"For goodness� sake, how self-evident can a proposition be? Sen. Conrad Burns is at the top of the list of those in Congress who took donations from Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who is under indictment for wire fraud and under investigation for bribery.

No one can say whether or not Burns did anything wrong in his dealings with Abramoff, the tribal clients whom Abramoff represented, or the Montana public. A Washington, D.C., task force is known to be investigating Abramoff�s lobbying records, but Burns has not been named as a target of the probe.

Nonetheless, between the years 2001 and 2004, Conrad Burns received more campaign contributions than any other member of Congress from Abramoff and his associates � about $146,500 in total. That means Burns has become the poster child for crusaders against corruption in Congress, and every time there is a story about Jack Abramoff anywhere in the national media, there is likely to be a mention of Conrad Burns, and probably a nice little picture, too."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Burns needs to use common sense (The Daily Inter Lake 12/15)

Relevant Links:
Sen. Conard Burns - http://burns.senate.gov
Montana Republican Party - http://www.mtgop.org
Montana Democratic Party - http://www.montanademocrats.org

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