New Records Expose Abramoff Ties To Alaska Lawmaker

Rep. Don Young has said he never allowed convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff to be an influential force over him in Congress.

But now a trove of old billing records from two of Abramoff's firms show that his team of lobbyists had more than 120 contacts with Young's personal and committee staffs over 25 months, including at least 10 with Young himself.

The available records cover a single Abramoff client, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory in the Pacific that Young oversaw when he chaired the House Resources Committee from 1995 to 2001.

The records show that one of the looming concerns of Abramoff and his fellow lobbyists at the time was a bill introduced by Young's fellow Alaskan, Sen. Frank Murkowski, to reform labor and immigration practices feeding the island's notorious Chinese-owned sweatshops. In 2000, Murkowski's bill passed the Senate unanimously, but Young stopped it cold in his committee, refusing to hold even a hearing.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Durango]

Another shoe to drop is the connection between Abramoff and Colorado Republican Senate candidate Bob Shaeffer. Shaeffer went on a junket to the Mariannas organized by Abrramoff. Now he claims he never MET Abramoff. Which is, of course, irrelevant. You don't need to meet face to face to do do the corrupt bidding.

The question is did Jack buy his vote? The answer is: YES.

Hopefully we will hear much, much more of this in the near future. But the Colorado Republican slime machine is gearing up to protect Shaeffer. Led by Dick Wadham George (Macaca) Allen's former campaign manager.

BTW Anyone who thinks this scandal was adequately investigated is a fool. It will no doubt play a major roll in the criminal investigations over political influence in the Bush Justice Department due to commence sometime after January 20 2009.

[kellygrrrl]

anyone who would like to know a lot more about Jackoff
should read Al Franken's book

not only will you be shocked
you'll get a few great laughs

[the964kid]

I just love seeing that same ole pick of Abramoff, he just looks guilty as hell in that coat and hat. Mental note to all you sketchy lobbyists out there: when the indictments come, remember not to wear your "1950s mobster" Halloween costume.

[kellygrrrl]

LOL!
so true
just shows how deranged these criminals are
they actually believe they're in an old mobster movie

[WilliePilgrim]

Putting this Don Young under the withering examination of anti-corruption campaign would be a great thing. There is a truly great replacement for him waiting in the Democratic wings who could use your support. Ethan Berkowitz for congress. Check out his website. Alaskans have been cheated by the party of the oil patch long enough.

[watererbob]

This scandal was buried from the onset! It involves not just unfair Labor / Management practices - but rape, forced abortions, and possibly murder!
All under nominal US control. The reason the story was buried, was that the scandal involved members of both Parties.

[anythinggoes]

this crooked let put in the jail and let sodomi by black man

[lizr]

Isn't it time that Huffington focussed on McCain's control of the Abramoff papers? WHich apparently implicate everyone in DC and probably many more...

How about it Arianna? it shows up in the blogs at daily kos..

[HouseOfRoberts]

I found it interesting that one of the main players in the Don Seigelman case was an ex- Attorney General from Arizona with close ties to McCain. If the Seigelman appeal were to implicate Karl Rove, as Seigelman claims, and put pressure on the Bush DOJ, this could be the political payback McCain has been sitting on since the Rove dirty tricks of the 2000 Primaries. These Indian Affairs Committee-held Abramoff papers could be how McCain is the nominee. None of the rank and file Repubs wanted McCain, did he blackmail his way in with those papers?

[MsLiz]

Explain how that translated to votes by citizens.

[Podewumun]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

All the blah, blah, blah about Hillary and Obama has grown BORING!
It's time we focused on the various misdeeds of McCain, and the sooner we do it, the better!