"Although critics call the system of lobbyists and donors with specific interests paying for political campaigns legalized bribery, it is so difficult to prove criminal intent that prosecutors rarely try.

The Abramoff scandal, however, is so potent that the Justice Department can't ignore it.

Abramoff took millions of dollars from Indian tribes to tend their business in Congress, business that included gambling legislation and a federal program to build schools for the tribes. He, his operatives and the tribes liberally spread money around the Capitol to protect the tribes' interests.

The Associated Press has reported that U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat, got nearly $95,000 in Abramoff money. Dorgan, in turn, actively supported Abramoff's clients. Now Dorgan is on the Senate committee investigating Abramoff."

Get the Story:
A bipartisan culture of corruption (The Austin American-Statesman 11/26)

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