The words of K. Dusty Foggo in today's The Note (via Political Animal):
"Dusty Foggo said through his lawyer yesterday that he did not have any improper relationship with Brent Wilkes, a defense contractor at the center of a congressional bribery scandal."I wonder if Foggo's dress has money stains on it. Continue reading
Cunningham NEVER Cooperated?:
Yesterday the North County Times reported that Duke Cunningham was not cooperating in the ongoing federal bribery investigation. Now, from information received from San Diego Union-Tribune reporters, TPM Muckraker provides an interesting twist: Cunningham may NEVER have cooperated:
There is no evidence that Cunningham has provided any significant information to the government beyond the proof the government already had - much of it from Wade - when Cunningham approached prosecutors about a plea agreement. People closely involved with the case privately admit as much. ... When the prosecution argued for a stiff jail sentence for Cunningham, it said Cunningham had cost the country financially and had harmed it. But it never said how much Cunningham's crimes had cost the country or how much damage had been done. That's because nobody knows. Most of the money Cunningham directed to Wade and Wilkes involved classified programs. Many of these so-called "black" or secret programs were funded in response to the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. ... The larceny might have involved many different contractors, projects and appropriations bills over many years. So, only Cunningham could know for sure.Well this certainly explains why prosecutors wanted to give the Dukestir the full 10 year sentence that he was facing. Continue reading
It’s What’s Legal That’s The Problem
It's often been said in Washington that the problem of corruption is not what's illegal, but what's legal and sanctioned by the system. A system of legalized bribery is how Washington operates. But things just might be changing. Today's New York Times report that the FBI's newly found focus on public corruption includes more than 2,000 ongoing investigations must be rocking Congress. And astonishingly, the FBI has established a new website where citizens can report their hunches about ongoing corruption in government.
You’re Not Invited…
...but lobbyists and PACs are. Every week, the fax machines of Washington's lobbying firms and political action committees spit out dozens of invitations to wine and dine with lawmakers--and chip in a couple of hundred or couple of thousand bucks for the privilege. Members advertise all kinds of things in these listings--their committee asssignments, their seniority, their familiarity with particular issues--all to induce the PAC paymasters and lobbyists to cough up the bucks. This is the source of much of the incumbency advantage in fundraising that my colleague Larry Makinson documented. If you're heading a PAC or lobbying for some well-heeled client, you have actions before the federal government today, right this minute. Waiting until next January on the off chance that some bumpkin from the sticks knocked off someone on a committee you need to influence isn't a particularly practical way to operate. As for the members themselves, well, they're just fundraising among their cash constituents...
Continue readingAfternoon News:
- Roll Call reports that the Justice Department has broken new ground by charging former congressional staffers-turned-lobbyists Tony Rudy and Neil Volz with violating the one-year ban on lobbying their former employers.
- The Los Angeles Times provides more information on the close relationship between former OMB and GSA employee David Safavian and criminal lobbyist Jack Abramoff. We are also reminded, through Safavian's emails, that Safavian never stops kissing up to Abramoff ("Let me know if there is ANYTHING I can do to help.")
- The Hill reports that 40 percent of earmarks would go unmarked and unnoticed thanks to loopholes in the lobbying and ethics "reform" bills passed by the Senate and the House.
- Top Bush donor Tom Noe wants to change his "not guilty" plea to a "guilty" plea in a case where he is charged with illegally funnelling money to the President's campaign, according to the Associated Press.
- The Washington Times interviews anti-pork crusader Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK). Continue reading
Ney Cheered by Republicans:
A "defiant" Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) received a standing ovation from members of the Republican caucus after announcing that he would not resign and "vigorously fend off a likely federal indictment." The Hill reported that even Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) stood up to cheer the embattled lawmaker. However, one Republican stated, "Dead man walking." Ney's former chief of staff recently became the fourth lobbyist to accuse the Ohio lawmaker of taking bribes in a plea agreement.
Continue readingAppropriations Chair Under Federal Investigation:
The Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) is under federal investigation in connection to the Duke Cunningham bribery scandal, according to the Los Angeles Times:
Federal prosecutors have begun an investigation into Rep. Jerry Lewis, the Californian who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee, government officials and others said, signaling the spread of a San Diego corruption probe. The U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles has issued subpoenas in an investigation into the relationship between Lewis (R-Redlands) and a Washington lobbyist linked to disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), three people familiar with the investigation said. The investigation is part of an expanding federal probe stemming from Cunningham's conviction for accepting $2.4 million in bribes and favors from defense contractors, according to the three sources.The investigation revolves around Lewis' relationship with former congressman and current lobbyist Bill Lowery. Lowery, who lost his congressional seat to Duke Cunningham, was a mentor to Brent Wilkes, the central figure in the Cunningham bribery case. Continue reading
Continuing Controversies
Last week, in a post called "Coming Controversies," I wrote, "...now it seems likely that drilling up and down the Atlantic and Pacific coasts will become part of our energy debate, no doubt due to the rising cost of gasoline." The evidence was the news that industry coalitions were coming to town to push the issue. Via Iain Murray in The Corner we learn that the House Appropriations Committee took up the issue, passing an amendment that
Continue readingRelease the Rest of the Logs!:
Twice! Just Twice!?!? It seems that the White House is pulling everyone's leg. From Bloomberg:
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now at the center of a federal corruption scandal, visited the White House at least twice, in 2001 and 2004, according to logs released by the U.S. Secret Service. The Secret Service agreed last week to release the records after being sued by the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch, which sought them under the Freedom of Information Act. The Secret Service faxed the logs today to Bloomberg News, which had also sought the records.The visits occurred on March 6, 2001 and January 20, 2004. So this is what Scot McClellan meant when he said that the Secret Service log would not show all (any) of Abramoff's vists. UPDATE: Now with links. Here's the Judicial Watch release. Continue reading
Chevron’s Water Carrier:
Ken Silverstein at Harpers.org provides a look back at a career that looks to be coming to a premature close, that of Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) job as a water carrier for Chevron. Here is one example of the "Congressman from Chevron's" many actions:
In the mid-1990s, Chevron and several other oil companies led a successful campaign to block tough sanctions on the regime of Nigerian general Sani Abacha, who had a habit of stringing up his political enemies, and who also plundered the Nigerian treasury to the tune of about $1 billion a year during his five-year rule. The oil companies helped to produce a lobbying brochure that lauded the special quality of Nigerian crude and said that "any disruption to this supply of imported petroleum will severely impact the American economy.” Jefferson was one of only two members of the Congressional Black Caucus who opposed sanctions on the Abacha dictatorship.According to Opensecrets.org Jefferson's third largest contributor for his career is the lobby shop representing ChevronTexaco Jones, Walker. They have given Jefferson $47,379 since 1993. Continue reading
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