Jack Abramoff

Very well written and in-depth look at Jack Abramoff and the criminal case the government has against him. With close connections to Tom Delay, Conrad Burns, Bob Ney, Grover Norquist, Ralph Reed, and even a possible connection to minority leader, Harry Reid, the Abramoff scandal is going to rock Washington D.C. Jack Abramoff faces trial Jan. 9 in Florida in a fraud case involving the purchase of a $147 million casino ship company and his partner in that, Adam Kidan, has agreed to testify against him. The man on the other end of the casino ship deal, Gus Boulis, ended up dead shortly after from a gangland hit and the three men later arrested for the murder had some association to Adam Kidan. It should interesting. Many believe Abramoff will cop a plea before Jan. 9, but what does he have to give up on Delay, Ney or Grover Norquist that's bigger than the crimes he may have committed? I'll guess we'll have to wait and see. Again, great article...well worth reading. How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal

Jack Abramoff liked to slip into dialogue from "The Godfather" as he led his lobbying colleagues in planning their next conquest on Capitol Hill. In a favorite bit, he would mimic an ice-cold Michael Corleone facing down a crooked politician's demand for a cut of Mafia gambling profits: "Senator, you can have my answer now if you like. My offer is this: nothing." A reconstruction of the lobbyist's rise and fall shows that he was an ingenious dealmaker who hatched interlocking schemes that exploited the machinery of government and trampled the norms of doing business in Washington -- .