mail fraud stemming from the 2000 purchase of
SunCruz Casinos Wednesday, Jan. 4,
2006.[AP] | Among others, the material refers to
Rep. Bob Ney, and his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, as well as to Tony Rudy,
who was a top aide to DeLay at the time of the events described in the papers.
DeLay and Ney, who have both declared their innocence of wrongdoing,
announced separately during the day they would give to charity money they
received as campaign donations from Abramoff or his clients.
Republicans scrambled to distance themselves from Abramoff on the day the
lobbyist pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Miami to conspiracy and wire
fraud stemming from his 2000 purchase of SunCruz, a gambling boat fleet.
Court papers say Ney placed a statement related to SunCruz, drafted by
Abramoff's partner, Michael Scanlon, in the Congressional Record. The statement,
the court papers say, was calculated to pressure the owner of SunCruz to sell on
terms favorable to Abramoff.
People familiar with the investigation said federal investigators are
interested in questioning Abramoff about his dealings with DeLay and Ney as well
as other lawmakers and officials. Those include Rep. John Doolittle, Rudy and
Sen. Conrad Burns, as well as former deputy Interior Secretary Stephen Griles
and former top Bush administration contract officer David Safavian, according to
the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Abramoff's information
is likely to be submitted to a federal grand jury.
The money being returned paled in comparison to the totals raised.
Officials said the president's re-election campaign would donate $6,000 to
charity. The money represented donations from Abramoff, his wife and the Saginaw
Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan.
The president's campaign raised more than $300 million in all for the 2004
campaign.
Abramoff raised $100,000 or more, but a spokeswoman at the Republican
National Committee said that would be kept apart from the $6,000 being given to
the American Heart Association.
"At this point, there is nothing to indicate that contributions from those
individual donors represents anything other than enthusiastic support for the
BC-04 re-election campaign," said Tracey Schmitt.
Blunt's spokeswoman, Taylor, said the lawmaker's political action committee,
the Rely On Your Beliefs Fund, would donate to charity $8,500 in contributions
it received from Abramoff between 1999 and 2003.
An aide to DeLay, Shannon Flaherty, said the Texan would give to charities in
his suburban Houston district the $15,000 his campaign committee had received
from Abramoff and his wife from 1995 through 2003.
Records show that Abramoff, his wife and lobbying clients also contributed
more than $40,000 to a charity and other political fundraising groups founded by
DeLay.
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