Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff is seen in Miami, August 18, 2005. Two U.S. newspapers said on Monday that they would no longer publish opinion pieces by conservative commentator Peter Ferrara, who has admitted taking payments from Abramoff to write op-ed pieces favorable to Abramoff's clients. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)And now, another exciting episode of The Jack Abramoff Show!This is off the Yahoo News site:
WASHINGTON - Lawyers for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff are in discussions with the Justice Department about his possible cooperation in a congressional corruption probe, a person involved in the investigation said Tuesday night.
The probe involves a number of members of Congress as well as staff. A former aide to ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has already pleaded guilty.
Abramoff would plead guilty under an arrangement that would settle a criminal case against him in Florida as well as potential corruption charges in Washington, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
The person describing the ongoing discussions said they have been going on "a long time, months." Only in the past week or so have they come "close to any kind of fruition," the person said.
The person cautioned that unspecified issues remain to be worked out. The person added that if the conversations proceeded smoothly, an agreement could be reached quickly, as early as "the beginning of next week." Abramoff has not been charged in the corruption investigation.
The New York Times first reported on the talks Tuesday night in a story its Web site.
The person declined to specify how many members of Congress Abramoff could implicate, saying only that "cooperation is cooperation; it's full cooperation."
Abramoff's cooperation with the feds is going to be HUGE! He knows where the bodies are buried--how the scams have been created and are now being linked to both the Republican leaders in Congress, and possibly to the Bush administration. If anyone can bring down the Republican Congress, it could be Jack Abramoff as a means to save his own skin from serious jail time. Abramoff's agreement to talk could certainly seal Tom DeLay's money laundering fate. And how many other Republican congressmen would also end up in the crosshairs of this federal investigation?
The article in BusinessWeek that started this whole thing, upon which all subsequent articles and Paul Krugman's commentary are based, omitted important statements and resulted in a complete misrepresentation. All subsequent who have written on this topic are guilty of passing on misrepresentation without bothering to fact-check. You can view IPI's and Ferrara's statements at www.ipi.org
ReplyDeleteYou can turn off your automative denials, Giovanetti!
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