Political Cortex: Exonerating Abramoff Democrats

Exonerating Abramoff Democrats

By Tom Ball
01/11/2006 10:27:43 AM EST

"Supreme Court confirmation hearings are under way for Judge Samuel Alito. It's pretty interesting. Democrats want to know his position on privacy. Republicans want to know his position on prison terms for bribery."

-- Jay Leno 01/10/06

At least in terms of personal donations, Republican Jack Abramoff was all Republican, All the time!

Of the $261,918 that Jack Abramoff has donated to political causes/campaigns over the years, $172,933 has gone to various Republican political candidates while the remainder ($88,985) went to special interests such as "Americans for a Republican Majority PAC", "Keep our Majority", and the "Republican Majority Fund". Zero dollars of his personal funds went to Democrats. (See below for a full list of Donations made by Abramoff and/or his wife)

The Republican "Culture of Corruption" is alive and well. And to help fight that self-inflicted stigma, Republicans have latched on to an extensive list of contributions made to both Republicans and Democrats by various Indian tribes (See the list of these tribes below). GOP operatives argue that a contribution from one of these tribes is to be translated as an 'Abramoff-linked' contribution. It is the basis by which they falsely claim Abramoff to be an "equal money dispenser".

They present no direct evidence, to my knowledge, that any Democrat has accepted any funds known to be 'directed' to them by Jack Abramoff or that any of the Democratic candidate's camps were aware of such arrangements.

That is why Howard Dean was absolutely correct when he said:

"There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican.
"This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true."
"Senator Byron Dorgan and some others took money from Indian tribes. They're not agents of Jack Abramoff. There's no evidence that I've seen that Jack Abramoff directed any contributions to Democrats."

What we do know is that there are a set of emails released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during hearings which offer evidence that Abramoff attempted to 'direct' the tribes to donate funds to specific lawmakers.

What we don't know is whether the tribes followed those directives and, more importantly, whether the lawmakers were each aware and accepting of the nature of those contributions.

In fact, the media has been so complicit in promoting the Republicans' claims of a 'non-partisan' scandal that they have carelessly, even negligently included 'long-standing' candidate-tribe relationships having nothing to do with Abramoff. For instance:

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, received $13,600 from three Indian tribes -- the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Saginaw Chippewa Indians -- during the 2000 through 2006 election cycles.
Matthew Montekio, Pallone's campaign manager, said Thursday that the congressman "has a long-standing direct relationship with these Indian tribes through his work on Indian health care and environmental issues," and would be keeping the money.
"He does not know Jack Abramoff, nor has he received any contributions from Abramoff," Montekio added.

Others include, but are not limited to:

Rep. Robert Menendez, D-Hoboken: received $1,000 apiece in 2004 from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe, according to federal campaign records. Menendez spokesman Matt Miller said the donations were made during a fundraiser and nobody in the congressman's office has had any dealings with Abramoff. Miller said Menendez is keeping the money.

Sen. Jon Corzine's New Jersey United, Leadership Political Action Committee: received $1,000 from the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians in 2004, and $4,000 from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian tribe in 2004. Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said the governor-elect would be keeping the money since he does not know Abramoff. "Abramoff, his wife or his firm had nothing to do with these two contributions from tribes that were swindled by this corrupt, power-hungry lobbyist," Coley said.

The media has also claimed involvement of Democrats who didn't even receive contributions from the Tribes.

Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Bay St. Louis, has angrily denied any connection with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of a scandal involving millions of dollars spent to influence members of Congress.
Taylor's re-election campaign accepted $2,250 in contributions from one of Abramoff's clients, the Mississippi Band of the Choctaw Indians, Gannett News Service reported earlier this week.
"Any attempt to link me to (Abramoff) or his sleazy lobbying organization or the politicians that he apparently controls is misguided and untruthful," Taylor said in a statement issued late Thursday.
[...]
Taylor said that the $2,250 was given to his campaign by Phillip Martin, tribal chief of the Mississippi Choctaws, in three payments made in 2000 and 2001.
"These donations... were made personally by Chief Martin and not on behalf of the Choctaw tribe or anyone else," he said.

In addition, at least two Democrats claim that the alleged 'Abramoff-tainted' funds are staying put since the funds did not come from Abramoff directly, implying that the dealings between Abramoff and the Tribes is a separate issue from the dealings between the tribes and the candidates. And, that no proof exists that it was Abramoff's efforts that resulted in these contributions.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has received $47,000 from Abramoff associates and Indian tribes he represented and does not plan to give it away.
Sen. Patty Murray's office said the Washington state Democrat, who accepted $55,000 from the lobbyist, also doesn't plan to return any of the money because it did not come from Abramoff directly.
Thomas E. Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said he doesn't think there's any clear-cut answer to the question of whether politicians tainted by Abramoff money should get rid of it.
"Returning the funds or contributing them to charity will do nothing whatsoever for those politicians being investigated by the Justice Department for bribery," Mann said.

Reid noted that both he and fellow Nevada Senator John Ensign (R) "each have a long record of opposing the type of expansion of Indian gaming proposed by the Jena Band," and thus, their votes to oppose a nearby casino (allegedly the reason the tribe made the contribution) was completely within their voting character and was not motivated by campaign donations.

The media, and others are also ignoring the fact that Native Americans are a traditional constituency of the contemporary Democratic Party and, as such, tend to contribute to Democrats more than Republicans.

For example, this passage, as reported by Bloomberg is telling:

"Abramoff's tribal clients continued to give money to Democrats even after he began representing them, although in smaller percentages than in the past."

This means that the Tribes were actually donating MORE (in percentage terms) to Democrats BEFORE Abramoff began allegedly directing funds through them.

And even if Abramoff's Indian clients were somehow his legitimate 'agents', they would still be particular to the political right as these tribes were "the only ones among the top 10 tribal donors in the US to donate more money to Republicans than Democrats."

To boot, "Abramoff's big connections were with the Republicans," according to Larry Noble, the former top lawyer for the Federal Election Commission and current director of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics. The top-three most mentioned beneficiaries of Abramoff's activity are Ohio Republican Robert Ney (Known as "Representative No. 1"), Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana), and Representative Tom Delay (R-TX).

This doesn't sound like a nonpartisan issue to me.

Nevertheless, in the end, the lawmakers that are really going to pay (the American people already have) are the one or two dozen that Abramoff himself implicates. When that happens, then we'll see whether Jack Abramoff was truly an "equal money dispenser" as Bush claims, or a critical cog in the K-Street/Republican 'Culture of Corruption'.

List of Tribes who dealt with Jack Abramoff and who also donated to at least one Democrat: Source: CapitalEye.org

* Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians
* Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
* Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana
* Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana
* Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians
* Pueblo of Sandia
* Pueblo of Santa Clara
* Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe
* Tigua Indian Reservation

List of Personal Political Donations Made by either Jack Abramoff or his wife Pamela: Source: Capitaleye.org

Recipient :: Total :: Election Cycle
Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ) :: ($1,000) :: 2006
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $8,000 :: 2004
Republican Majority Fund, Leadership PAC of Don Nickles (R-Okla) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Rich PAC, Leadership PAC of Richard Pombo (R-Calif) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Arlen Specter (R-Pa) :: $4,000 :: 2004
George W. Bush (R) :: $4,000 :: 2004
John Ensign (R-Nev) :: $4,000 :: 2004
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga) :: $4,000 :: 2004
Keep Our Majority PAC, Leadership PAC of Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) :: $2,500 :: 2004
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Chris Cannon (R-Utah) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Mark Foley (R-Fla) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Leadership PAC 2004, Leadership PAC of Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Richard Pombo (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Senate Victory Fund, Leadership PAC of Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Christopher S. 'Kit' Bond (R-Mo) :: $1,500 :: 2004
Curt Weldon (R-Pa) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Doug Ose (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Ernest J. Istook (R-Okla) :: $1,000 :: 2004
George R. Nethercutt Jr. (R-Wash) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Jim Bunning (R-Ky) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Tom Feeney (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $10,000 :: 2002
Friends of the Big Sky, Leadership PAC of Conrad Burns (R-Mont) :: $5,000 :: 2002
Republican Party of New Jersey :: $5,000 :: 2002
Senate Victory Fund, Leadership PAC of Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $5,000 :: 2002
Dan Burton (R-Ind) :: $3,000 :: 2002
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $3,000 :: 2002
Suzanne Terrell (R-La) :: $3,000 :: 2002
American Liberty PAC, Leadership PAC of Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $2,500 :: 2002
Rob Simmons (R-Conn) :: $2,250 :: 2002
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. (R-Miss) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Connie Morella (R-Md) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore) :: $2,000 :: 2002
James M. Inhofe (R-Okla) :: $2,000 :: 2002
James M. Talent (R-Mo) :: $2,000 :: 2002
John T. Doolittle (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2002
John Thune (R-SD) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Bob Smith (R-Fla) :: $1,240 :: 2002
Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $1,000 :: 2002
C. L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Carolyn W. Grant (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Heather Wilson (R-NM) :: $1,000 :: 2002
J. Randy Forbes (R-Va) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Jack Kingston (R-Ga) :: $1,000 :: 2002
James V. Hansen (R-Utah) :: $1,000 :: 2002
John Cornyn (R-Texas) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Battle Born PAC, Leadership PAC of John Ensign (R-Nev) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Kimo Kaloi (R-Hawaii) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ric Keller (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Dave Camp (R-Mich) :: $500 :: 2002
Phil Gingrey (R-Ga) :: $500 :: 2002
Tom Young (R-Ala) :: $500 :: 2002
Bill Janklow (R-SD) :: $250 :: 2002
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $6,500 :: 2000
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $4,000 :: 2000
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $4,000 :: 2000
Fund for a Free Market America, Leadership PAC of Phil Crane (R-Ill) :: $2,750 :: 2000
Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Craig Thomas (R-Wyo) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Dan Burton (R-Ind) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $2,000 :: 2000
George W. Bush (R) :: $2,000 :: 2000
John Ashcroft (R-Mo) :: $2,000 :: 2000
John T. Doolittle (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Spencer Abraham (R-Mich) :: $2,000 :: 2000
William L. Gormley (R-NJ) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Bill McCollum (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Bill Redmond (R-NM) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Bob Riley (R-Ala) :: $1,000 :: 2000
C. L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Claude B. Hutchison Jr. (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Francis E. Flotron (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2000
George Allen (R-Va) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Team PAC, Leadership PAC of J. D. Hayworth (R-Ariz) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Mike Enzi (R-Wyo) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Paul Ryan (R-Wis) :: $949 :: 2000
Bob Smith (R-Fla) :: $920 :: 2000
Joe Pitts (R-Pa) :: $894 :: 2000
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) :: $750 :: 2000
Bob Ehrlich (R-Md) :: $500 :: 2000
Charles R. Gerow (R-Pa) :: $500 :: 2000
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. (R-Miss) :: $500 :: 2000
Ed Royce (R-Calif) :: $500 :: 2000
Elia Vincent Pirozzi (R-Calif) :: $500 :: 2000
Jerry Weller (R-Ill) :: $500 :: 2000
Mark Emerson (R-Utah) :: $500 :: 2000
Tom Davis (R-Va) :: $500 :: 2000
Van Hilleary (R-Tenn) :: $500 :: 2000
Rick A. Lazio (R-NY) :: $250 :: 2000
Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ) :: ($1,000) :: 2006
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $8,000 :: 2004
Republican Majority Fund, Leadership PAC of Don Nickles (R-Okla) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Rich PAC, Leadership PAC of Richard Pombo (R-Calif) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $5,000 :: 2004
Arlen Specter (R-Pa) :: $4,000 :: 2004
George W. Bush (R) :: $4,000 :: 2004
John Ensign (R-Nev) :: $4,000 :: 2004
Johnny Isakson (R-Ga) :: $4,000 :: 2004
Keep Our Majority PAC, Leadership PAC of Dennis Hastert (R-Ill) :: $2,500 :: 2004
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Chris Cannon (R-Utah) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Mark Foley (R-Fla) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Leadership PAC 2004, Leadership PAC of Michael G. Oxley (R-Ohio) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Richard Pombo (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Senate Victory Fund, Leadership PAC of Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $2,000 :: 2004
Christopher S. 'Kit' Bond (R-Mo) :: $1,500 :: 2004
Curt Weldon (R-Pa) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Doug Ose (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Ernest J. Istook (R-Okla) :: $1,000 :: 2004
George R. Nethercutt Jr. (R-Wash) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Jim Bunning (R-Ky) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Richard C. Shelby (R-Ala) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Tom Feeney (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2004
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $10,000 :: 2002
Friends of the Big Sky, Leadership PAC of Conrad Burns (R-Mont) :: $5,000 :: 2002
Republican Party of New Jersey :: $5,000 :: 2002
Senate Victory Fund, Leadership PAC of Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $5,000 :: 2002
Dan Burton (R-Ind) :: $3,000 :: 2002
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $3,000 :: 2002
Suzanne Terrell (R-La) :: $3,000 :: 2002
American Liberty PAC, Leadership PAC of Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $2,500 :: 2002
Rob Simmons (R-Conn) :: $2,250 :: 2002
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. (R-Miss) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Connie Morella (R-Md) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Gordon H. Smith (R-Ore) :: $2,000 :: 2002
James M. Inhofe (R-Okla) :: $2,000 :: 2002
James M. Talent (R-Mo) :: $2,000 :: 2002
John T. Doolittle (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2002
John Thune (R-SD) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $2,000 :: 2002
Bob Smith (R-Fla) :: $1,240 :: 2002
Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $1,000 :: 2002
C. L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Carolyn W. Grant (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Frank A. LoBiondo (R-NJ) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Heather Wilson (R-NM) :: $1,000 :: 2002
J. Randy Forbes (R-Va) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Jack Kingston (R-Ga) :: $1,000 :: 2002
James V. Hansen (R-Utah) :: $1,000 :: 2002
John Cornyn (R-Texas) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Battle Born PAC, Leadership PAC of John Ensign (R-Nev) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Kimo Kaloi (R-Hawaii) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Mike Ferguson (R-NJ) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ric Keller (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Thad Cochran (R-Miss) :: $1,000 :: 2002
Dave Camp (R-Mich) :: $500 :: 2002
Phil Gingrey (R-Ga) :: $500 :: 2002
Tom Young (R-Ala) :: $500 :: 2002
Bill Janklow (R-SD) :: $250 :: 2002
Rely on Your Beliefs, Leadership PAC of Roy Blunt (R-Mo) :: $6,500 :: 2000
Americans for a Republican Majority, Leadership PAC of Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $4,000 :: 2000
Tom DeLay (R-Texas) :: $4,000 :: 2000
Fund for a Free Market America, Leadership PAC of Phil Crane (R-Ill) :: $2,750 :: 2000
Bob Ney (R-Ohio) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Craig Thomas (R-Wyo) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Dan Burton (R-Ind) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Eric Cantor (R-Va) :: $2,000 :: 2000
George W. Bush (R) :: $2,000 :: 2000
John Ashcroft (R-Mo) :: $2,000 :: 2000
John T. Doolittle (R-Calif) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Spencer Abraham (R-Mich) :: $2,000 :: 2000
William L. Gormley (R-NJ) :: $2,000 :: 2000
Bill McCollum (R-Fla) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Bill Redmond (R-NM) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Bob Riley (R-Ala) :: $1,000 :: 2000
C. L. "Butch" Otter (R-Idaho) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Claude B. Hutchison Jr. (R-Calif) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Denny Rehberg (R-Mont) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Francis E. Flotron (R-Mo) :: $1,000 :: 2000
George Allen (R-Va) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Team PAC, Leadership PAC of J. D. Hayworth (R-Ariz) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Mike Enzi (R-Wyo) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Walter B. Jones Jr. (R-NC) :: $1,000 :: 2000
Paul Ryan (R-Wis) :: $949 :: 2000
Bob Smith (R-Fla) :: $920 :: 2000
Joe Pitts (R-Pa) :: $894 :: 2000
Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) :: $750 :: 2000
Bob Ehrlich (R-Md) :: $500 :: 2000
Charles R. Gerow (R-Pa) :: $500 :: 2000
Charles W. "Chip" Pickering Jr. (R-Miss) :: $500 :: 2000
Ed Royce (R-Calif) :: $500 :: 2000
Elia Vincent Pirozzi (R-Calif) :: $500 :: 2000
Jerry Weller (R-Ill) :: $500 :: 2000
Mark Emerson (R-Utah) :: $500 :: 2000
Tom Davis (R-Va) :: $500 :: 2000
Van Hilleary (R-Tenn) :: $500 :: 2000
Rick A. Lazio (R-NY) :: $250 :: 2000

: Jack Abramoff, Democrats

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< Religious Extremism is a Matter of Perspective | Religious Freedom, the Religious Right, and the Supreme Court >

Exonerating Abramoff Democrats | 21 comments (21 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

The next question that should be asked is... (none / 0)

So who's correct?

[This part of the post was edited out when I was stonewalled by the difficulty of finding the required data. So if you can fill in the blanks below, or lead me to a source that provides such data, please do so!]

The answer, as you might have guessed, isn't as clear as many would like. But there is a way to increase the clarity: Research to whom the tribes contributed BEFORE Abramoff stepped into the picture and compare that with the list of recipients from tribe contributions when Abramoff was giving his 'directives'. That won't clear the air completely, but it certainly might offer some context and perhaps an insight or two as to who has benefited from the Abramoff presence.

So who did these tribes contribute to prior to Abramoff?

Of the 61 Democrats that received funds from the Tribes at issue during the Abramoff years (1999-2005), ___ had been receiving Indian gaming money and/or Native American Tribe money prior to the Abramoff entrance, making the allegation of his involvement in directing funds to those Dems a bit more dubious. It would provide precedentThere is precedent here for receiving and no proof that Abramoff was the catalyst for the distribution of these funds.

Of course that does not implicate those without prior tribe contributions - some of them weren't even in office prior to Abramoff's appearance on the scene - it simply means that there are some who show some precedent for tribe contributions sans Abramoff.

Please share any insights.

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 01/11/2006 10:44:17 AM EST

Excellent post, Tom (none / 0)

While traveling and not as in touch with the blogosphere, I spent more time with, for example, USA Today and CNN than usual, and I was paying careful attention to how the "but Democrats did it too" angle was being played. There was a tendency, unsurprisingly, to want to play the "I guess they're all corrupt" and/or "just a few bad apples on both sides" angle, since this followed naturally from their usual "he said, she said" methods of reporting. But then this was almost always immediately undercut by the very basic facts on the ground. Needless to say, the efforts of Dr. Dean (and yourself) to lay out the true onesidedness of the Abramoff connection is critical, especially in connection with the Democrats' election year theme of "the culture of corruption."

-- Stu

by sdf on 01/11/2006 11:32:30 AM EST

: Thanks Stu (none / 0)

The ongoing problem is that the political right has so cowed the media into presenting a supposedly 'balanced' picture, that the media has necessarily abandoned truth in the process.
My question is, how can the truth be biased?
Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 01/11/2006 02:00:07 PM EST

[ Parent ]

What a stellar round-up (none / 0)

I'm going to save this and use it and send it for every time I get in a discussion when the other party says, "Democrats do it too."

A terrific slap-down, thanks.

by SusanG on 01/11/2006 12:34:28 PM EST

: Thanks Susan (none / 0)

Hopefully, the ULTIMATE slapdown will be by Abramoff himself. As someone noted before, Rawstory had an article up yesterday with excerpts from a supposedly "soon-to-be-released" NYTimes article that said Abramoff will name 20 lawmakers.
Can't wait to get my hands on that list.
Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 01/11/2006 02:26:39 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Invaluable (none / 0)

You can bet a whole lot of people will be getting links to this one in their email!

Thanks, Tom.

by Devilstower on 01/11/2006 01:51:39 PM EST

I'm reprinting a comment made (none / 0)

by Kagro X over at the DKos cross-post because it brings home a key point that adds some credence to the claim that Dem's receipt of funds from the tribes was on the level:

From Kagro X:

Interesting list. (4.00 / 2)

Not the one of Republicans who received direct donations from Abramoff, but the list of Democrats who received money from what are being described as Abramoff clients.

Let's take a look at that list:

Pallone, Menendez, Corzine... all from New Jersey. Home of the Atlantic City Casinos.

Reid... from Nevada. Home of the Las Vegas casinos.

Taylor... from Mississipi. Home of the Choctaw's casinos.

Murray... from Washington. Home of some 25 tribal casinos.

What an interesting list!

In New Jersey, the Congressional delegation typically votes against the expansion of Indian gaming, because tribal casinos compete with a major jobs center -- the casinos at Atlantic City.

In Nevada, I assume it's much the same.

The game in Mississippi, we already know about. Abramoff used Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition mailing list to drum up anti-gambling fever among fundamentalist Christians (using Indian casino money) so that legislators would reject competing tribal bids for recognition and casino approval.

Wouldn't be surprised if it was much the same in Washington state -- that is, local politicians protecting local Indian gaming by putting the brakes on the proposed casinos of nearby tribes.

All of which positions are essentially supposed to be job protection positions. But for the tribes who contributed to these legislators, it couldn't matter less why these legislators voted the way they voted. They only care that they did it. And because they supported the tribal position, the tribes supported them with campaign contributions.

That's what they call "politics." And it's how it's said to create "strange bedfellows."

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 01/11/2006 02:54:19 PM EST

: Old Nevada Theme (none / 1)

There is an unwritten rule in Nevada politics: Thou Shalt NOT vote for any expansion of gaming (note: Our establishments are for "Gaming" anyone else's are "gambling.) outside the boundaries of Nevada--or maybe a little for New Jersey operations that have Nevada ties. I can't even understand why a lobbyist with an IQ to match his or her shoe size would even think a member of Nevada's congressional delegation would consider voting against our Great Unwritten Rule.
by greatbasin2 on 01/12/2006 02:22:15 AM EST

[ Parent ]

I agree that this is a primarily Repub scandal AND by their own design. I'm also disgusted by their spin (everyone's doing it). I doubt it'll work in the long run.

I do think, however, that there are some very crooked Dems out there, as well, and a few of them might be caught up in this scandal. I suspect that because of an email in the Senate exhibits (as you mentioned in the piece):

Boulanger sent an email to Chris Petras (a tribal rep) which mentioned "3 word docs (House Leadership, Republican and Democratic contribution requests)." [ See Indian Affairs Exhibits, Released Nov. 17, 2005, (pdf) page 50].

There may be more: I'm not sure because I've been through only 500-600 pages of the exhibits, AND the committee blacked out a bunch of names throughout the exhibits.

I'm glad that you uploaded the list and that people (esp. journalists) will get the link.

by D Cupples on 01/11/2006 03:23:08 PM EST

Thanks DC! (none / 0)

And thanks very much for that link -- and you've been through 500-600 pages???

What have you learned? I didn't find anything more than Abramoff and Co suggesting that the tribes make donations, but I didn't see anything that made me believe that any Dems knew about such arrangements, but I haven't looked at that much of the document.

Any insights?

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 01/11/2006 08:54:57 PM EST

[ Parent ]

I'm not sure, Tom (none / 1)

I'm making an exel spread sheet of names mentioned in the exhibits plus summaries of the emails/docs that seem important.

Seriously, the ubiquitous blacked-out names are making this difficult.

At this point only, my impressions are as follows. Gale Norton should come into the cross-hairs (and her group CREA). Italia Federici always had her hand out to Abramoff and seemed to have influence on Griles and maybe Norton. Some of their emails read like this: "Jack, darling, I ran out of money," says italia; "No sweat, I'll funnel $50K in Coushatta dollars--btw, can you get Griles to do such and such?"

I think DeLay will get hit, if only because of the Scotland trip. Maybe some of his former aides will roll over on him, too. He's not concretely mentioned, and I've seen no emails to or from him (UNLESS his name has been blacked out].

I think Roy Blunt is involved, as are Hastert and Ney.

I doubt that Bush was involved with the Indian stuff, because he went after casinos back in the '90s in Texas. He's pretty consistent, and he kind of made Cornyn join the posse as TX-AG. I don't know if Cornyn was involved unethically with Abramoff or just used. Other stuff might get unearthed, though.

I can't wait to get through the last few hundred pages, but I'm balancing that project with studying for the Bar exam (Feb)--very time consuming.

Deb

by D Cupples on 01/12/2006 06:11:13 PM EST

[ Parent ]

: yeah... (none / 0)

one major problem I had with the documents is that, although they are pdf, which can be searched if created from a text file, these online documents are merely images of the paper documents. Thus, you can not do a text search -- something that slows the research process imeasurably.
Of course there is software that can help turn the images to text documents, but it is still incredibly time consuming. I know. I did it with the Luntz documents (a resource which I am about to migrate over to the Cortex.
Either way, thanks for all your hard work and please keep us posted!
Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 01/13/2006 10:56:53 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Superior post on this subject. (none / 0)

Great work, Tom.

You and Howard Dean are correct. This is a Repbulican bribery scandal.

The Democrats who received minimal contributions from tribes did not receive "pay for play." That, after all, was not the plan. That was part of the Abramoff cover. Have tribes hit the Committees to make the contributions look "fair," if not balanced, and there might be a way to for him to do CYA if necessary.

The Republicans cannot have this both ways. They spent a decade setting up K street and the industry to be a Republican-only system. The lobbyists, the power players, the controllers, the clued-in, the bribers, the receivers, and the power-mongers were Republican. DeLay fixed it so that Democrats couldn't be hired and were turned out of the deal-making. So if it was of Republicans, by Republicans, and for Republicans, it was not for Democrats.

He was proud of it. It was Abramoff's modus operandi. The Republicans were proud of it. It became the machine's stock in trade. And they simply can't claim success at this and then say the Democrats "did it, too." They delighted in their success in preventing Democrats from doing it.
It's clear. Shouldn't even be a question or a suggestion in the media, or by Mehlman, or any other talking head, unless, of course, a brain stem is missing.

Oh, wait, . . .

Taxes shall be levied according to ability to pay. That is the only American principle. FDR

by btyarbro on 01/12/2006 06:12:26 PM EST

I do agree with you and Tom and Dean (none / 1)

that this is a 90-plus percent repub scandal and by their own design.

If Dean keeps saying "not one" Dem was involved, all it'll take to prove him wrong is finding one Dem who traded a vote or support letter for a campaign donation.

Given the Senate Committee exhibits, I think it's possible that at least one (maybe 2 or 3) Dems (or DINOs) jumped into bed with Abramoff on the Indian Casino issues--esp. since Jack switched positions on the Jenas. Partisan as Abramoff is, he may serve up a Dem or 2 if he can. And whose to say he's above false testimony?

We Cortexans would grasp the distinction between 100 involved Repubs versus 2 involved Dems, but the general public might not appreciate it. They might simply belive that Dean was wrong all along, esp. given that the media is already covering the issue as though it's bipartisan.

I guess we'll find out in time.

by D Cupples on 01/12/2006 11:23:55 PM EST

[ Parent ]

: I agree with you completely, DC (none / 0)

And that is why I'm gritting my teeth to see how this plays out.
Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 01/13/2006 11:02:39 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Heh! (none / 0)

You forgot about the missing brainstem!

And excellent points made. Strangely, I haven't seen a lot of parallel thinking outside the blogosphere. Have you seen a lot of MSM material that points to the K-Street Republican Revolution?

Guess I could do a Google Search...;)

Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic

by Tom Ball on 01/13/2006 11:00:44 PM EST

[ Parent ]

Tom, I figured you might get a kick (none / 1)

out of my latest posting.

by D Cupples on 01/13/2006 01:50:52 AM EST

: Yeah baby! (none / 0)

A sweet kick. Thank you very much. It even answered a question I asked above regarding the MSM's recognition of the K-Street/Repuglinut ties.
So double thanks!
Political Cortex -- Brain Food for the Body Politic
by Tom Ball on 01/13/2006 11:15:23 PM EST

[ Parent ]

chfhj (none / 0)

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