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January 10, 2006
How the Mighty Fall
Today's New York Times glimpses the now disgraced, and newly convicted former Washington mover and shaker Jack Abramoff. Apparently, Mr. Abramoff has now figured out who his real friends are, and there aren't many to be counted.
Despite Jack's public contrition and remorse at his recent plea hearing, today's article intimates that he's told people privately his outrageous conduct was nothing more than business as usual in Washington. What is frightening is he may be right. Apparently Abramoff still feverishly churns out messages from his Blackberry, suggesting he may not have learned as much as he should from his recent ordeal.
But beyond the damage Abramoff has done to himself, his real impact on Washington is yet to be felt. He has been talking to the Justice Department for 18 months now, and may have implicated as many as a dozen Republican Congressmen. Few know for sure what he has said or is saying, but the Beltway is frozen with anticipation or dread, depending on one's point of view.
For a certain troubled local Congressman, Abramoff's turning state's evidence cannot be good news. Mr. DeLay has now relinquished any future claim to his former post as Majority Leader, and his GOP caucus appears to be moving on. But what has DeLay's former "dear friend" told the feds? Unofficial word on the DC street is that DeLay has been told he is now a target of the Public Integrity Unit. Politically, the hits just keep on coming, not to mention the very expensive proposition of hiring a second team of defense lawyers.
The other question is to what extent Abramoff will implicate members of the Bush administration. It is difficult to imagine someone of Abramoff's reach and influence simply ignoring that behemoth, the executive branch. Indeed, a former administration chief procurement officer has already gone down because of Trader Jack.
Abramoff's appearance at court last week (fedora and trech coat) suggested a mobster who has flipped against the family, in this case the Republican Party. Sing Jack, sing! It will be an interesting year.
Posted by houtopia at January 10, 2006 03:14 PM