Posted on 01/09/2006 7:21:33 AM PST by areafiftyone
Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean denied on Sunday that any Democrats had taken money from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, even though several top Dems - including Sen. Hillary Clinton - have already announced they were giving their tainted Abramoff cash to charity.
That little detail didn't faze Dean, however - who insisted with a straight face to CNN's Wolf Blitzer:
"There are no Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, not one, not one single Democrat. Every person named in this scandal is a Republican. Every person under investigation is a Republican. Every person indicted is a Republican.
Dean continued: "This is a Republican finance scandal. There is no evidence that Jack Abramoff ever gave any Democrat any money. And we've looked through all of those FEC reports to make sure that's true."
Last week, Sen. Clinton's office announced that she would be donating $2,000 of her Abramoff jackpot to charity. The Republican National Committee says she took a total of $12,900 in Abramoff-linked cash. Other Democrats who have pledged to return tainted donations include Sens. Tim Johnson and Barbara Mikulski - as well as leading House Democrat Charles Rangel.
The Human Fund
Baghdad Howie strikes again.....
Does Dr. Demento explain why all the dems are returning cash from Abramhoff if they didn't receive any money from him?
Duke Cunningham wore a wire when he met with Republicans .. the wire may give evidence of a *quid pro quo*. Republicans who talked to Cunningham, are nervous.
Dems may have taken money too .. but campaign contributions are legal. I don't think anyone is claiming to be able to prove a *quid pro quo* in those cases.
We have plenty to be worried about here and it's all a bit more serious than Dean telling obvious lies.
/sarcasm
If it was on Wolf's own show, it would be "The Situation Room" most likely. I first heard the quote listening to Drudge last night.
Strictly speaking, I think Abramoff's personal money all went to Republicans. But that's a pittance and he couldn't bribe the local dogcatcher with $1000 every two years. The real cash is from Abramoff's clients. It's intentionally deceptive and this will backfire on Dean and the Dems bigtime.
He is right, technically. Abramoff himself gave no money to Democrats, but plenty of his clients did.
CORRUPTION IS AS OLD AS GOVERNMENT.....
Our Congress should only sit during the summer, it's supposed to be a part time job! And in some states only EVERY OTHER YEAR!
Dean Lied?! Why isn't this in Breaking News?!!! ;-)
And Blitzer didn't call Howie on that whopper?!
Unfortunately, whether Dean is a barking moonbat or not it's still clear to me that in at least one thing, he is right: Abramoff himself had deep ties to Republicans, much deeper than ties to any Democrats. His statement is techinically accurate (only Republicans took money FROM Abramoff himsef), and however much money from Indian Tribes or Abramoff clients may be tainted or suspicious, the real danger of "quid pro quo" indictments is being faced by Republicans, not Democrats. This scandal sucks. We may have to face the facts that our side will come out looking worse on this one, even though we all know how filthy and corrupt scum like Harry Reid and Nacny Pelosi are. All the more reason for our side to remain vigilant and wait for the time to spring.
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