A well-connected Republican lobbyist agreed on Tuesday to give evidence against top politicians whom he allegedly bribed, in what analysts predict may prove to be the biggest congressional scandal in American history.
The lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy involving ”corruption of public officials” as well as fraud and tax evasion, after striking a deal with federal prosecutors that is expected to lift the lid on a culture of corruption in Congress, in which legislative favours are routinely exchanged for lucrative perks.
Politicians from both parties received money from Abramoff and his clients, but the scandal is likely to inflict most damage on the Republicans and could ultimately threaten their hold on Congress.
One of the party’s most powerful figures, Tom DeLay, who was instrumental in orchestrating its victories in 2000, 2002 and 2004, is at the centre of the investigation for his close financial ties to Abramoff. He is also facing charges in a separate case involving political money-laundering in Texas and had to step down from his job as House majority leader last year. A senior White House budget official, David Safavian, has been arrested for failing to report gifts from the indicted lobbyist.
”This is potentially the biggest congressional scandal in history,” said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor and the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog organisation. ”Abramoff knew everybody. He knows how Washington works.”
White House spokesperson Scott McClellan was unable to say on Tuesday whether President George Bush had ever met Abramoff, but he denounced the lobbyist.
”What he is reportedly acknowledged doing is unacceptable and outrageous,” he said. ”If laws were broken, he must be held to account for what he did.”
Abramoff was a central fixture in Washington political life, wining and dining top politicians in his own restaurant, hosting them in plush corporate boxes at sporting events and flying them on all-expenses-paid golf trips to Scotland.
The lobbyist and his partners also coordinated political donations worth $1,7-million to more than 200 members of Congress on behalf of clients such as the Choctaw Indian tribe in Mississippi, the United States-administered Northern Mariana islands in the Pacific, and Russian oil magnates.
Legislation passed by Congress in recent years directly benefited those clients and the Justice Department’s ethics division is now seeking to prove that those votes were bought.
”Words will not ever be able to express my sorrow and my profound regret for all my actions and mistakes,” Abramoff told the judge in a Washington courtroom. ”I hope I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and those I’ve wronged or caused to suffer.”
Abramoff was also expected to plead guilty to fraud on Wednesday in a separate case in Miami, involving his purchase in 2000 of a fleet of casino ships. The man he bought the fleet from, Konstantinos Boulis, was shot dead a year later in the middle of a dispute over the sale.
Prosecutors are reported to be focusing on about 20 politicians and their staff, including the biggest recipients of Abramoff’s largesse. As well as DeLay and Safavian, they include Bob Ney, the Republican head of the House administration committee known as ”the mayor of Capitol Hill” for his extensive influence, and Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. The three men have all denied any wrongdoing.
Dorgan and several other members of Congress have returned political donations received from Abramoff and his clients, in a rush to distance themselves from the man who was once a popular socialite.
Despite the involvement of some Democrats, Stanley Brand, a former congressional lawyer, said Republicans are likely to feel the brunt of any public backlash in the November congressional elections.
”The party in power always suffers,” said Brand, who is now in private practice specialising in defending public officials.
The scandal will also bring scrutiny of DeLay’s decade-long bid to pack Washington lobbying firms with Republicans. The scheme, known as the ”K Street project” after the wide boulevard that houses much of the industry, helped create lucrative jobs for party activists.
But Brand doubted that the scrutiny would lead to profound change.
”Everyone will get worked into a lather and then they’ll go back to what they’ve done for the past 200 years … You’re not going to get money out of politics and you’re not going to get influence out of government.” — Guardian Unlimited Â