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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in federal prison Thursday for his corrupt lobbying activities, which led to the downfalls of a congressman and several other Washington officials.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose corruption scandal shook up Washington's power elite and contributed to the Republican loss of control in Congress, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in federal prison. Judge Ellen Huvelle issued the sentence on conspiracy and other charges after federal prosecutors recommended leniency due to Abramoff's cooperation in pursuing corruption cases against lawmakers and former administration officials. He faced a maximum of 11 years under a plea deal reached in 2006.

This is an upcoming book, available on Amazon.com for pre-sale,presumably due to release closer to the November 2008 election to do more harm to McCain. Here is the book description, as provided on Amazon: The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Jack Abramoff (Hardcover) by Gary S. Chafetz (Author) Product Details Hardcover: 480 pagesPublisher: Martin & Lawrence Press (September 5, 2008)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 097738988XISBN-13: 978-0977389889 Product Description Gary Chafetz is a liberal Boston journalist who set out to chronicle the scandal involving conservative gun-for-hire and super-lobbyist, Jack Abramoff. Instead he uncovered a Shakespearean tragedy of deceit, betrayal and political...

The Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals today overturned the conviction of former Bush administration official David Safavian, who was entangled in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, and ordered that he should be given a new trial.

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall took $1,500 in contributions from two firms that once employed disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Udall's campaign spokeswoman Taylor West said the donations from the companies' political-action committees to the Eldorado Springs Democrat's congressional campaigns were legal. But, she said, Udall plans to donate the $1,500 to an organization in the Marianas Islands that assists victims of human trafficking. Abramoff and the islands have become an issue in Udall's Senate race against former Congressman Bob Schaffer... Schaffer's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, ripped Udall on Wednesday, questioning why he waited to return donations he received in 2000...

Touchy, touchy, Chris! Palpably stung by Ken Blackwell's observation that Republicans had lost their way by running like Reagan but governing like Carter, Chris Matthews -- former speechwriter to the president from Plains -- cracked back by playing the Abramoff card and claiming Republicans are more corrupt than Dems. Blackwell, the very impressive former Secretary of State of Ohio and past candidate for Buckeye state governor, was Matthews' guest on this evening's MSNBC election coverage. Blackwell was discussing what it would take for Republicans to win in 2008. KEN BLACKWELL: My view is this, Chris, that we got off track....

According to the liberal website Raw Story, and confirmed by examining Federal Election Committee records, top brass at Greenberg Traurig, the law firm convicted lobbyist Abramoff worked for between 2001 and 2004, have given thousands of dollars to Barack Obama's campaign

One current permathread on Big Orange is that Krugman and Obama are feuding or having a vendetta. Which, when you take a step back, is bizarre. That movement conservatives and Villagers like stone Bush enabler William Kristol, like David Brooks, Broderella, and Andrew Sullivan are all good with Obama isn’t even mentioned in passing by Obama’s fan base. And yet those same enthusiasts spend inordinate amounts of time vilifying Paul Krugman, a true progressive who was there for us from the earliest dark days of the Bush regime. Curious. What’s really happening? Krugman doesn’t have a problem with Obama; Krugman...

Congress is trying again to exert more control over the Northern Marianas, this time minus the interference of jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who for years dissuaded lawmakers from tinkering with the troubled Pacific islands. Legislation that could clear the House in December would apply federal immigration and labor rules to the U.S. Commonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands, which in the past three decades of local control has been tainted with charges of sweatshop and human trafficking abuses. The bill is opposed by commonwealth Gov. Benigno Fitial, who says it ignores recent improvements in labor standards and could cripple attempts...

New revelations about Republican ties to convicted influence-peddler Jack Abramoff have brought to the fore once again the unfortunate specter of public corruption as two congressmen, John T. Doolittle (R-CA) and Rick Renzi (R-AZ) were forced off their respective committees when it came to light they were under FBI investigation. It is a sad and by now all too familiar story. It is also infuriating because as a former White House budget analyst, I know full well that the kind of influence peddling highlighted in the Abramoff scandals is only noteworthy because Mr. Abramoff and his conservative clients got caught....

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2006 list of Washington’s “Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians.” The list, in alphabetical order, includes: 1. Jack Abramoff, Former Lobbyist – 2. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) 3. Former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) 4. Former Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX) 5. Former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) 6. Rep. Denny Hastert (R-IL) 7. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL) 8. Rep. William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson (D-LA) 9. Former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) 10. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) 6 Dishonorable Mentions: 1. Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) 2....

White House aide to Rove resigns 13 minutes ago A key aide to presidential political strategist Karl Rove resigned Friday in the wake of congressional report that listed hundreds of contacts between disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and the White House. Susan Ralston, special assistant to President Bush, submitted a resignation letter to him less than five weeks before the midterm elections. "She did not want to be a distraction to the White House at such an important time and so we have accepted her resignation," White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said. "We support her decision and consider the...

A judge agreed Thursday to again put off prison for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former business partner, but the delays were shorter than what lawyers on both sides sought. Federal prosecutors and defense lawyers had jointly requested delays of 90 days beyond Monday's scheduled prison surrender date so Abramoff can continue to cooperate in a Washington corruption investigation, and Adam Kidan can provide more information about the gangland-style murder of former SunCruz Casinos owner Konstantinos Boulis. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck reluctantly agreed to let Abramoff remain free until Nov. 15,

Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements as part of a deal in which he will cooperate with an influence peddling investigation, the Justice Department said.

by Mark Finkelstein August 29, 2006 - 07:23 A New York Times editorial and an op-ed piece by one of its house columnists have something interesting in common this morning: stamp-your-feet frustration with the way the world is and an inability to suggest what should be done about it. In The Falling Paycheck, the Times editorial board complains that real wages aren't keeping up with the economy's continued expansion. "American employees have not shared in the wealth they’ve helped to create," laments the Old Gray Lady. Sure sounds as if the Times subscribes to the 'surplus value' theory of labor....

WASHINGTON - Wanted: Face time with President Bush or top adviser Karl Rove. Suggested donation: $100,000. The middleman: lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Blunt e-mails that connect money and access in Washington show that prominent Republican activist Grover Norquist facilitated some administration contacts for Abramoff's clients while the lobbyist simultaneously solicited those clients for large donations to Norquist's tax-exempt group. Those who were solicited or landed administration introductions included foreign figures and American Indian tribes, according to e-mails gathered by Senate investigators and federal prosecutors or obtained independently by The Associated Press. "Can the tribes contribute $100,000 for the effort to bring...

Brett Pfeffer, a former legislative assistant to U. S. Rep. William Jefferson of Louisiana, was sentenced May 27 by a judge in Alexandria to eight years in prison for conspiring to bribe the embattled Louisiana Democrat. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III told Pfeffer that his sentence could be reduced significantly for cooperation with investigators. But, “it would be difficult to overstate the seriousness of this offense,” Ellis said at Pfeffer’s hearing. In January, Pfeffer, 37, pleaded guilty in Federal Court in Alexandria to conspiracy to commit bribery and aiding and abetting the solicitation of bribes by a member of...

Brian Ross Reports: Richard Esposito and Rhonda Schwartz contributed to this report. Despite a flat denial from the Department of Justice, federal law enforcement sources tonight said ABC News accurately reported that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert is "in the mix" in the FBI investigation of corruption in Congress. Speaker Hastert said tonight the story was "absolutely untrue" and has demanded ABC News retract its story. Law enforcement sources told ABC News that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has provided information to the FBI about Hastert and a number of other members of Congress that have broadened the scope of...

Secret Service records made public Wednesday show just two White House visits in the past five years by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He stayed a total of 63 minutes, 29 seconds. The documents are, by the White House's acknowledgment, an incomplete accounting of Abramoff's meetings with administration officials. They were released in connection with a lawsuit by the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, which had been seeking the records to determine the frequency of Abramoff's contacts with President Bush and others in his administration. Abramoff spent just over a quarter hour at the White House on March 6, 2001, and...

A former chief of staff to Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty Monday in the Jack Abramoff scandal, admitting he participated in a conspiracy to corrupt Ney, his staff, and other members of Congress with trips, free tickets, and meals. Neil Volz, 35, admitted that he engaged in the conspiracy for more than four years, both while he was Ney's chief of staff and after he left to go work with Abramoff.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow's campaign has corrected her campaign finance reports to show that some donations from 2002 and 2003 came from an Indian tribe then represented by now-disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, not an individual as she reported at the time. Stabenow's campaign originally reported that $4,000 in donations came from Christopher Petras, who was the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe's legislative director at the time. The donations came during a period in which Stabenow and other Michigan lawmakers sought funding for the tribe and wrote letters to federal regulators on the tribe's behalf. The campaign wrote the Federal Election Commission on...

Voting and electing your representatives is the benchmark of a representative republic. Electing a U. S. Senator is the responsibility of the people of Montana and not a decision made by those in Washington D.C. With that in mind, I am humbly applying for the job as your U.S. Senator. As a husband, father, property owner, small businessman and elected state legislator, I am aware of the issues facing Montanans today. Here you will find information on these issues and the latest news and updates concerning my campaign for U.S. Senate. I hope as you browse the website you find...

By all accounts, there are a herd of additional shoes yet to drop in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. The question is whether or not this public scrutiny will be limited to just the low-lying fruit, or if some serious investigations will take place - including an investigation of one of the chief investigators: St. John McCain, Arizona Republican. When stories of Jack Abramoff taking various Indian tribes to the cleaners first hit the press, McCain - Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and author of the un-American, anti-free speech McCain-Feingold campaign censorship law - decided this would be...

WASHINGTON -- Disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has advised friends that he has no derogatory information about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and is not implicating him as part of his plea bargain with federal prosecutors. Abramoff's guilty plea on fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress. That led to speculation that this would mean trouble for DeLay, who faces money laundering and conspiracy charges in Texas.

Bigfork businessman and state Senate Minority Leader Bob Keenan says it may seen "blasphemous" to some GOP voters, but he is challenging Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., out of concern that the state's junior Senator may not be electable in November.

(This article is adapted from remarks delivered to the combined classes of the Jesse Helms School of Government at Liberty University last February 21.) SOMEONE ONCE SAID there are three types of people in the world: Those who make things happen; those who watch what happens; and those who never know what happened. Let us presume for a moment that you, personally, have become well-educated, that your thirst for knowledge has enabled you to learn how to make things happen, that you have already achieved a number of remarkable successes, that many people recognize you as a rising leader. Are...

Bigfork Republican lawmaker Bob Keenan confirmed Tuesday he is challenging incumbent Senator Conrad Burns in the GOP primary.

"You're really no one in this town unless you haven't met me," Jack Abramoff tells Vanity Fair contributing editor David Margolick. Such lies are not just lies, but dumb to boot-"This is not an age when you can run away from facts. I had to deal with my records, and others will have to deal with theirs." An insider tells Margolick that Abramoff blames competing Republican lobbyists and Arizona Senator John McCain-with whom Abramoff says he's had a contentious relationship-for his downfall. Abramoff tells Margolick that McCain staffers deliberately humiliated him, doling out embarrassing e-mails to the press. "Mr. Abramoff...

- nonprofits engaging in grassroots lobbying soon could be forced to reveal political strategies and financial backers under an amendment attached to one of the Senate’s two pending lobbying-reform bills. The amendment, sponsored by Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Carl Levin (D-Mich.), would require grassroots lobbyists such as Lux to register with the clerk of the House and disclose their spending within 45 days after starting an initiative. Conservative nonprofit groups last month assembled a coalition called LobbySense to help bring down the Senate’s original grassroots lobbying-disclosure provision, authored by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) but replaced with the Lieberman-Levin language...

WASHINGTON - Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who has helped lead the effort to paint Rep. Tom DeLay and the Republican Party as corrupt, faced increased criticism Friday about his extensive contacts with the lobbyist who set off the unfolding congressional ethics scandal. Reid, D-Nev., who last month compared DeLay to a gangster for his connections with high-profile lobbyist Jack Abramoff, received $68,000 for his campaigns and political committees from Abramoff clients and associates. Around the time of the contributions, Reid wrote letters to the U.S. Interior Department urging action that would benefit an Indian tribe client of Abramoff's. In...

That is the message from Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). Don’t wait for legislation or ethics rulings, just follow his example and voluntarily announce that you and your staff will not accept gifts, meals or travel from lobbyists or groups with interests before Congress.As Lieberman says, “It’s time to try to set some examples here.”Lieberman, the most ethical member of the Senate (this is not damning with faint praise!), is setting up the only way to avoid fallout from the Jack Abramoff scandal and get clean for election day.The lobbyist scandal is penetrating deeply into the public consciousness. Only the House...

Enron, meet Jack Abramoff. Jack Abramoff, meet Enron. One year before the energy firm went belly up, paid adviser Ralph Reed urged Enron officials to hire Abramoff, then a rising Washington lobbyist, as a "kitchen cabinet" consultant. The e-mailed endorsement resulted in clubby lunches in which Abramoff and Enron reps, future icons of scandal in Washington and on Wall Street, sat across the table from each other. It's well-known that Reed worked for both Enron and Abramoff. That he helped them cross paths is not. The e-mail has never been published before. Reed's plug for his old friend serves as...

It was no way to treat a lady. On Jan. 15, Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote a column praising her paper for exposing crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff. By Jan. 19, a section of the Post's Web site for reader comments was deluged with so much obscene e-mail from outraged liberals that the Post had to shut it down. Mr. Abramoff pled guilty earlier this month to defrauding his clients (Indian tribes who owned casinos) and the Internal Revenue Service. Ms. Howell's critics were in high dudgeon over a distinction without a difference. In the seventh paragraph of her column...

Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE) failed today to address rumors that Nevada Senator Harry Reid will step down next month as Senate Minority Leader. Reid has been stung by revelations that his political action committee (PAC) accepted more than $60,000 in contributions from Indian tribes linked to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition, Biden avoided discussing either the Reid situation or any upcoming changes in Senate Democratic leadership. Reid is no stranger to scandal, having been the subject of a 1979 Justice Department probe into allegations that Reid — then Nevada Gaming Commission chairman — had received bribes...

    NEWS FOR THE WEEK OF JANUARY 23, 2006PDF Version       "Abramoff Assembled A Group Of Lobbyists That Some In The Media Have Dubbed 'Team Abramoff.' ... They Included Ayoob, A Former Aide To Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Who Is Now The Senate Minority Leader." (Paul Barton, "Lincoln Aide, Others Say $2,000 Isn't Abramoff-Linked," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/6/06)   "Of The Eight Tribes Ayoob Represented When He Was With Greenberg Traurig, Reid Acted In Behalf Of Or Moved Legislation Benefiting Six." (Rebecca Adams, "The Game's The Thing: Reid Has Been A Ready Ally To Abramoff-Linked Interests," Congressional Quarterly...

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Lashes Out At Bush Administration, Forgetting His Jack Abramoff Connections "It's unfortunate that a week before President Bush has an opportunity to lay out his agenda, Harry Reid is already mischaracterizing his record of achievement in an effort to score cheap political points. Whether he is taking the battle to the terrorists or delivering prescription drug coverage to America's seniors, President Bush is a proven leader in step with our nation's priorities. By launching bitter, partisan attacks that ignore problems in his own backyard, Senator Reid is emblematic of a minority party that is long on...

Printed from http://www.texasobserver.org © Texas Democracy Foundation Return to site Thin Reed Will Abramoff’s Deep Throat Swallow God’s Mouthpiece? by Andrew Wheat Evidence is mounting that former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed Jr., along with a former leader of the Texas Christian Coalition, may have illegally lobbied Texas state officials on behalf of crooked federal lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his clients. Three Austin-based reform groups—Common Cause Texas, Public Citizen Texas, and Texans For Public Justice, the latter of which employs the author of this article—urged Travis County prosecutors last December to investigate whether Reed violated Texas’ lobby-registration laws four years...

Embattled Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) said Thursday he will run for re-election even if he is indicted for his connections to disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Associated Press The Washington Post shut down one of its blogs Thursday after the newspaper's ombudsman raised the ire of readers by writing that lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave money to the Democrats as well as to Republicans. At the center of a congressional bribery investigation, Abramoff gave money to Republicans while he had his clients donate to both parties, though mostly to Republicans. In her Sunday column, ombudsman Deborah Howell wrote that Abramoff "had made substantial campaign contributions to both major parties," prompting a wave of nasty reader postings on post.blog. There were so many personal attacks that the newspaper's...

Dems Unveil Their Ethics Plan One Day After GOP:"The Honest Leadership And Open Government Act Would End Republican Culture Of Corruption By: Closing The Revolving Door Between Lawmakers And Lobbyists By Doubling The Amount Of Time Lawmakers And Staffers Must Wait Before Lobbying Congress; Prohibiting The Receipt Of Gifts, Including Meals, Entertainment And Travel, From Lobbyists;Clamping Down On 'Pay-To-Play' Systems Like The One Set Up By Lobbyists Like Jack Abramoff; AndEnding Efforts Like The 'K Street Project,' Which Republicans Created To Force Corporations And Lobbying Firms To Hire Republicans In Exchange For Political Access." (Democratic National Committee, "Dean Kicks Off...

When John Shadegg announced from his hometown of Phoenix on Friday that he is running for House majority leader, it appeared that the two leading candidates to succeed Tom DeLay had peaked. The reason is that Roy Blunt and John Boehner both are regarded as K Street candidates, whose selection might not be prudent for a Republican Party enmeshed in scandal. Neither Blunt nor Boehner is burdened with DeLay's connection to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Like DeLay, each is closely associated with K Street (the capital's big and brassy lobbyist community). Unlike DeLay, neither is viewed by ardent ideological conservatives...

'K Street Project,' now mired in scandal, aimed to ensure GOP control... In 1995, they named it the "K Street Project," a kind of affirmative action for Republican lobbyists, a program to expand GOP influence in the influence business. -snip- DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said the K Street Project has been valuable on its own terms. -snip- Though little known outside Washington, the project has become an issue, even among Republicans. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, one of the candidates to replace Mr. DeLay as majority leader, has vowed that if elected, "There will be no longer be a K Street...

    The big political question for Republicans nowadays is whether they will take a hit in the midterm elections for the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.     As this is written, the evidence was scant it will have very much effect, if any, on how Americans will vote nearly 10 months from now. But no doubt the whole sordid mess is dramatically changing the House Republican leadership lineup, its reform agenda and how D.C. lobbying is done.     As things stand now, there will be a new House Republican leader to take Tom DeLay's place permanently, as he battles an indictment on campaign money-laundering...

Republican Senator Conrad Burns has lost a double-digit lead held against two Democrats most prominently vying for the right to square against him in November. Senator Burns now wins 46% of the vote when pitted against State Auditor John Morrison; Morrison wins 43%. Against State Senate President Jon Tester, Burns gets 45%, Tester 45%.

For the record, Jack Abramoff, and any one else who has committed such crimes should go to jail. But in the wake of the Abramoff lobbying scandal, various members of the US House and Senate are jockeying to be the first to introduce (and have their names attached to) legislation regarding lobbying reform. Those that can’t be first will no doubt try to top the others with more stringent versions of the legislation. In other words we’re about to be treated to another version of that favorite Beltway game, the reform follies. This is a game where the participating politicians...

When legal and ethical questions began spinning around House majority leader Tom DeLay last year, President George W. Bush was publicly supportive. Privately, though, he questioned his fellow Texan's mojo. Bush had scored 10 points higher than DeLay in the Representative's district in 2004, and that was only after Bush had recorded a telephone message to help rally local Republicans. "I can't believe I had to do robocalls for him," the President said bitingly to an Oval Office visitor. To people who know Bush well, the remark said it all about the longtime chill between the two pols—a distance that...

YOU KNOW the Rev. Lou Sheldon as the anti-gay leader of the California-based Traditional Values Coalition, but star lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- now the sultan of pleading guilty -- knew Sheldon as "Lucky Louie." The Washington Post reported in October how Sheldon helped gambling interests who did business with Abramoff -- and Sheldon. In 2000, eLottery, an Abramoff client -- sent a $25,000 check to the Traditional Values Coalition, as per Abramoff's instruction. Then, the anti-gambling Sheldon lobbied enthusiastically against a bill to curb online gambling. At Casa Sheldon, grease is a traditional value. When the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act...

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Former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s guilty plea yesterday 01/03 could spell doom for Rep. Bob Ney (R-Bellaire). According to the LA Times, the unnamed federal lawmaker in court documents who exchanged legislative favors in Abramoff’s behalf for gifts from Abramoff is Bob Ney. But Ney has contiuned to deny any wrongdoing or even acknowledging being aware of Abramoff’s illegal actions. But Abramoff’s guilty plea could mean his eventual cooperation with federal investigators and an indictment of Bob Ney.