USA: Scandal: Dem assault on Delay exposes 40 of 45 Dem Senators took Abramoff related money

Gateway Pundit has collected online sources for the breaking story about Democrat ties to Jack Abramhoff the king of chutzpah sleaze.

Democrats at all levels have attacked Republicans for ties to indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his Indian tribal clients. They do this despite the fact that 40 of the 45 members of the Senate Democrat Caucus have taken money from Abramoff, his associates, and Indian tribe clients.

One significant part of the evidence comes in the form of informations on the chief Democrat on the Senate Committee investigating Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists and Congressional recipients. That chief figure is Sen Byron Dorgan (D, North Dakota) who refuses to step back from the committee for this case in which he himself is deeply implicated (the Republican Senate organization is Gateway Pundit's source on this one). Here's the press release:

Senator Byron Dorgan Is The Vice Chairman Of The Senate Panel Currently Investigating Lobbyist Jack Abramoff. “Last week, BusinessWeek Online implied Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., was a recipient of the ‘avid schmoozing’ of Jack Abramoff, a DeLay associate and tribal lobbyist now under federal investigation by a panel of which Dorgan is vice chairman.” (Janell Cole, “N.D.’s 3 Politicos Deny Ties To Gifts,” The Fargo Forum, May 1, 2005)

* Independent Observers Have Called For Senator Dorgan To Recuse Himself From The Senate Committee Currently Investigating Jack Abramoff. “Larry Noble, the government’s former chief election enforcement lawyer, said Dorgan should have considered stepping aside from the inquiry and at the very least should have disclosed all his own intersections with Abramoff’s associates and tactics. ‘I think any way you look at it he had an obligation to disclose,’ Noble said. ‘It is hard for anyone not to see a conflict when you’re investigating the same activity you yourself were involved with.’” (John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, “Abramoff Investigator Used Lobbyist’s Skybox, Helped Client,” The Associated Press, December 1, 2005)

Senator Dorgan Sees No Need To Remove Himself From The Committee’s Ongoing Investigation Of Abramoff. “Dorgan says he sees no reason to step down from the Abramoff investigation, which he and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., are leading. He said he had no idea at the time that any of the transactions were connected to Abramoff or the alleged fleecing of tribes. ‘I never met Jack Abramoff but I am appalled by what we have learned about his actions,’ Dorgan said Thursday. ‘So I have never felt there was any conflict in my helping to lead that investigation. I think Sen. McCain would agree our investigation has been relentless and that neither of us will be diverted.’” (John Solomon And Sharon Theimer, “Abramoff Investigator Used Lobbyist’s Skybox, Helped Client,” The Associated Press, December 1, 2005)

* Dorgan Held A Fundraiser In An MCI Center Skybox Leased By Jack Abramoff. “The Choctaw tribe, an Abramoff client that was a primary focus of the Senate hearings, sponsored a fundraiser on March 28, 2001, for Dorgan’s political group, the Great Plains Leadership Fund. The event treated Dorgan and his donors to a bird’s-eye view of a professional hockey game from a skybox Abramoff leased in Washington’s MCI Center, while lobbyists got the chance to bend his ear.” (John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, “Abramoff Investigator Used Lobbyist’s Skybox, Helped Client, The Associated Press, December 1, 2005)

In 2003, Dorgan Signed A Letter Intended To Extend Funding For Indian Schools. “Dorgan also signed a letter to the Interior Department urging the continuation of a program that would have the federal government and tribes share the cost of building tribal schools, a program pushed by Abramoff’s clients.” (James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt, “Dorgan Tangled In Abramoff Web,” The Washington Post, December 5, 2005)

* Dorgan’s Letter Was Written On Behalf Of Abramoff Clients, Including The Mississippi Choctaw Indian Tribe. “One of Abramoff’s client tribes, the Mississippi Choctaw, was using the program, and his team was lobbying furiously to extend it for other tribal clients, including the Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan. The Saginaw prevailed the next year. The Burns-Dorgan letter specifically mentions the Choctaw.” (John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, “Tribes Obtain School Dollars,” The Associated Press, November 25, 2005).

* Immediately Following Dorgan’s Letter, He Received Contributions From Three Indian Tribes, All Represented By Jack Abramoff. “Nine days later, Dorgan’s campaign got $2,000 from the Choctaw, and by late spring had received $17,000 more from three other Abramoff tribes and his firm.” (John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, “Tribes Obtain School Dollars,” The Associated Press, November 25, 2005)

* Dorgan Also Advocated On Behalf Of The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Of Massachusetts At The Same Time He Was Meeting With An Associate Of Abramoff. “Dorgan acknowledged to the AP that in the fall of 2003 he pushed Congress to approve legislative language urging government regulators to decide whether the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts deserved federal recognition. About the same time, Dorgan met with the tribe’s representatives and Michael D. Smith, an Abramoff associate.” (James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt, “Dorgan Tangled In Abramoff Web,” The Washington Post, December 5, 2005)

* A Principal Lobbyist Working With Abramoff Is Married To A Legislative Assistant In Dorgan’s Personal Office. “A principal lobbyist working on the account with Abramoff was Stephanie Leger Short, a Democrat married to Toby Short, a legislative assistant in Dorgan’s personal office.” (Matt Margolis, “Dorgan Tied To Abramoff,” No Agenda Website, www.noagenda.org, November 29, 2005).

After The Associated Press Reported On Dorgan’s Abramoff-Related Campaign Receipts “Around The Time [Dorgan] Took Actions Favorable” To Abramoff’s Clients, Dorgan Returned $67,000. “The top Democrat on the Senate committee investigating Jack Abramoff’s Indian lobbying is returning $67,000 in donations in response to Associated Press reports that he collected tribal money around the time he took actions favorable to those Abramoff clients.” (John Solomon, “Top Democrat Investigating Tribal Lobbying, Abramoff Returns Donations,” The Associated Press, December 13, 2005)

* “In All, Dorgan Got Nearly $95,000 In Abramoff-Related Money Between 2001 And 2004.” (John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, “Tribes Obtain School Dollars,” The Associated Press, November 25, 2005)

It's time for Dorgan to recuse himself, and to resign from the US Senate for his extreme duplicitousness. It's time for a good house-cleaning of the US Senate, Republicans and Democrats both. Jack Abramhoff should get his due, and he shouldn't be allowed simply to sing for his supper, he should Sing-Sing for it.

The nature and extent of Tom Delay's associations with Jack the Indian Giver should be weighed on their own merits; and if it's insubstantial or marginal, he shouldn't be penalized. If substantial and/or felonious, he should pay the proper legal penalty, like all others presently implicated.

Obviously, the Democrats have a culture of corruption, exactly what they accused the Republicans of having. In any case, President Bush is not involved in any of this, so the Dems have lost their tactical advantage of trying to pin Abramhoff on the nation's chief executive in a guilt-by-association manoeuvre. - Politicarp