Politics
Abramoff helped secure funding for 3rd DeLay trip


Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff secured $260,000 in funds from a client for trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas), The Washington Post reports.

DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research. But Abramoff and a second lobbyist, lobbyist Julius "Jay" Kaplan, raised the $400,000 to pay for the trip on behalf of a "mysterious" client based in the Bahamas.

Both Abramoff and Kaplan met with DeLay in Moscow, The Post said. The trip occurred when Abramoff worked for the Preston Gates Ellis and Rouvelas Meeds firm that was lobbying on behalf of the Bahamas-based client.

Previously, The Post reported that Abramoff tapped the Mississippi Band of Choctaws and a gaming company to fund an overseas trip for DeLay. Abramoff tried to convince other tribes to pay for the trips.

Get the Story:
A 3rd DeLay Trip Under Scrutiny (The Washington Post 4/6)
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Anatomy of a Trip (The Washington Post 4/6)
Following the Money (Seattle Weekly 4/6)
Political Groups Paid Two Relatives of House Leader (The New York Times 4/6)
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