Free Republic

Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $1 million to House Minority Leader John Boehner, ending a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. McDermott, a Seattle Democrat, paid $1,093,297 to the Ohio Republican's campaign committee earlier this month, spokesman for the two men said Monday. The payment is in addition to $64,000 McDermott paid Boehner in January, as part of court-ordered punitive damages in the long-running case. A federal judge ordered McDermott to compensate Boehner for attorney's fees after Boehner sued McDermott for leaking the contents of a cell phone call that was illegally recorded in 1996. A...

CONFER: Why your loved ones have left NY The chances are very good that you know someone who has left New York. According to the US Census Bureau, from July 2006 to July 2007 the Buffalo-Niagara region lost 5,166 people and since 2000 the Rochester area has lost over 7,300 of its residents. The numbers are staggering but they tell little of the toll on our society. Emotionally, it can be quite taxing for families to be torn apart by this mass exodus with many older parents and grandparents wondering if they’ll ever see their children and grandchildren again. Socially,...

In 1998, Congressman Jim McDermott...obtained and distributed to the media an illegally-obtained tape of a private conversation of Representative John Boehner. After litigating the dispute for ten years, and losing each step of the way, McDermott is now being forced by a federal judge to pay Boehner some $1.6 million in damages and legal fees: Still, it's amazing that House Democrats have stood with McDermott in his attempts to prod the courts to authorize warrantless wiretaps by private citizens against other law-abiding private citizens, while they continue to refuse to authorize government wiretaps of terrorist communications. And unfortunately for McDermott,...

A federal judge has ordered Rep. Jim McDermott to pay House Minority Leader John Boehner more than $1 million in legal fees in a decade-long dispute over an illegally taped telephone call. Chief Judge Thomas Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered McDermott to pay Boehner $1.05 million in attorney's fees and costs, plus about $40,000 in interest. McDermott, a Washington Democrat, also had to pay more than $60,000 in fines and damages, as well as nearly $600,000 in fees to his own lawyers. McDermott said Tuesday he would not appeal the judge's ruling. "It's...

"..........In any case, they knew well that they would be used as propaganda tools before they left. This is how we put it in a piece on the trip back in October 2002: EVEN BEFORE the Baghdad boys left Iraq, media outlets throughout the Middle East gleefully highlighted divisions in the U.S. government and the travels by the "antiwar" congressmen. The Iraq Daily, for example, published by Saddam's Ministry of Information, printed daily updates of the trip and posted them in English on their website. For example, a September 30 report says, "the members of the U.S. Congress delegation has...

WASHINGTON — Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers — possibly including Rep. Jim McDermott — during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution. Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at the behest of Saddam's regime. Iraqi intelligence officials allegedly paid...

Long before the news flash today ('US: Saddam Paid for Lawmaker's Iraq Trip, March 26, 2008 by Matt Apuzzo Associated Press) a series of Seattle radio advertisements revealed, in 2002 and 2005, this and other 'Hate America First' activities Congressman Jim McDermott (D)engaged in. You can listen to them at www.houndbite.com.

If we can't accuse them of being unpatriotic, can we at least accuse some Democrats of being monumentally dense? Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The three anti-war Democrats made the trip in October 2002, while the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq. While traveling, they called for a diplomatic solution. Prosecutors say that trip was arranged by Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a Michigan charity official, who was charged Wednesday with setting up the junket at...

Follow the Money: Towards Treason Written by Melanie Morgan    Wednesday, 26 March 2008 And now for our trip in today's Way Back Time Machine.Let's visit Iraq, shall we? That's where three United States Congressmen traveled in 2002, in the days before the Bush administration launched a war to depose Saddam Hussein, sparking a huge controversy.  Following Ben Bradlee's excellent advice to Woodward and Bernstein during the Watergate era to 'follow the money', the Associated Press has learned that Saddam Hussein's secret agents financed the trip towards treason.          "An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a...

... I listened last night to syndicated talk-radio host Mark Levin report the breaking news that an Iraqi-American had been indicted as a spy. In addition, he stands accused of secretly funding the October 2002 pre-invasion trip to Iraq of three antiwar House Democrats, Congressmen Jim McDermott (D-WA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), and David E. Bonior (D-MI, now retired). I first posted a clip of that audio on MarkLevinFan.com and then I followed the money. Always follow the money. You just think that you have read all where it led in this case.

Feds Say Mich. Man Arranged U.S. Lawmaker Trips for Saddam Hussein's Intel Service The former spokesman of a Detroit-area Islamic charity, who organized U.S. congressional delegations to Iraq, has been indicted for alleged conspiracy to spy for Saddam Hussein's government. Muthanna Al-Hanooti, who worked as a top official at Life for Relief and Development — a charity in Southfield, Mich. — allegedly coordinated U.S. congressional delegations to Iraq at the direction of the executed dictator's intelligence service between 1999 and 2002. In return, investigators say he received payoffs via the United Nation's Oil for Food program. The indictment, which was...

WASHINGTON - Federal prosecutors say Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion. An indictment in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary. In exchange, Al-Hanooti allegedly received 2 million barrels of Iraqi oil. The lawmakers are not mentioned but the dates correspond to a trip by Democratic Reps. Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and...

Saddam Hussein's intelligence agency secretly financed a trip to Iraq for three U.S. lawmakers during the run-up to the U.S.-led invasion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.An indictment unsealed in Detroit accuses Muthanna Al-Hanooti, a member of a Michigan nonprofit group, of arranging for three members of Congress to travel to Iraq in October 2002 at the behest of Saddam's regime. Prosecutors say Iraqi intelligence officials paid for the trip through an intermediary.At the time, the Bush administration was trying to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Iraq.The lawmakers are not named in the indictment but the dates correspond to a...

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Rep. Jim McDermott has paid more than $64,000 in damages to House Republican leader John Boehner -- the first payment in a decadelong dispute over an illegally taped telephone call involving Boehner and other GOP leaders. The payment, which includes $50,000 in court-ordered punitive damages, $10,000 in statutory damages and $4,169 in interest, is the first of what could be more than $850,000 in fines and fees owed by McDermott, D-Wash.

Keith Weissman and Steven Rosen Are PhDs and Middle East Experts Who Did Some Lobbying. They Thought They Were Doing What Washington Insiders Always Do. Thomas O’Donnell didn’t reveal his job when he phoned Keith Weissman in 2004 and got the policy analyst’s wife. He says he didn’t want to scare her. When Weissman returned the call and found out O’Donnell was an FBI agent, his first reaction was to attempt a joke: “What did I do?” “I’m sure you didn’t do anything,” O’Donnell told him. He wanted to meet that day, for five or ten minutes, and get Weissman’s...

SNIP. . . . .... A possible arrangement: McDermott's legal bills are paid off. Something gets named after him. And a new posting, possibly meaningful, allows the globetrotting congressman to pursue his interests in HIV/AIDS and South Asia. Discretion is vital. McDermott's "amen corner" will entertain no criticism of our quixotic man of principle in Congress. And Seattle needs re-education on potential benefits of having an effective liberal doing its business in Washington, D.C. McDermott is a voice. At times, it is courageous. Often it irritates. The voice is usually oblivious to words that will change minds or win allies....

The long legal fight between two members of Congress over an illegally taped telephone call ended Monday when the Supreme Court refused to review the case. The court, without comment, left in place a federal appeals court ruling that Representative Jim McDermott, Democrat of Washington, acted improperly in giving reporters access to a recording of a 1996 telephone call of Republican leaders discussing the House ethics case against Representative Newt Gingrich, who was then House speaker. Mr. McDermott had asked the justices to hear his appeal of that ruling, which he said infringed on his free-speech rights.

Ten years ago Representative Jim McDermott (D-WA7), known in more recent years as Baghdad Jim for his unqualified support of that city's former tyrant, was serving on the House Ethics Committee. Two Democratic Party activists, who had illegally recorded a telephone conversation between Representative John Boehner and then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, delivered the hot tape to McDermott. McDermott made a the first of a series of truly bad choices. Rather than pursuing his passion for Gingrich through the channels of the Ethics Committee, he delivered the tape to a reporter in what the trial judge ruled was a malicious attempt...

<p>Rep. Jim McDermott filed court papers today asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether he had a right to disclose contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago.</p> <p>A federal appeals court ruled against the Washington state Democrat in May, saying he should not have given reporters access to the tape. McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said in a 5-4 ruling.</p>

Healthcare has been the single biggest domestic crisis facing America for at least the last decade, and yet time and again Congress has applied Band-Aids to cover a gaping wound. Every other American, not including members of Congress, is one accident, illness or diagnosis away from financial ruin in the richest nation on Earth. If that isn’t an embarrassment as well as a call to action, then Congress has truly become indifferent to the American people. Every time we apply a Band-Aid, more Americans get hurt or die because of our lack of vision and political will. A Health Savings...

Universal Healthcare on its Way (Rep. Jim McDermott) September 13th, 2007 In this video, Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) envisions implementing a universal healthcare system in the U.S. by 2009. Video is at this link: The Hill Blog» Blog Archive » Universal Healthcare on its Way (Rep. Jim McDermott)

WASHINGTON - Rep. Jim McDermott said Friday he will ask the Supreme Court to decide whether he had a right to disclose contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago. A federal appeals court ruled in May that the Washington state Democrat should not have given reporters access to the tape-recorded telephone call of Republican leaders discussing the House ethics case against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of...

McDermott to Cheney: ‘Resign or face impeachment’ By Chris Good June 29, 2007 Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) told Vice President Dick Cheney to “resign or face impeachment” Thursday night as three more House Democrats lent their support to a plan to impeach the vice president. “The vice president holds himself above the law, and it is time for the Congress to enforce the law,” McDermott said in a floor speech. “For the good of the nation, the vice president could leave office immediately.” McDermott was one of three House Democrats to come out in favor of impeachment Thursday, along with...

How Congress gives special relief to convicted murderers, smugglers, and other alien law-breakers By Michelle Malkin   ·   June 11, 2007 01:00 PM Are you aware that deportable aliens can circumvent immigration laws with the help of your member of Congress? Are you aware that more than 50 bills have been introduced in Congress this year that would grant special, private relief to individual immigrants fighting deportation? It's instant amnesty through special legislation. And it's been happening for years under the radar. Past and present beneficiaries have included smugglers, illegal aliens, and now a convicted murderer wanted in his home country...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim McDermott has had the luxury of winning big and cheaply in recent elections, facing only token opposition But that fortunate history could pose a problem for McDermott if the Seattle Democrat is forced to pay more than $1 million in legal fees and penalties to settle his long-running legal battle with House Minority Leader John Boehner. Unlike colleagues who have been able to tap into campaign funds for legal costs, McDermott doesn't have enough cash in his coffers to cover his bills. The prospect that McDermott soon will be liable for a huge payout became a...

Court rebuffs McDermott in phone case By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer 5 minutes ago Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) had no right to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders a decade ago, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. In a 5-4 opinion, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott, a Washington Democrat, should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call. McDermott's offense was especially egregious since he was a senior member of the House ethics committee, the panel ruled. When...

The U. S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, ruling en banc, delivered another in a long series of verdicts that have found Representative Jim McDermott, serving his 9th term representing Washington's 9th district, violated the rights of Rep. John Boehner when McDermott leaked an illegally taped conversation. The Court also ruled that Mr. McDermott broke House Ethics rules.

WASHINGTON - As a senior member of the House ethics committee, Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) had an obligation not to disclose the contents of an illegally taped telephone call involving House Republican leaders, a lawyer for one of the House Republicans said Thursday. Just as a federal judge should not reveal confidential information about a case, McDermott should not have given reporters access to the taped telephone call, regardless of how it was obtained, said lawyer Michael Carvin. "He had a duty not to disclose, therefore he can't claim First Amendment rights" allowing him to make the...

WASHINGTON - House leaders are creating a bipartisan task force on whether to establish an independent ethics panel to police the House, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi said Thursday. Pelosi, D-Calif., said Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio has agreed to the idea. The task force has not been set up yet, but it will be expected to report back in March, she said. Pelosi offered no details on what the outside ethics group might look like, saying that would be up to the task force. "There is no question that the ethics process in the last couple of years has lost...

Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated ethics standards by giving reporters access to an illegally taped telephone call involving Republican leaders a decade ago, the House ethics committee said Monday. McDermott, who at the time was the panel's senior Democrat, failed to meet his obligations as a committee leader, said a report released two days after Congress adjourned for the year. The panel took no action other than the report. "Rep. McDermott's secretive disclosures to the news media . . . risked undermining the ethics process regarding" former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, the committee said. It said McDermott's actions "were not...

Panel: Leaked Gingrich Call Broke Rules Monday December 11, 2006 11:46 PM By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., violated ethics standards by giving reporters access to an illegally taped telephone call involving Republican leaders a decade ago, the House ethics committee said Monday. McDermott, who at the time was the panel's senior Democrat, failed to meet his obligations as a committee leader, said a report released two days after Congress adjourned for the year. The panel took no action other than the report. ``Rep. McDermott's secretive disclosures to the news media ... risked...

10/31/2006 By / Associated Press A lawyer for Rep. Jim McDermott told a federal appeals court Tuesday that McDermott should not be punished for turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters a decade ago. In arguments that evoked the Pentagon Papers and other press freedom cases, lawyer Christopher Landau said McDermott, D-Wash., had merely received the tape from a Florida couple and therefore had done nothing wrong. A finding against McDermott could chill the news media's ability to gather information on important public issues, Landau said. "It's hard to overstate the impact of the case on the media,"...

FBI agents yesterday raided the suburban Detroit headquarters of LIFE for Relief and Development (LRD), the largest Islamic charity in the country. I first wrote about the group for The Post in 2003. Back then, FBI Director Robert Mueller was set to give an award to Imad Hamad, who heads the Midwest chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). But, after my Post article pointed out that Hamad was a subject in over a dozen terrorism-related investigations, the FBI revoked the award. One of those investigations concerned Hamad's close ties to LRD. Both the FBI and the then-U.S. Customs...

September 18, 2006 BREAKING: Largest U.S. Islamic Charity Raided by FBI Printer Friendly By Debbie Schlussel I've been writing about LIFE for Relief and Development for years, and I think my columns (especially this one), have finally made a difference. Ditto for my complaints about LIFE to Assistant U.S. Attorney for counterterrorism, Ken Chadwell. Less than half an hour ago, the FBI began raiding LIFE and hauling out documents. Well, it's about time. LIFE--the largest Islamic charity still open for business in America--openly admitted on its 1995-'97 taxes to be a major funder of HAMAS. Headquartered in the Orthodox Jewish...

SCATTERED AMONG the loose papers and bound files unearthed last week at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry in Baghdad was "letter no. 140/4/5," labeled "Confidential and Personal" and addressed to "The President's Office--Secretariat." The letter concerns George Galloway, a pro-Saddam member of the British Parliament, who founded a charity known as the Mariam Appeal, ostensibly to aid Iraqi children suffering under U.N. sanctions. The missive, from the Iraqi Intelligence Service, is a request that money be funneled directly to Galloway. It reads in part: His projects and future plans for the benefit of [Iraq] need financial support to become a motive...

Bill Clinton in Seattle to raise money for Cantwell, McDermott 10:22 PM PDT on Monday, July 31, 2006 Associated Press SEATTLE - Former President Bill Clinton came to town Monday night to raise money for freshman U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, who has struggled to get her re-election campaign in gear while fielding complaints about her stand on the Iraq war and the hiring of a former challenger. "She has proven she will stand up and be counted" and is a Senate leader in energy independence, the former president said of Cantwell. "You have a clear choice," Clinton said. "Are you...

WASHINGTON IN BRIEF A federal appeals court agreed to hear new arguments in a case involving an illegally taped telephone call leaked to reporters by Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). In an announcement last evening, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said all nine judges will hear McDermott's appeal of the case, which dates back nearly a decade. Arguments will be heard in September, the court said. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled in March that McDermott violated federal law by turning over the recording of a 1996 call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.). That...

WASHINGTON--A federal appeals court has agreed to hear new arguments in a case involving an illegally taped telephone call leaked to reporters by Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash. In an announcement late Monday, the U.S. Circuit Court of appeals for the District of Columbia said all nine judges will hear an appeal of the taped call case, which dates back nearly a decade. Arguments will be heard in late September, the court said. A three-judge panel of the appeals court ruled in March that McDermott violated federal law by turning over the tape recording of a 1996 call involving then-House Speaker...

He will fill in for vacationing Dave Ross -------------------------------------------------- Seattle's liberal, never-bashful Rep. Jim McDermott has found temporary work that, like his day job, consists largely of saying what he thinks. The nine-term Democratic incumbent will fill in as host of "The Dave Ross Show" on 710 KIRO Radio next week while Ross -- himself an unsuccessful Democratic congressional candidate two years ago -- goes on vacation. McDermott's first guest Monday will be Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., an outspoken advocate for the military but one who, like McDermott, has become a harsh critic of the Bush administration's Iraq war policy....

Exposing America's Enemies (Part 2): Communist Progressive Democrats Linda Kimball From Exposing America’s Enemies: the ‘Social Justice Seeking’ Communist Left, comes this relevant quote, “For over forty years the New Left has been waging a Gramscian ‘quiet’ revolution for the overthrow of America’s Constitution, Rule of Law, sovereignty, and our way of life. Today the subversives call themselves liberals, progressives, and Democrats (and) as David Horowitz attested to (the majority are) social justice seeking communists. “The Democratic Party is very close to being the (Communist-controlled Progressive) party of Henry Wallace…the vast bulk of the American Left is a communist left.”...

Rep. Jim McDermott doesn't need to raise money for another term in the House. It's his Queen Anne home that could be in financial jeopardy. Mired in the first lawsuit among members of Congress, McDermott is enlisting the star-power of former President Clinton to help fill the coffers of his legal defense fund. While details aren't firm, the Seattle Democrat said Clinton will appear at the Seattle Center on June 3 for a conversation about the First Amendment. He said neither ticket prices nor fundraising goals have been determined. Earlier that day, Clinton will attend a fundraising luncheon for Democratic...

President Clinton will attend a fundraising event for Rep. Jim McDermott in Seattle on June 3. Rep. Jim McDermott doesn't need to raise money for another term in the House. It's his Queen Anne home that could be in financial jeopardy.

McDermott Files Appeal in Taped Call Case By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer 8 minutes ago Rep. Jim McDermott (news, bio, voting record) on Wednesday asked a full nine-member appeals court to hear an appeal of a case involving an illegally taped telephone call that was leaked to reporters nearly a decade ago. A three-judge appeals court panel ruled last month that McDermott, D-Wash., violated federal law by giving the news media a tape recording of a 1996 call involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga. The 2-1 opinion, by judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...

I was watching C-SPAN at about 1845 CDT. First Rep. McDermott of Washington was speaking with his usual drivel. But then Rep. Dan Burton came up to the podium and said that "one of our special ops organizations" had found "800 canisters of chemical weapons like those used to kill the Kurds" in Iraq. Anyone else hear this or know anything about it?

More than nine years ago, Republican congressional leaders, called together by Rep. Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the House and third in line to be president, met in secret to plot deception against the American people. We know only because one of those involved, Rep. John Boehner, attended the meeting by cellphone, thus broadcasting the entire secret meeting on the open airwaves, available to anyone who happened to be listening to a consumer scanner. A couple in Florida heard it, recognized the voices, and understood the implications of what they were hearing. They taped the call and drove to Washington,...

McDermott's leak is no better Sunday, April 9, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM Editorial Ethical leadership should include members of Congress. Rep. Jim McDermott, Seattle Democrat, was not acting ethically a decade ago when he leaked an illegally taped phone conversation to The New York Times. The couple who taped it pleaded guilty and paid fines of $500 each. Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, and now House majority leader, was one of the men on the tape, and sued McDermott. He says he offered to drop his lawsuit three years ago if McDermott would apologize and donate $10,000 to...

McDermott: Public had right to know By MATTHEW DALY The Associated Press WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott says his eight-year dispute with House Majority Leader John Boehner over an intercepted phone call is not personal, but involves a crucial right of voters to know what their leaders are doing. "Unfortunately, it's portrayed in the paper as Boehner v. McDermott. It really is the government versus the people," McDermott, D-Seattle, said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. In a 2-1 opinion Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a lower-court ruling that McDermott...

McDermott: Taping Dispute Not Personal By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer Last update: April 01, 2006 – 4:28 AM WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Jim McDermott says his eight-year dispute with House Majority Leader John Boehner over an intercepted telephone call is not personal, but involves a crucial right of voters to know what their leaders are doing. "Unfortunately, it's portrayed in the paper as Boehner v. McDermott. It really is the government versus the people,'' McDermott, D-Wash., said Friday in an interview with The Associated Press. McDermott commented three days after a federal appeals court ruling against him in the...

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that Rep. Jim McDermott violated federal law by turning over an illegally taped telephone call to reporters nearly a decade ago. In a 2-1 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that McDermott violated the rights of House Majority Leader John Boehner, who was heard on the 1996 call involving former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The court ordered McDermott to pay Boehner more than $700,000 for leaking the taped conversation. The figure includes $60,000 in damages and more than $600,000 in legal costs. McDermott, D-Wash., leaked a...

WASHINGTON - Democrats accused Republican congressional leaders of corrupting the government, claiming on Saturday that their party has higher ethical standards. "Under Republican guidance, America has truly been put up for sale to the highest bidder," Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., said in her party's weekly radio address. Congress was consumed this week by the corruption scandal around lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty and is cooperating in a wide-ranging probe that could involve up to 20 members of Congress and their aides. Politicians from both parties have rushed to unload donations from Abramoff or his clients, while others have decided...