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CLM Says:
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This is all I have to say.

Leadership Committees Received Over $729,000 From Indian
Tribe Clients And Lobbying Associates Of Jack Abramoff*.
(Campaign Finance Analysis Project Website,
http://www.campaignfinanceanalysisproject.com, Accessed
December 7, 2005; Political Money Line Website,
http://www.tray.com, Accessed December 7, 2005; Internal
Revenue Service Website, http://www.irs.gov, Accessed April
21, 2005)

40 Of The 45 Members Of The Senate Democrat Caucus

* Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) Received At Least $3,500
Info from article by ANNE E. KORNBLUT and ABBY GOODNOUGH

http://www.firedupamerica.com/gop_governors_abramoff_rga_scanlon#comment-129

January 3, 2006
G.O.P. Lobbyist Pleads Guilty in Deal With Prosecutors
By ANNE E. KORNBLUT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts in Washington today
as part of a settlement with federal prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over
whether the Republican lobbyist would testify against his former colleagues.

Mr. Abramoff, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion, setting the stage for
prosecutors to begin using him as a cooperating witness against his former business and political
colleagues. In exchange, Mr. Abramoff faces a maximum of about 10 years in prison in the
Washington case.

The conspiracy charge included Mr. Abramoff's effort to influence at least one member of
Congress and a Congressional staff member.

As United States District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle read each of the charges today, Mr. Abramoff
answered softly, "I plead guilty, your honor."

"Your honor, words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound
regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused," he said. "All of my done.
I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or
caused to suffer. I will work hard to earn that redemption."

At a news briefing this afternoon, Alice Fisher, an assistant attorney general, said Mr. Abramoff
offered up gifts to government officials that included an all-expense paid trip to Scotland "to play
golf on a world-famous course, tickets and travel to the Super Bowl in Florida, tickets for concerts
and other events in Washington, repeated and regular meals at his upscale restaurant, and
campaign contributions."

She said he provided these gifts "with the intent and often with the understanding that his clients
would receive the official action they wanted."And, she said, "his actions often produced the official
influence that he sought."

"Government officials and government action are not for sale," she said. "The Justice Department
will aggressively investigate and prosecute these types of cases, which have a devastating impact
on the public's trust of government. We will not shy away from that responsibility, no matter where
the trail leads."

Official Washington has been on edge for months awaiting word of Mr. Abramoff's legal future.
Once a masterful Republican lobbyist with close ties to the former House majority leader,
Representative Tom DeLay, Mr. Abramoff earned tens of millions of dollars representing Indian
casino interests and farflung entities like the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.

Through a complicated web of financial arrangements, he helped funnel donations to his lawmaker
friends' and their campaigns, and took members of Congress, mainly the Republicans in power, on
lavish trips.

Mr. Abramoff is also scheduled to appear in Florida Wednesday in a related case, in which he was
indicted last year. In that case, he is expected to plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy in
connection with his purchase of the SunCruz casino boat line, and will face a maximum of about
seven years' prison time.

Mr. Abramoff has been talking to investigators in the corruption case for many months, his lawyer,
Abbe Lowell, said.

"Eighteen months ago, Mr. Abramoff first made contact with prosecutors to admit his wrongdoing
and to seek forgiveness from those he has wronged," Mr. Lowell said today. "He intends to
continue to work with the Justice Department and others to fully resolve all matters of interest, to
provide restitution to anyone he has harmed, and to seek absolution from all."

Participants in the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
investigation, said Mr. Abramoff had provided a full picture of what evidence he could offer against
other suspects.

On the corruption charge, prosecutors said in documents filed with the court today that Mr.
Abramoff and his partner, Michael Scanlon, who reached a plea agreement with officials last year,
conspired to "corruptly give, offer and promise things of value, including money, meals, trips and
entertainment, to public officials and their relatives with the intent to influence, and in return for
agreements to perform official acts benefiting" them and their clients.

The document details lavish gifts and contributions that Mr. Abramoff gave a House member,
identified here only as "Representative #1."

Representative Bob Ney, a Republican of Ohio, acknowledged at the time of Mr. Scanlon's plea
agreement that he was the person represented as Representative No. 1 in the documents in that
case, but he has dismissed any suggestion that he was persuaded to do Mr. Scanlon's bidding
because of campaign aid or perks like meals, entertainment or overseas travel.

Mr. Ney said in a statement today, "At the time I dealt with Jack Abramoff, I obviously did not know,
and had no way of knowing, the self-serving and fraudulent nature of Abramoff's activities,"
Reuters reported. Mr. Ney has not been charged.

The document also alleges that Mr. Abramoff bribed public officials, including "Representative #1,"
and his staff, when he funded a golfing trip to Scotland in exchange for the congressman's official
actions to benefit his clients.

He is also accused of tax evasion for filing false documents and false entries to financial books
and records, and filing a false income tax return in 2002, "all for the purpose of concealing
additional unreported taxable income received by or on behalf of" himself, the documents state.

Mr. Abramoff is also accused of hiring congressional staffers and conspiring with them to lobby
their former employers - including members of Congress - in violation of a one-year federal ban on
such lobbying.

Mr. Abramoff's participation in Washington has taken place mostly below the radar, as prosecutors
made the Miami case the focus of their public work and as Mr. Abramoff and his associates
claimed they were preparing to stand trial, facing up to as many as 30 years in prison.

Though Mr. Abramoff's pleas in each location are separate, the deal reached with the Justice
Department is all-encompassing, reducing the severe penalties Mr. Abramoff could have faced in
either investigation, in exchange for his inside knowledge of certain lobbying work and legislative
actions. One element of the deal is that he can serve prison time in the two cases concurrently,
although the sentencing will not take place until much further along in the investigation.

The deal, a so-called "global" arrangement because it encompasses separate prosecutions in
Florida and Washington, comes less than a week before Mr. Abramoff was scheduled to stand trial
in the Miami case.

With Mr. Abramoff's cooperation, the Justice Department will have a potentially critical witness to
alleged patterns of corruption or bribery within the Republican leadership ranks, which in some
cases they believe also took the form of campaign donations and free meals at Mr. Abramoff's
downtown restaurant, Signatures.

After more than two years of investigations, prosecutors have developed a list of at least a dozen
lawmakers, congressional aides and lobbyists whose work appears suspect and who are now at
the core of the case.

Already, prosecutors had a key witness in Mr. Scanlon, once press secretary to Mr. DeLay. When
Mr. Scanlon reached a plea agreement last year, it put pressure on Mr. Abramoff to reach his own
deal.

Now that Mr. Abramoff has done the same, one person involved in the case said: "When some
people hear about this, they will clamor to cut a deal of their own."

Maria Newman contributed reporting from New York for this article.