First of all, I had to hear the news from a British newspaper before I saw it in the American media (not cool, dudes, but thanks, Guardian!). Second of all, the news itself:
Federal prosecutors took the first steps toward reducing the prison sentence of former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, currently scheduled for release in 2011 for a Florida fraud conviction.
The what? I mean, it's cool that Abramoff is cooperating with federal corruption investigators, but if "substantial assistance" turns into a "substantial sentence reduction," then I'm going to be one unhappy reformer. Perhaps my worries will be eased once we hear exactly what kind of sentence reduction we're talking about here...
There is good news, though:
Abramoff also has pleaded guilty to three federal charges arising from the Washington corruption probe. He has yet to been sentenced in that case.
Chew on that, Jack.
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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