It's a Republican Scandal!
That's what Harry Reid said on Fox News Sunday, back on December 18.
But then how, pray tell, does he explain this?
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.
But then how, pray tell, does he explain this?
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.
posted by LadybugUSA at 3:10 PM
4 Comments:
I speculated in my article, titled "Bye Bye Harry?" that Reid's in a world of trouble.
The most striking thing in the AP article was this:
Two weeks later, Reid went to the Senate floor to oppose fellow Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's effort to win congressional approval for a Michigan casino for the Bay Mills Indians, which would have rivaled one already operating by the Saginaw Chippewa represented by Abramoff. "The legislation is fundamentally flawed," Reid argued, successfully leading the opposition to Stabenow's proposal.
It's appalling that Reid would run interference against a casino in Michigan when Michigan's senator, Debbie Stabenow, was trying to get it built for her constituents.
That's utterly disgusting. It's obvious that Reid's an Abramoff pawn.
Carol, you may want to read the article you hjave linked to. There is one little problem with the AP story. As Josh Marshall noted, "In this case, despite the AP story's narrative of lobbyist contacts, there doesn't seem to be any evidence whatsoever that Reid ever took any action on behalf of Abramoff's Marianas clients."
In fact after reading the article, there is absolutely no evidence of Harry Reid did anything for Abramoff's clients.
AP's got a bad case of truthiness.
Gary Gross writes, "It's appalling that Reid would run interference against a casino in Michigan when Michigan's senator, Debbie Stabenow, was trying to get it built for her constituents."
Gary, exactly what state do you think Harry Reid is a Senator from? Stop the presses--there is a Senator from Nevada who is opposed to the expansion of casino gambling in other states. The only thing newsworthy about this is that some people apparently let partisan bitterness effect the reasoning centers of their brains.
"It's obvious that Reid's an Abramoff pawn."
No, it's obvious that you don't have the sense God gave a chicken.
If you want to see some actual Abramoff sleeze, as opposed to the made up AP Abramoff sleeze, you can view items such as the official DOJ press release on Abramoff's plea agreement. Here is a part about Representative #1 (Bob Ney R-OH).
"For example, Abramoff and Scanlon provided things of value to a public official (described as Representative #1) and members of his staff, including, but not limited to, a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous courses, tickets to sporting events and other entertainment, regular meals at Abramoff’s upscale restaurant, and campaign contributions for the Representative, his political action committee, his campaign committee, and other political committees on behalf of the Representative. At the same time, and in exchange for these things of value, Scanlon and Abramoff sought and received the Representative’s agreement to perform directly and through others a series of official acts, including but not limited to agreements to support and pass legislation, and agreements to place statements in the Congressional Record."
When you can find something comparable on the Democratic side of the aisle, we can talk about this being a bi-partisan scandal. President Bush invited Abramoff to be his guest at his ranch in Crawford; you can't even find a Democrat who did the same.
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