Straughn
10-05-2006, 02:43
Well, Abramoff definitely arranged a few dominoes than the republicans would have liked, and there's a new rush of folks just itchin' to get rid of, as John Shadegg so eloquently put it, taint.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Lobbyist_Fraud_Money.html
Tuesday, May 9, 2006 ยท Last updated 5:08 p.m. PT
Bush, others ditch donations from lobbyist
By DAVID HAMMER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- President Bush and several other Republican officials have begun shedding campaign donations from former House aide and lobbyist Neil Volz, the latest person to plead guilty in a widening lobbying scandal.
Volz, who pleaded guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy to corrupt his former boss, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has given $26,035 to Republican political campaigns and committees since 2002, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Among the donations was $2,000 to Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Republican National Committee spokesman Aaron McLear said Tuesday the remnants of the campaign organization would give the money to a charity.
Volz was Ney's chief of staff until early 2002, when he went to work for the lobbying team led by Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January in the influence-peddling scheme.
Ney, whose campaign and political committees received $3,735 from Volz, announced Tuesday that the money would be donated to a charity.
Eight other Republican lawmakers received $1,000 each from Volz.
One of them, Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, plans to donate that amount to the Salvation Army, according to spokeswoman Deb Setliff.
One congressman who declined to give up the donations was Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose political action committee got $300 from Volz.
"The contribution was legally donated and publicly disclosed," said Boehner spokesman Don Seymour.
Boehner has similarly declined to give up more than $30,000 he got from Abramoff's Indian tribe clients, saying his own work on tribal issues justified the contributions.
---
This issue is best put into perspective, so here's some ...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/09/MNG8BIO3DQ1.DTL
Congressman's ex-aide pleads guilty to conspiracy
Former Ney staffer faces prison in Abramoff corruption case
Philip Shenon, New York Times
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Washington -- A former top aide to Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff to corrupt public officials.
In court papers, the former aide, Neil Volz, said gifts were "corruptly offered to and accepted by" Ney, including a 2002 trip to Scotland by private jet that included rounds of golf at the fabled course at St. Andrews.
The plea agreement made clear that Ney, a six-term House member who faces a re-election fight this year because of his ties to Abramoff, remains a central focus of the Justice Department's influence-peddling investigation.
Volz, 35, who was Ney's chief of staff from 1998 to 2002, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine as a result of his guilty plea to one count of criminal conspiracy. Abramoff, who was once among the most powerful Republican lobbyists in Washington and who recruited Volz to join his lobbying firm in 2002, pleaded guilty to broader corruption charges in January. Ney was not identified by name in Volz's plea agreement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.
But lawyers for Ney acknowledged that he was the House member identified in the plea agreement as "Representative #1." He is accused with other members of his staff of accepting gifts from Abramoff's lobbying firm, including the trip to Scotland and trips to New Orleans and the 2003 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., as well as free meals and drinks at Washington restaurants and use of Abramoff's box suites at the MCI Center sports arena in Washington and Camden Yards stadium, home to the Baltimore Orioles.
The plea agreement charged that "Representative #1 and others performed official acts at the behest of Abramoff and others, which were motivated in part by the things of value received," suggesting bribery.
The court papers offered a long list of actions taken by Ney to help Abramoff, including meeting with his Indian tribal clients and promising to introduce legislation to benefit their gambling operations.
Volz acknowledged in the plea agreement that he began accepting illegal gifts from Abramoff while he was working in the House, and that as a result he did several official favors for the lobbyist, including having Ney place statements into the Congressional Record that were helpful to Abramoff in pursuing his purchase of a fleet of casino boats in Florida.
Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said the plea deal with Volz was "thin at best" and that "the congressman is more confident than ever that he will be vindicated in this matter." (NOTE: See above article! :D )
Ney is one of several members of Congress who are under scrutiny by the Justice Department because of their ties to Abramoff and other lobbyists.
Last week, a Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty to trying to bribe an unidentified House member for help in securing contracts from West African governments. Court papers in that case made clear that the lawmaker was Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who has denied wrongdoing in the Justice Department's investigation.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Lobbyist_Fraud_Money.html
Tuesday, May 9, 2006 ยท Last updated 5:08 p.m. PT
Bush, others ditch donations from lobbyist
By DAVID HAMMER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- President Bush and several other Republican officials have begun shedding campaign donations from former House aide and lobbyist Neil Volz, the latest person to plead guilty in a widening lobbying scandal.
Volz, who pleaded guilty Monday to charges of conspiracy to corrupt his former boss, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has given $26,035 to Republican political campaigns and committees since 2002, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Among the donations was $2,000 to Bush's 2004 re-election campaign. Republican National Committee spokesman Aaron McLear said Tuesday the remnants of the campaign organization would give the money to a charity.
Volz was Ney's chief of staff until early 2002, when he went to work for the lobbying team led by Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January in the influence-peddling scheme.
Ney, whose campaign and political committees received $3,735 from Volz, announced Tuesday that the money would be donated to a charity.
Eight other Republican lawmakers received $1,000 each from Volz.
One of them, Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, plans to donate that amount to the Salvation Army, according to spokeswoman Deb Setliff.
One congressman who declined to give up the donations was Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, whose political action committee got $300 from Volz.
"The contribution was legally donated and publicly disclosed," said Boehner spokesman Don Seymour.
Boehner has similarly declined to give up more than $30,000 he got from Abramoff's Indian tribe clients, saying his own work on tribal issues justified the contributions.
---
This issue is best put into perspective, so here's some ...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/09/MNG8BIO3DQ1.DTL
Congressman's ex-aide pleads guilty to conspiracy
Former Ney staffer faces prison in Abramoff corruption case
Philip Shenon, New York Times
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Washington -- A former top aide to Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff to corrupt public officials.
In court papers, the former aide, Neil Volz, said gifts were "corruptly offered to and accepted by" Ney, including a 2002 trip to Scotland by private jet that included rounds of golf at the fabled course at St. Andrews.
The plea agreement made clear that Ney, a six-term House member who faces a re-election fight this year because of his ties to Abramoff, remains a central focus of the Justice Department's influence-peddling investigation.
Volz, 35, who was Ney's chief of staff from 1998 to 2002, faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine as a result of his guilty plea to one count of criminal conspiracy. Abramoff, who was once among the most powerful Republican lobbyists in Washington and who recruited Volz to join his lobbying firm in 2002, pleaded guilty to broader corruption charges in January. Ney was not identified by name in Volz's plea agreement, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.
But lawyers for Ney acknowledged that he was the House member identified in the plea agreement as "Representative #1." He is accused with other members of his staff of accepting gifts from Abramoff's lobbying firm, including the trip to Scotland and trips to New Orleans and the 2003 Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz., as well as free meals and drinks at Washington restaurants and use of Abramoff's box suites at the MCI Center sports arena in Washington and Camden Yards stadium, home to the Baltimore Orioles.
The plea agreement charged that "Representative #1 and others performed official acts at the behest of Abramoff and others, which were motivated in part by the things of value received," suggesting bribery.
The court papers offered a long list of actions taken by Ney to help Abramoff, including meeting with his Indian tribal clients and promising to introduce legislation to benefit their gambling operations.
Volz acknowledged in the plea agreement that he began accepting illegal gifts from Abramoff while he was working in the House, and that as a result he did several official favors for the lobbyist, including having Ney place statements into the Congressional Record that were helpful to Abramoff in pursuing his purchase of a fleet of casino boats in Florida.
Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said the plea deal with Volz was "thin at best" and that "the congressman is more confident than ever that he will be vindicated in this matter." (NOTE: See above article! :D )
Ney is one of several members of Congress who are under scrutiny by the Justice Department because of their ties to Abramoff and other lobbyists.
Last week, a Kentucky businessman pleaded guilty to trying to bribe an unidentified House member for help in securing contracts from West African governments. Court papers in that case made clear that the lawmaker was Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., who has denied wrongdoing in the Justice Department's investigation.