ABC News

Abramoff Reports to Prison Tomorrow; Offers Testimony on Democratic Senators

November 14, 2006 4:13 PM

Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz Report:

Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff is scheduled to report to federal prison tomorrow, over the objections of federal prosecutors who say they still need his help to pursue leads on officials he allegedly bribed.

Sources close to the investigation say Abramoff has provided information on his dealings with and campaign contributions and gifts to "dozens of members of Congress and staff," including what Abramoff has reportedly described as "six to eight seriously corrupt Democratic senators."

The sources say Abramoff was about to provide information about Bush administration officials, including Karl Rove, "accepting things of value" from Abramoff.

Rove has denied any wrongdoing in hids dealings with Abramoff.  But teh lobbyist visted teh White House at least seven times, according to Secret Service logs obtained by Judical Watch.

Abramoff has been meeting almost daily in secret locations around Washington with Justice Department investigators who are examining thousands of e-mails and documents, according to sources close to the investigation. The convicted lobbyist was spotted in downtown Washington, D.C., yesterday, carrying a computer laptop case.

But the prosecutors' easy access to Abramoff has now ended.

ABC News has learned that the court has granted a request from prosecutors that Abramoff be incarcerated at the closest prison to Washington, D.C., the Federal Correction Institute in Cumberland, Md., where Abramoff is expected to report tomorrow.

 

What's important here:  If Abramhoff can offer significant testimony on Democratic Senators, coupled with Murtha’s possible accession to Majority Leader; the Democratic train will be derailed before it even leaves the station.

On Rove, I would find unlikely that he has taken anything from Abramhoff that could cause him problems.  Not because I think he is immune to corruption, but why would he need anything from Abramhoff?  He has all the perks available to a top White House staffer, he of all people know the dangers and uses of negative information, and he stands to become a millionaire many times over the day after Bush leaves office.  It just doesn't make sense.  But other have made unwise decisions for pretty rewards...Sherman Adams vicuna coat, for example.

Two interesting side notes: 

One, the fact that Abramhoff is being held near Washington is a sure sign that prosecutors are not finished talking with him.  He may be able to bargain for a reduction in sentence.

Two, Judicial Watch is a right leaning group that aggressively pursued the Clintons on many fronts. At the time, all of their charges were routinely dismissed by the MSM.  Now nary a peep about Bush haters, etc.  But we're used to this by now.

Liberal Presidential "Historian" Doris Kearns Goodwin on Imus:

Imus “Didn’t you win a Pulitzer?”

Goodwin:  “Yes, for Franklin and Eleanor.”

Of course, Goodwin plagiarized large parts of that book.  If she were a right leaning historian or commentator, like oh, I don’t know Conquest, or Buckley, do you think she would still be an media favorite?

More from WSJ Fund on Murtha:  The 54-minute Abscam tape shows Mr. Murtha functioning as a cynical backroom operator, telling the FBI undercover agents: "You know, you made an offer. It might be that I might change my mind someday." Later, he explained how that might happen: "I want to deal with you guys awhile before I make any transactions at all, period," he told the fake sheiks. "After we've done some business, well, then I might change my mind. I'm going to tell you this. If anybody can do it--I am not BSing you fellows--I can get it done my way. There's no question about it."

Mr. Murtha has said his only interest in the purported Saudi sheiks' money was that he hoped it would be invested in businesses in his district. But the full tape makes clear that Mr. Murtha was primarily interested in talking about such investments as a possible cover should he later decide to have the money transferred.

"And what I'm sayin' is, a few investments in my district, a few you know, is big to me, to this guy apparently is not too big, to a couple of banks which would get their attention. And investment in a business where you could legitimately say to me--when I say legitimately, I'm talking about so these bastards up here can't say to me, well, why, in eight years from now, that's possible, we'd never hear a thing for eight years, but all at once, ah, some dumb bastard would go start talking eight years from now, ah, about the whole thing and say, '[expletive], ah, this happened,' then he, then he, in order to get immunity so he doesn't go to jail, he starts talking and fingering people and then the [expletive] all falls apart."

The undercover FBI agent in the meeting then spoke up and said "You give us the banks where you want the money deposited."

"All right" Mr. Murtha responded. "How much money we talking about?"

"Well, you tell me" replied the FBI agent.

A few moments later in the tape, Mr. Murtha continues his discussion of how "a business commitment" in his district would be structured: "A business commitment that makes it imperative for me to help him. Just, let me tell you something. I'm sure if--and there's a lot of things I've done up here, with environmental regulations, with all kinds of waivers of laws and regulations. If it weren't for being in the district, people would say, 'Well that [expletive], I'm gonna tell you something this guy is, uh, you know, on the take.' Well once they say that, what happens? Then they start going around looking for the [expletive] money. So I want to avoid that by having some tie to the district. That's all. That's the secret to the whole thing."

 

I posted this yesterday:

A source of mine told me that he picked up two pieces of info on Murtha at a breakfast meeting today from guys who know Murtha.

1)  Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is his "right hand man."

2)  And a quote that reinforces the above:

"He (Murtha) was leaning on the guy (Weber: sitting with my source) telling the story to move his charity operation to Johnstown.  "I'll give you a grant of $100,000 for every job you move to Johnstown","

WSJ's Opinion Journal 

......That was the final straw from the irascible O'Neill. He determined to shut the (ABSCAM) investigation down, and the story of how he did it makes up a fascinating part of Mr. Crile's book, "Charlie Wilson's War" (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2003). Crile died earlier this year of cancer, but his story of how the larger-than-life Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas single-handedly steered money from the defense subcommittee that Rep. Murtha chaired to the anti-Soviet mujahadeen in Afghanistan is so riveting that it is being made into a major motion picture produced by Mike Nichols and starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts.

Crile reported that in early 1981 Speaker O'Neill called Rep. Wilson into his office and told him he wanted him to join the Ethics Committee right away. The Texas congressman had been pestering him for years to get a lifetime seat on the board the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. "It's the best perk in town," Mr. Wilson told Crile. "It means that I get the box right next to the president's box for the ballet when I want it. I get to go to all the cast parties, meet all the movie stars, and I get an extra invitation to the White House every season."

O'Neill made it clear he would appoint Mr. Wilson to the board he coveted, but that he would have to joni the Ethics Committee to take care of the Murtha matter. "It's a package deal, Chally," O'Neill is said to have told Mr. Wilson.

"The word on Charlie was that he didn't talk," ex-Rep. Tony Coelho, who became majority whip after O'Neill's retirement, told Crile. "From time to time the speaker needed to mount irregular operations, and Wilson was one of those irregulars Tip could count on." Mr. Wilson didn't need any prodding for his task: "He was a happy warrior as he raced to the rescue of his imperiled friend John Murtha," Crile wrote.

Crile reported that prior to Mr. Wilson's arrival on the Ethics Committee, it had largely given Mr. Prettyman, the special counsel, a free hand in his probe. That quickly changed: "Before Prettyman could fully deploy his investigators to move on the Murtha case, he was informed that the committee had concluded there was no justification for an investigation." The Ethics Committee chairman, Rep. Louis Stokes of Ohio, suddenly declared "This matter is closed."

Mr. Prettyman, who had already likened the Ethics Committee to "a misdemeanor court faced with a multiple murder," was furious at the dramatic change of course. He abruptly resigned his post the same afternoon the committee voted to clear Mr. Murtha. While Mr. Prettyman continues to refuse to discuss the case, he told Roll Call newspaper in 1990 that it would be "a logical conclusion" that he resigned over the committee's exoneration of Mr. Murtha. Crile's book notes that "a teary Murtha had confided to a colleague that Wilson's effort had saved his life." Crile concludes that the Murtha "rescue operation" had far-reaching consequences. "For O'Neill the intervention ended the threat to his hold on the House and unleashed him to become Ronald Reagan's liberal tormentor."

I assume that Hollywood will screw up the movie, but I’m glad Wilson is getting the recognition he serves.  If I went to Texas, the two people I would most want to meet would be Charlie Wilson and Kinky Friedman.  (And I was a Kinky fan way before he ran for governor..his books are an easy, entertaining read...the best is "Elvis, Jesus, and Coca-Cola."  Kinky's thesis, that the three things in the world that everyone knows about America are those three icons.  If it were written today, from my experiences overseas, it would be "Tiger, Nike and Coca-Cola."  Good for the folks at Coca-Cola HQ on North Avenue in Atlanta for holding onto their place in the world.

Fascinating show on PBS tonight:  JFK: Breaking the News

Tells the story of how the media covered the JFK assassination. Interviews with reporters and tape of the live coverage both local and national.  Right now showing interview with Abraham Zapruder.

PBS JFK: Breaking the News