"Jack Abramoff won�t make the May 12 Salute to Tom DeLay banquet at the Capitol Hilton.

Oddly, it�s because of the money that Abramoff is not welcome at the DeLay tribute. Jack got a little carried away. He is currently under investigation by a multi-agency task force, U.S. attorneys, and two Washington, D.C., grand juries regarding $82 million he and former DeLay press aide Mike Scanlon billed (or bilked from) six Indian tribes. Sen. John McCain is running a similar investigation out of Senate Indian Affairs.

Abramoff, a top-tier Washington lobbyist, and Scanlon, who at the time was operating his own public relations firm, billed their American Indian gaming clients at rates that stunned Washington�s lobbying cultures. They pocketed much of the $82 million because it wasn�t billed by Abramoff�s lobbying firm but by Scanlon�s small shop. But a big chunk of it went to Republican Party campaign committees. Scanlon, for example, contributed $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association in 2002. Abramoff raised $100,000 for George W. Bush�s last two presidential campaigns (and served on Bush�s White House transition team.) He also gave at least $30,000 to Tom Delay�s political action committee (and was a member of DeLay�s �kitchen cabinet�)."

Get the Story:
Lou Dubose: Two Amigos And Their Gulag Archipelago (TomPaine.Com 5/12)

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