Jack Abramoff

"I was actually thinking of writing a book...'The Idiot’s Guide to Buying a Congressman.'"

It's great to see the News-Leader continue to hold Roy Blunt accountable for his long, well-documented record of unethical leadership in Washington.  Water under the bridge, kids! 

What's good for Roy Blunt is good for Missouri.

OK, that's an overstatement, but there's a kernel of truth in that a Missourian in a position of leadership within the U.S. Senate Republican Conference could be beneficial to our state...

It should be noted that Blunt lost his leadership role among House Republicans following the resignation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, in a money laundering scandal. Blunt was part of that leadership team. But this has never proven a handicap for the freshman senator with Missourians. In Washington, D.C., it may be considered water under any Potomac River bridge.

Excuse me while I clean the spewed coffee off my keyboard and monitor...  and then clear my memory of all of following now-irrelevant information. 

The man they called "Fed-Ex" for his ability to deliver on lobbyist favors was sentenced to five hours behind bars. Check out the Post Dispatch and AP write up: 

A former aide to Missouri Republican Sen. Kit Bond is spending an afternoon behind bars for taking a trip to the World Series paid for by lobbyists.

U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts sent 37-year-old Trevor Blackann to the Washington federal courthouse lockup for five hours Tuesday for failing to report the trip as income on his tax return.

Blackann, who also did work for then-Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri back in 2000-2001, pleaded guilty to the tax charge three years ago after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors investigating lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his practice of trading trips and other gifts for favors from public officials. One of Abramoff's associates helped organize Blackann's trip to Game 1 of the 2003 World Series at Yankee Stadium.

Blackann was forced out of public policy work after his guilty plea and now lives in Colorado.

Here's an interesting tidbit from a weekend AP story about what's on deck for former Majority Leader Tom DeLay now that he's been convicted on on money laundering and conspiracy charges:

The sentencing hearing, which is set to begin Dec. 20, will feature "numerous witnesses who will talk about the other acts of corruption that Tom DeLay has committed," lead prosecutor Gary Cobb said. The defense, which called only five witnesses during the trial compared to 30 for the prosecution, also could present testimony in the penalty phase.

What a tease!  I'm sure the prosecutors have a number of options to choose from -- some of which may involve our own Roy Blunt, a very close confidant of DeLay's in Washington as the Majority Whip and acting Majority Leader until he lost his leadership post because his own colleagues decided his ties to DeLay and also-convicted superlobbyist Jack Abramoff were too great to ignore. 

Remember, for instance, that one of the key DeLay associates who conspired to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates was Jim Ellis, who ran Blunt's Rely On Your Beliefs (ROYB) Fund during Blunt's rise to power.   Ellis faces his own criminal charges in another case. 

The AP broke down a campaign finance "carousel" in 2005 involving Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt, Matt Blunt and Jack Abramoff.

Also remember that in 2000, DeLay and Blunt worked together on a "financial carousel" (that's what the AP called it) to divert money raised at the Republican National Convention to Matt Blunt's gubernatorial campaign.  Here's how the AP summarized the scheme:

Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt — now occupying DeLay's former post as House Majority Leader — through a series of donations that benefited both men’s causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist recently charged in an ongoing federal corruption and fraud investigation, and Jim Ellis, the DeLay fundraiser indicted with his boss last week in Texas, also came into the picture.

The complicated transactions are drawing scrutiny in legal and political circles after a grand jury indicted DeLay on charges of violating Texas law with a scheme to launder illegal corporate donations to state candidates.

This scheme was featured in a 2005 Ad from American Family Voices and the Public Campaign Action Fund, posted to YouTube by the Missouri Democratic Party.

Stay tuned.

h/t Anti Corruption Republican

A key witness in the corruption case against Kevin Ring, a former Jack Abramoff associate and former aide to then-Senator John Ashcroft, has changed his mind about his previous testimony admitting that he gave favors to Abramoff clients in return for free meals and tickets.  In Ring's first trial, the witness testified that he was bought off with the gifts, but the jury could not reach a verdict.  In the upcoming retrial, it looks like the story will be different.

Ring was indicted in 2008 on 10 federal corruption charges.

Jack Abramoff, the criminal lobbyist Roy Blunt's staff recently decided that Roy Blunt never met (even though Jack called Roy a friend, made sure he was entitled to free food and drink at his DC restaurant, did official acts for Abramoff clients that had nothing to do with Missouri after their staffs met up, and was the official GOP liaison to K Street when Jack was the most powerful lobbyist), is back in DC and thinking about writing a book:

HEARD ON THE HILL: JACK’S BACK!

Former lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff is back in town! On Tuesday, Casino Jack made the trip down from Baltimore — where he is living in a halfway house and working in a pizzeria after spending three and a half years behind bars — to have lunch with friends.

Abramoff was spotted breaking bread at Eli’s, a kosher restaurant in Dupont Circle, with three other men. The group was overheard discussing writing a book. Abramoff was rocking a button-down shirt and a yarmulke, although he looked like he could use a trip to the barber.

“He was just really scruffy,” a spy says.

No word yet on whether Blunt and the other Friends of the Owner will be mentioned in the acknowledgements.

Here's a headline in one of Roy Blunt's hometown papers, The Hill, that he can't be thrilled about: "GOP LEADERS PLEDGE K ST. PROJECT DEAD." 

Bad news for Blunt, and for his core constituency.

As you probably remember, Blunt's rise to power with Tom DeLay was inextricably linked with the development of "legion of Republican lobbyists into an arm of the House whip operation."  As summarized in the Washington Post's WhoRunsGov.com biographical summary for Blunt:

Throughout his time in office, Blunt has maintained close ties to lobbyists. He was a House GOP emissary for Tom DeLay’s notorious K Street Project, which prodded the Washington community to hire Republicans and raise money for the GOP cause. Blunt’s PAC employed Jim Ellis, who was indicted on corruption charges along with DeLay. Gregg Hartley, Blunt's former chief of staff, is now a vice chairman of powerhouse lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates.

Tom Edsall wrote (perhaps) the definitive summaries of Blunt's rise to power in 2006

Roy Blunt embodies the insidious, half-legal corruption that has permeated the G.O.P. majority since 1995. Blunt’s election as minority whip, by a 137-to-57 margin, was a defiant Republican rejection of calls to clean up their act. Warnings by Blunt’s challenger, John Shadegg of Arizona — “We ceded our reform-minded principles in exchange for a ...tighter grip on power” — went unheeded.

In 1998, DeLay put Blunt on the leadership ladder, making him chief deputy whip. Blunt modeled himself on DeLay, creating an identical network of state and federal political committees that raised money from the same lobbyists, corporations and trade associations that financed what became known as DeLay Inc...

In 2003, after DeLay moved up to majority leader and turned the so-called K Street Project over to him, Blunt promptly converted a legion of Republican lobbyists into an arm of the House whip operation. Lobbyists have always been close to Congress, under rule by either party. What DeLay and Blunt did was to sacralize this relationship. In doing so, they transferred a chunk of power from Capitol Hill to business interests.

This unholy alliance was a crucial factor in transforming the G.O.P. into an army of spenders whose earmarks, appropriations and tax cuts rivaled the government largess of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

It's too bad Jack Abramoff's DC restaurant isn't still open so that  Casino Jack's friends -- like Roy Blunt -- can have a fun watch party to enjoy free food and beverages while they reminisce about the days when they ran the show in Washington.

h/t Ezra Klein

One of the most amusing rhetorical devices I've seen this cycle from the Roy Blunt campaign is the suggestion that Robin Carnahan and Democrats are trying to make the race about "anything but the issues," by which be means "I'd like to talk about anything other than the issues with record in Washington."  On one level, it's interesting to hear the candidate from the Party of Personal Responsibility work so hard evade responsibility for his votes and actions -- but I also find it hard to blame Blunt and his staff for the ploy.  Would you want to try to explain away the bipartisan condemnation of your unethical behavior?

Regardless, any suggestions that a candidate's public record shouldn't be scrutinized are absurd and should raise red flags about what said candidate is trying to hide.  So here, in no particular order, are the top ten things I'd be particularly averse to discussing if I were a certain candidate for the U.S. Senate.

1. Blunt has TWICE been named one of the "Most Corrupt Members of Congress"
   CREW, 2006: "Beyond Delay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" Blunt comes in at #1: "Rep. Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent."
   
   CREW, 2005: "Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" "Rep. Blunt’s appointment is a case of ‘new boss, same as the old boss.’ While Rep. Blunt may be new to the job, he has long followed Rep. DeLay’s pattern of ignoring campaign finance laws and ethics rules."
   
   Public Citizen, 1/13/06: "Roy Blunt: Ties to Special Interests Leave Him Unfit to Lead" "In this report, Public Citizen compiles a disturbing dossier on Blunt, based on original research and a comprehensive compilation of news accounts of recent months. In the end, what emerges is a portrait of a legislative leader who not only has surrendered his office to the imperative of moneyed interests, but who has also done so with disturbing zeal and efficiency."
    
2. Blunt got in trouble in 2003 when the Washington Post reported that he had included a clause in a homeland security bill that would have benefited Philip Morris; the move was particularly problematic because Blunt was dating Abigail Perlman, a Philip Morris lobbyist
   The Washington Post's WhoRunsGov.com: "WhoRunsGov.com: "In 2003, Blunt got in trouble when the Washington Post reported that he had included a clause in a homeland security bill that would have benefited Philip Morris. The measure was particularly problematic because Blunt was dating a Philip Morris lobbyist at the time; they’ve since married and adopted a daughter from Russia."
   
   Washington Post, 6/11/03: "It is highly unusual for a House Republican to insert a last-minute contentious provision that has never gone through a committee, never faced a House vote and never been approved by the speaker or majority leader. Blunt's attempt became known only to a small circle of House and White House officials. They kept it quiet, preferring no publicity on a matter involving favors for the nation's biggest tobacco company and possible claims of conflicts of interest...."
       
3. Roy Blunt is not the leader of the House Republicans right now because his own colleagues were concerned about his many ties to Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff.
   Post-Dispatch, 2/3/06: "Blunt's downfall was not solely due to his status as an incumbent. Lawmakers said that his deep ties to the lobbying effort, his status-quo agenda, and his close relationship with ex-House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, helped doom his bid. DeLay was forced to step aside after a Texas grand jury indicted him last year; he also is under scrutiny in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal."
   
   Washington Post, 2/3/06: "Post-Abramoff Mood Shaped Vote for DeLay's Successor" "What Blunt presumed would be his greatest asset -- his links to the current leadership's system of power and favors -- turned out to be a liability. "
    

In new must-read stories from The Star and Post-Dispatch, we are asked to believe that Roy Blunt -- "the House GOP emissary for Tom DeLay’s notorious K Street Project" who was designated as an exclusive "friend of owner" at Jack Abramoff's DC restaurant -- never actually met the most prominent GOP lobbyist on K Street.   

This is how the denial reads in The Star's weekend story, Missourian embraces role of the insider:

Blunt spokeswoman Burson [Taylor] Snyder, who responded to most of the issues raised in this story by critics, points out: “Roy Blunt never met with Jack Abramoff.”

Emphasis added.  And in today's Post-Dispatch story, Blunt's ties to Abramoff resurface, Taylor Snyder offers a less-sweeping statement: "she 'never witnessed, nor am I aware of, any staff level meetings' with Abramoff."

The Blunt campaign's 2010 assertion that he "never met with Jack Abramoff" is incredibly hard to believe.  Remember that Blunt was listed as a "Friend of the Owner" at Abramoff's DC restaurant, Signatures. (This was before ol' Jack went to the pokey, of course.)   Team Blunt claims now, as they did when this fact was first reported in 2005, that Blunt chose not to avail himself to the free food and beverage he was offered as a friend of Abramoff's. This is irrelevant to the fact that Abramoff considered Blunt a friend, and included him on a very short list of friends at Signatures.   As reported by the New York Times in July 2005:

In the restaurant's early months, a customer list noted who could dine for free, according to two former managers. A copy obtained by The New York Times shows handwritten notes next to 18 names - lawyers, lobbyists and eight current or former lawmakers - designating them as "FOO Comp," for friend of owner, or "A-Comp," for associate of owner.

Only eighteen folks -- and only eight of them were Members of Congress.  And Blunt was on the even more exclusive "FOO" list.  How many people you've never, ever met list you as a "friend" at their swanky restaurants so you can have all the free food and drink you want? 

In honor of John Boehner's visit to Missouri, we bring you this clip from the C-SPAN archives.  As you'll recall, Boehner defeated Roy Blunt in the 2006 leadership elections after Tom DeLay stepped down.

As printed in the Post-Dispatch on February 3, 2006, "Lawmakers said that [Blunt's] deep ties to the lobbying effort, his status-quo agenda, and his close relationship with ex-House Majority Leader Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, helped doom his bid. DeLay was forced to step aside after a Texas grand jury indicted him last year; he also is under scrutiny in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal."

Left unsaid in the press conference are the facts that "Boehner called Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) to privately complain about Blunt's tactics" before the vote, the "rumors that Blunt was trading favors such as better committee assignments for votes," and the fact House GOPers picked Boehner over Blunt because they were "fed up with the current direction of the GOP."

A new web video from the Robin Carnahan campaign:

The reaction from the Roy Blunt campaign to fairly tame talk about their candidate's long record of unethical leadership in Washington has been pretty intense.  Andy Blunt and Matt Blunt want people fired (try not to laugh).  Rich Chrismer says that a strong focus on Roy Blunt's glaring ethical problems means the Robin Carnahan campaign has no focus.  Uh-huh. 

Obviously, the strategy here from Team Blunt is to muddy the waters and distract reporters and voters from very real problems in Blunt's record.  It's simply a fact that Blunt has been dogged by questions regarding his leadership in Washington by the press, independent watchdog organizations -- and members of his own party.

For instance, here's a sampling of what's been written by independent watchdog organizations:

• CREW, 2006: "Beyond Delay: The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress"
  Blunt comes in at #1: "Rep. Blunt's ethics issues stem from the misuse of his position to benefit family members, his connections to Jack Abramoff, and a trip paid for by a foreign agent."
• CREW, 2005: "Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress"
  "Rep. Blunt’s appointment is a case of ‘new boss, same as the old boss.’ While Rep. Blunt may be new to the job, he has long followed Rep. DeLay’s pattern of ignoring campaign finance laws and ethics rules."
• Public Citizen, 1/13/06: "Roy Blunt: Ties to Special Interests Leave Him Unfit to Lead"
  "In this report, Public Citizen compiles a disturbing dossier on Blunt, based on original research and a comprehensive compilation of news accounts of recent months. In the end, what emerges is a portrait of a legislative leader who not only has surrendered his office to the imperative of moneyed interests, but who has also done so with disturbing zeal and efficiency."
• CREW, 1/12/06: "Ethically Challenged Reps. Blunt and Cantor Not Fit for Leadership"
  “If Members of the House were truly committed to cleaning up the cesspool that Congress has become, they would not even consider Reps. Blunt and Cantor to lead the way."

It's worth noting that CREW is more than happy to criticize members of both parties.  As you can see, Democrats outnumber Republicans on the organization's CREWsMostCorrupt.org website.

In 2003, the Washington Post reported that Blunt's relationship with now-wife Abigail Perlman was "raising eyebrows and giving fits to self-appointed ethics cops." Just months earlier, Blunt's attempt to slip in language for benefit Philip Morris into a Homeland Security bill.  By complete coincidence,  Perlman was a lobbyist for Philip Morris, and the two were engaged in a "close personal relationship" at the time.  Blunt's moves to provide the favor for Philip Morris even disgusted Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Speaker J. Dennis Hastert's chief of staff (!). 

A few years later, Thomas B. Edsall, a journalist who covered Blunt's work as Majority Whip and leadership of the K Street Project as a staff writer for the Washington Post, was so disenchanted and disgusted with Blunt's body of work that he took to the opinion pages of the New York Times to write the following:

SAME OLD PARTY

Last Friday, the Republicans gave the Democrats a gift that will keep on giving: Roy Blunt of Missouri.

After an election repudiating the politics of Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay, Republicans elevated Blunt from the number three spot in the leadership to number two.

Roy Blunt embodies the insidious, half-legal corruption that has permeated the G.O.P. majority since 1995. Blunt’s election as minority whip, by a 137-to-57 margin, was a defiant Republican rejection of calls to clean up their act. Warnings by Blunt’s challenger, John Shadegg of Arizona — “We ceded our reform-minded principles in exchange for a ...tighter grip on power” — went unheeded.

The Washington Post previews the new "Young Guns" book from aspiring GOP leaders, with harsh criticism for the leadership of Speaker Denny Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Majority Whip Roy Blunt.

Aggressively looking to distance themselves from their party's past, three top Republican House members are using a new book to repeatedly and often scathingly criticize former GOP leaders.

In "Young Guns," due for release in the next couple of weeks, Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) and Paul Ryan (Wis.) cast the Republican congressional leaders who preceded them as a group that "betrayed its principles" and was plagued by "failures from high-profile ethics lapses to the inability to rein in spending or even slow the growth of government." Cantor specifically says Republicans became "arrogant and "out of touch."

"Under Republican leadership in the early 2000's, spending and government got out of control," McCarthy writes. "As government grew, there were scandals and political corruption. The focus became getting reelected rather than solving problems and addressing pressing issues."

Coincidently, it was Blunt's long list of ethical lapses and lack of real policy solutions that ended his time in the House leadership team.

From the MDP's "Very Worst of Washington" website:

Episode V: Congressman Blunt & Casino Jack

Congressman Blunt wines and dines with Abramoff before supporting Abramoff’s clients in letters written to the Secretary of the Interior.

In this dramatic episode, Congressman Roy Blunt cozies up to convicted felon Jack Abramoff. Abramoff has already contributed thousands to Blunt’s leadership fund but now Blunt gets listed as a “friend of the owner,” entitling him to free meals and drinks at Abramoff’s notorious D.C. watering hole, Signatures. “Friend of the owner” status is enjoyed by an elite group of 8 current and former Members of Congress. According to the Associated Press, Congressman Blunt, Tom DeLay and their aides frequently meet with Abramoff’s lobbying team. Shortly after receiving another large contribution from Abramoff, Blunt signs several letters to the Secretary of the Interior supporting Abramoff client positions. [New York Times, 7/6/05; Los Angeles Times, 1/5/06; Blunt Letter to Secretary Norton, 5/21/03; Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/4/05]

Download Episode Documentation

A new blog post from the Center for Responsive Politics breaks down the "financial rewards" Roy Blunt received from convicted felon Jack Abramoff, and describes Blunt as one of the "top beneficiaries" of Casino Jack's largesse.

Among current candidates and members of Congress, Abramoff’s top beneficiaries include:

• House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who took $9,000 directly from the Abramoffs

• Blunt, who accepted $8,500

The Missouri Democratic Party released a new episode of their "Washington Insiders" video series today - "Episode IV: Blunt Hires a Shady Lobbying Firm."

Hours after Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) launched their bipartisan list of "Crooked Candidates" highlighting the unsavory record of Roy Blunt, Ed Martin and nine other federal candidates from other states, the Chuck Purgason campaign blasted out an email asking, "What kind of character should our U.S. Senator Have?"

In a tweet this morning, Purgason highlighted the "favors for clients of lobbyist family members, 'close connections' to felon Jack Abramoff, etc" that are outlined in the CREW report.

Roy Blunt's next favorite movie, coming soon to a theater near you.

CNN: "Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff was transferred Tuesday from prison to a Maryland halfway house to serve out the remainder of his sentence, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Prisons told CNN."

Completely unrelated stories:

• AP, 1/11/06: "Blunt, DeLay shared connections to lobbyist Abramoff"
• NY Times, 7/6/05: "For Lobbyist, a Seat of Power Came With a Plate" (regarding Roy Blunt's VIP status at Abramoff's luxurious Washington restaurant)
• AP, 10/5/05: "DeLay, House successor swapped donations; AP campaign document review shows transactions took circuitous routes"