DeLay's PAC shuts down
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Wed May 02, 2007 at 12:20:11 PM EST
Say bye-bye to what was arguably once the most powerful PAC in the nation. Tom DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC) filed termination papers with the FEC on April 24, ending it's decade of unsurpassed influence over Republican lawmakers and policy.
ARMPAC was a "leadership PAC," different from congressional re-election committees in that they are used by Congressmen to contribute to colleagues' PACs - a measure to gain influence with one's peers on Capitol Hill. Leadership PACs can accept larger donations than re-election committees - $5,000 per individual per year - and make larger donations to toher lawmakers - $10,000 per election cycle.
What made ARMPAC so influential? Money, of course - more money than anyone else.
And, in an 11-year run among GOP leadership ranks, no one in Congress used political money to maximize his own influence more than DeLay. From 2001 through 2005, as DeLay's power reached its apex, his PAC dished out more than $2.6 million in donations to other House and Senate candidates as well as national political party committees.
In 2004, the PAC, known on Capitol Hill as ARMPAC, gave out $781,299 in donations, according to FEC reports. [That's about $150,000 more than the man above him in leadership, then-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), gave out that year.]
Of course, ARMPAC was central to the scandal that has brought down so many in Washington and still threatens so many more. DeLay pal Ed Buckham worked closely with the PAC, and his and Abramoff's clients became huge ARMPAC donors. An offshoot of ARMPAC known as Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) was the money-laundering tool that got DeLay indicted on charges in Texas and led to his fall from leadership.
Let's hope this serves as a warning to all other Congressmen who use their leadership PACs to curry favor and influence. Don't let your committee become the next ARMPAC.
Jack Abramoff is obviously cooperating with investgators
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Mon Apr 30, 2007 at 05:31:45 PM EST
Jack Abramoff is yakking away - at least, that's the implication the Sacramento Bee gives in an excellent article summarizing the sudden flurry of Abramoff-related activity around the country.
"It's not clear to me or my lawyers exactly what they're doing," Doolittle said Thursday of his own case.
Really? This might clarify some things for you, sir:
The flurry of activity can be traced to the federal courthouse in Miami, where prosecutors revealed last month that they're prepared to reduce Abramoff's sentence for fraud in connection with his purchase of a fleet of gambling ships.
Prosecutors said he had more to tell about Washington corruption, and they were offering a lower sentence as an elixir to lubricate his tongue.
Seems to have worked, no? Since Bob Ney went to prison, nothing much had been happening in the investigation. Then, all of a sudden in the last couple of weeks we get:
- Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) home is raided.
- Kevin Ring, former aide to Doolittle and close friend of Abramoff's, resigns from his law firm.
- Mark Zachares pleads guilty to conspiracy with Abramoff.
- Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) announces he's being asked questions about an Abramoff-funded golf trip he took in 2003 - the same trip Zachares was on.
- Reports surface that Ed Buckham, former aide to Tom DeLay and lobbyist extraordinaire, may be nearing charges, which chould ensare DeLay. Buckham could also be a link between the Abramoff investigation and the Duke Cunningham bribery case (see also Brent Wilkes).
The common denominator? Jack Abramoff.
Yep, he's talking.
Don't forget about DeLay!
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Apr 27, 2007 at 03:26:36 PM EST
Since the Abramoff scandal first broke, countless names have been mentioned in connection to the infamous lobbyist. With all the developments over the last couple of years, it's easy to forget the roots of the whole thing - one might argue, the ultimate face of the "culture of corruption."
I'm talking about Tom DeLay, of course. Now, despite being one of Abramoff's closest buddies on the Hill, "The Hammer" has not been charged with any specific Abramoff-related crime; he's under indictment on other corruption charges (he was a busy man). However, that may all change relatively soon.
From the Forth Worth Star-Telegram:
But prosecutors could decide within weeks whether to bring charges against Delay's former staff chief Edwin Buckham, according to sources close to the investigation who spoke on the condition that they not be identified. The decision should give a clear signal on whether DeLay remains in legal jeopardy, the sources said.
Yeah, Ed Buckham is pretty deep into a lot of this stuff. Frankly, it would be a bit of a shock if Buckham escaped from all this indictment-free.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Thu Apr 19, 2007 at 11:33:35 AM EST
Oh, man, is the heat up on John Doolittle, even more than we speculated about earlier this week.
On the same day Kevin Ring, Doolittle's former Legislative Director, resigned from his law firm amid Justice Department inquiries, Rep. Doolittle's house was raided by the FBI. The Congressman's office maintains that the focus of the raid was Doolittle's wife Julie, whose ties to Abramoff have been under investigation for some time.
From Roll Call (sub. req'd.):
On Wednesday evening, Doolittle issued a statement standing behind his wife.
"My wife has been cooperating with the FBI and the Justice Department for almost three years and that cooperation is going to continue in the future," Doolittle said.
"I support my wife 100 percent and fully expect that the truth will prevail."
And this is not going to make the GOP leadership happy:
The news could present a political problem for Boehner and Cole, because the two leaders have been particularly forceful in sending the message to their colleagues that ethical and legal scrutiny will not be tolerated in the new minority. Republicans lost in 2006 due, in part, to the relentless stream of scandals coming from their side of the aisle in the 109th Congress.
To be fair, though, this really is just a continuation of the Abramoff scandal, not an entirely new one. More details inside about the Doolittle household's ties to Jack Abramoff...
How much lobbyist money has Christine DeLay received?
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Thu Jun 08, 2006 at 11:12:32 AM EST
The more and more we learn about DeLay and his and his family's ties to lobbyists, the more untenable his claims of innocence become.
Yesterday the Washington Post reported that Tom DeLay's wife Christine received not only a salary from lobbying heavyweight Edwin Buckham, but also received a retirement account from him.
The account represents a small portion of the income that DeLay's family received from entities at least partly controlled by lobbyist Edwin A. Buckham. But the disclosure of its origin adds to what was previously known about the benefits DeLay's family received from its association with Buckham, and it brings the total over the past seven years to about half a million dollars.
This article is a must-read, if only because it details the role that Buckham, former Chief of Staff for DeLay and a registered lobbyist since at least 1999 (according to Congressional lobbying disclosure records), has continued to play in DeLay's professional life.
It also gives some interesting details on how this relationship with Ed Buckham ties into Rep. John Doolittle and his wife, and (it all comes back to him) Jack Abramoff. Read it!
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