The closer the investigations get, the more the wingers are flailing about. The republican organized crime family in DC is going down. In flames. Just grab your snacks and wait for the show.

Abramoff makes his decision tomorrow. Spies in the Pentagon case/this week. Fitzgerald, who knows what he's looking into, Enron coming up.

The wailing and flailing will become the loudest when the trials start.

Dodge, bob and weave, deflect and deny. GOP deathstar is spiraling.

Do golden parachutes and pardons work in space?

We'll see. They might, they just might.

If they do, we'll know just how badly our gubmint has been compromised. It can be fixed though. Everything is possible in America.

People are waking up, it's people that make America great--not a handful of corrupt but powerful jerks. They always lose. Maybe not right away, but they lose in the end.

We will prevail.

HEY SHERRY!!!




Tonight and tomorrow night there will be a two part special on CSPAN dealing with the Jack Abramoff investigation. Congressional testimony, guests, shows, the whole ball of wax.

Gingrich on Washington Journal talking about the lobbying laws.

CSPAN just said Abramoff will plead guilty. Now Newt is defending Tom DeLay.

Top lobbyist to plead guilty of corruption

Abramoff could help in wider investigation of up to 20 lawmakers

WASHINGTON - Lobbyist Jack Abramoff will plead guilty to corruption and other charges in a plea deal with federal prosecutors, NBC News has learned.

The agreement is expected to secure the lobbyist's testimony against several members of Congress who received favors from him or his clients.

Abramoff and a former partner were indicted in Miami in August on charges of conspiracy and fraud for allegedly lying about their assets to help secure financing to purchase a fleet of gambling boats.


Pressure has been intensifying on Abramoff to strike a deal with prosecutors since former partner Adam Kidan pleaded guilty in December to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the deal in 2000 to acquire the SunCruz fleet in Florida.

Wider probe of lawmakers
Abramoff's cooperation is expected to be a boon to an ongoing Justice Department investigation of congressional corruption, possibly helping prosecutors build criminal cases against up to 20 lawmakers of both parties and their staff members.

U.S. District Judge Paul Huck had earlier scheduled a status conference for Tuesday afternoon.

It was not clear where Abramoff would enter his plea. Abramoff's lawyers have indicated that they want the plea to be made in U.S. District Court in Washington, one person said.

If that happens, Abramoff would plead guilty to charges contained in a criminal information — a filing made by a federal prosecutor with a defendant's permission that bypasses action by a grand jury.

The lawyers could then apprise Huck about the plea and its effect on the case in Miami.

Abramoff and Kidan were charged with concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were putting their own money into SunCruz. Two lenders agreed to provide $60 million in financing for the purchase based on that false wire transfer, according to prosecutors.

Tribal fraud investigation
Prosecutors in Washington have also investigated whether Abramoff defrauded his Indian tribal clients of millions of dollars and used improper influence on members of Congress.

In a five-year span ending in early 2004, tribes represented by the lobbyist contributed millions of dollars in casino income to congressional campaigns, often routing the money through political action committees for conservative lawmakers who opposed gambling.

Abramoff also provided trips, sports skybox fundraisers, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment and jobs for lawmakers' relatives and aides.

Kidan and Abramoff bought SunCruz from Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was slain in 2001 in a gangland-style hit in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Investigators say Boulis and Kidan were fighting for control of SunCruz; Kidan has denied any involvement in Boulis' death.

Three men were arrested in September on murder charges in Boulis' killing and are awaiting trial.

Michael Scanlon, another former Abramoff associate, pleaded guilty in November in a separate case in Washington.

Scanlon said he helped Abramoff and Kidan buy SunCruz by persuading Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican, to insert comments into the Congressional Record that were "calculated to pressure the then-owner to sell on terms favorable" to Abramoff and Kidan.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10692635/from/RS.5/

The Abramoff Galaxy
Jack Abramoff is negotiating a possible deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty and cooperate with their investigation into corruption in Washington. For more than five years, Abramoff was one of the capital's most prominent Republican lobbyists. E-mails, documents and interviews with his former associates show that he set up many interlocking political and business entities to raise money, pay for lawmakers' trips and other favors, fund his pet projects, and gain influence for himself and his clients. The Justice Department has been looking into his relationships with half a dozen members of Congress, as well as with Hill aides, government officials and business associates.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...5122801183.html


The site has a really cool interactive graph of all the players and those who have plead guilty.

Thanks davis, that is a cool site. I saved it for future reference.

So many crooks, so many investigations, it's a full time job keeping up.

Don't forget to stock up on snacks.

pizza is olny a call away.

if, at last, it becomes irrefutably clear to a large portion of the general public that the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were stolen, along with key congressional races in 2002, and if indictments follow and a fair election ensues, then public outrage will result in the Democratic control of at least one, and more likely, both houses of Congress. Still worse will then be in store for those who stole our elections and our democracy, as the congressional Democrats gain the power of subpoena and the threats of perjury and contempt of Congress. The likely outcome will be the disintegration of the Republican conspiracy, and the relegation of that party to minority status for the next generation.

The ballot is the heart of democracy. If one party "owns" the ballot box, it owns the government, for that party is no longer answerable to the will of the people; it rules without the "consent of the governed." Thus it is no wonder that the Bush regime and the GOP want to keep this issue off the public agenda. We can't allow them to succeed. It's as simple as that.

http://www.crisispapers.org/essays6p/keystone.htm

That is why Republicans are declaring all out war. On EVERYONE. They cannot afford any scrutiny. They will attempt to stifle every inquiry. They will use war, religion, presidential perogative ... anything to get around the laws and acheive their goals. They have taught the world that law is meaningless and you should do whatever's in your own interests.

They tried to gut the ethics committee. They know what's at stake. Once you peel the layers of the onion back they have no real defense. They have used methods beyond reasonable. I used to like some of them but now they will have to earn any trust.

That would mean a purge of those responsible. We know that's just not going to happen.

Republicans have sold any right to the claim of morality.

For a little added entertainment, we have Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling being tried on Jan. 30th.

The Houston Chronicle has a full report page with history and up to date trial coverage. It's great to be able to see who everyone was/is and how they ended up.

http://www.chron.com/news/specials/enron/



I love it when the corrupt get what's due them.



It's too sad for all the lives that were ruined by them. In prior times they would have been hung.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_sca...e_United_States


# Travelgate (1993)
# Filegate -- Bill Clinton compiles an illicit enemies list of his critics, using FBI resources
# Zoe Baird's nomination as Attorney General and Kimba Wood's subsequent near-nomination were derailed by past employment of illegal aliens as nannies. (1993)
# Dan Rostenkowski and other Democrats in the Congressional Post Office Scandal (1991 - 1995)
# The office of Vince Foster, under investigation before his strangely conducted suicide, is cleared out before investigators can examine it, various documents which may relate to Foster's actions or death are withheld or vanish, and allegations arise of suspicious handling of the Foster death investigation itself, leading to strong questions of whether it was suicide at all.
# Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich financial improprieties
# White House Coffees and Lincoln Bedroom Sales -- questionable, potentially illegal, links were made between political donations and access to President Clinton, including the apparent sale of "coffees" with him, and what amounted to the renting out of the Lincoln Bedroom.
# Walter Fauntroy, Delegate to Congress from the District of Columbia, guilty plea regarding lying on financial disclosure form (1995)
# Wes Cooley (1996)
# Walter R. Tucker III of California resigned before bribery conviction (1996)
# Secretary of Agriculture Michael Espy forced to resign from office despite ultimate acquittal on criminal corruption charges (1998)
# Commerce Secretary Ron Brown investigated (1995)
# Americorps head Eli Segal investigated (1996)
# Labor Secretary Alexis Herman investigated (1998) in connection with alleged illegal fundraising and other financial improprieties, ultimately cleared (2001)
# Bruce Babbitt, Interior Secretary, independent probe (1998-2000) of alleged lying to Congress concerning influence of money in 1995 American Indian tribe casino decision finds no criminally prosecutable perjury by Babbitt
# Vice-President Al Gore (1998) allegations of improper fundraising and "no controlling legal authority" defense
# Whitewater scandal (1994-2000)
# Teamstergate Ron Carey's and Bill Clinton's 1996 campaigns for the Presidency of the union and the United States, respectively, swapped Teamsters' Union general treasury funds into Clinton's campaign, for Clinton Campaign funds into Ron Carey's campaign warchest. The Teamsters' political director was jailed. No Clinton officials were charged. Carey's re-election was invalidated; James Hoffa, Jr. was elected when Teamsters election was rerun.
# Henry Cisneros resigns as Housing Secretary and, after lengthy probe that began in 1995, pleads guilty (1999) to lying to the FBI about money he paid former mistress Linda Medlar a.k.a. Linda Jones; later pardoned by President Clinton in 2001 (Possibly reclassify or cross-reference to Sex scandal)
# Pardongate (1999 - 2001) -- Bill Clinton appeared to write out pardons, during his lame duck tenure, in response to massive contributions linked to the pardoned. This included a scandal which has become traditional for departing presidents; the sudden flurry of pardons during the final month in office, which would probably not have been deemed tolerable at any other time.

I think we should do away with the presidential pardon. It's used to get away with crime not to correct miscarriages of justice.

Here's a link to the actual document indicting Abramoff.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/abramoff-plea1.html

Enjoy your reading.

Let 'em make pardons BEFORE elections, not as lame ducks. Hell, give both sides a couple and see what they do with them, then we can vote based on that. Sometimes they probably do help real people. That kid with a life sentence for a drug deal he wasn't even part of would be out today if I were president.

It looks like AV is trying to find as many OLD scandals as possible to divert attention from the tsunami of indictments coming out of DC this year.

Bob, weave, dodge, deflect, divert, he'd make a good boxer.

that would be the miscarriage of justice thing. Mark Rich wasn't. Elliot Abrams wasn't.

Hey sherry, that's ok. They can compare this administration and congress to any that have come before.

I don't mind at all. I want that kind of behavior purged from BOTH parties. I did not vote for Gore because Democrats had become whores. Republicans are much, much worse but that doesn't change my disgust for the behavior of those who sold out the working man.


Like Duke Cunningham let those theivin' corksockers go down and drag everyone around them as part of a plea.

Times, they may be a-changin.

and no mention of Vince Foster, Ron Brown, Admiral Boorda, James McDougal, Charles Ruff and the other 50+ people.

AV thinks that its ok to break laws if somebody else did it first...

don't get yer panties in a FRIST

Lots of investigation.

We'll see who ends up with more convictions.

we'll see how many of this congress or administration's missteps and foibles will even be investigated.

You need to be reminded that your buds have had more than a few gloves laid on them. Quit pretending you ain't been hit because I've seen the scorecard.

Saw Newt on WJ this morning. He was flip-flopping around like a carp out of water. The Abramoff subject was juuuuust a little awkward.

Why did Nixon resign?

As long as there's a new scorecard for the current theives and felons.


But double-standards rule in politics.

and on this board

So when Dems win again we go back to ignoring theives and felons?

I don't know what you want from me. I answer your questions yet you still complain.

Not from me. Remember, I'm for that ethics war. Let the chips fall where they will.

Q: "What is the average airspeed velocity of an unladen European swallow?" A: "With or without a coconut?"

If that's truly the case you're one of the few. I've been for the nuclear option for years because that's the only way I can see any new people and ideas getting in.

I just don't like white collar criminals getting away with blatant bribery and selling of votes.

Call it criminalizing politics or whatever other nifty catchphrase they can come up with. But that one is funny.

Let's put this into perspective.

To me, it's politicizing criminal behavior.

Bottom line, because they had him on the White House tapes agreeing to criminal breaking and entering of the DNC headquarters in the Watergate Hotel by the "plumbers."

Of course I will be the first to admit I would rather see Republicans down in flames.

The morals and values phony dicks and Contract for 'merca hypocrites are some of my least favorite politcians.

GWB first prez ever to admit to impeachable crimes

Why, I hadn't even noticed.

At least I'm not hiding it.

http://www.watergate.com/stories/liddy.asp#where


Liddy Defeats Wells/Dean
Watergate Debate Begins — Serious Questions Raised
Wells V. Liddy

BALTIMORE: JULY 4: After four hours of deliberation, a federal jury in Baltimore ruled in favor of G. Gordon Liddy in a $5 million defamation of character suit brought by former Democratic National Committee secretary, Ida "Maxie" Wells. Wells claimed that Liddy hurt her reputation when he linked the infamous Watergate burglary to a call-girl ring. The jury was not asked to decide whether it believed the alternate Watergate theory, which portrays the burglars as looking for photos of prostitutes and not just political dirt. But in their verdict, the jurors found that Liddy did not defame Wells by repeating it.


A & E Documentary Supports Call Girl Theory

Used as an impotant piece of evidence in the Wells v. Liddy case, the documentary "Key to Watergate," by award winning producer Barbara Newman, firmly establishes that the desk of Democratic National Committee secretary Ida "Maxie" Wells was the actual target of the Watergate break-in. This 45-minute documentary also demonstrates that there is no extant evidence proving that DNC Chairman Larry O'Brien was the break-in target — thus confounding the longstanding, accepted version. If the burglars targeted Wells and not O'Brien, then the entire break-in theory must be re-investigated.

Through the eyes of the key participants, you'll witness the entire story of the fateful night of June 16/17, 1972. Hear the stories of not only G. Gordon Liddy, but the D.C. Police officers who made the arrests that night: Carl Shoffler, John Barrett and Paul Leeper.

Unlike other documentaries, the "Key to Watergate" provides evidence and not mere speculation. Recently, two federal courts agreed that the evidence presented in this documentary was credible. Watch it and decide. The "Key to Watergate" was produced in 1992 as an A & E investigative piece.



June 19, 1972 — Dean Takes Charge of the Cover-up
The Nixon Era Begins

In John Ehrlichman's documentary "Eye of the Storm", the fact surfaces that the first working day after the Watergate Break-in (June 19, 1972), John Dean took charge of the situation. This is according to the accounts given by Ehrlichman, Dean, G. Gordon Liddy, Chuck Colson, Gordon Strachan and Robert Bennett. In addition, Dean admits under oath that he deliberately withheld key information from the White House. According to Ehrlichman, Dean "kept the information to himself — didn't inform those of us in the White House who had some responsibility for the matter and we adopted a line that nobody in the White House was involved — which didn't happen to be true."

Even a pretense of being against ALL curruption is better than what goes on most of the time.

Buy a copy of the Watergate tapes, the reasons for the break-in are clearly discussed by the principals...a call girl ring is not the reason. I have no idea why Liddy thinks he broke in, but I do why those who sent him and the other plumbers did so. I do not think those tapes are fakes...

AV prefers right wing liars for his "news" over serious research

People who KNOW they are being taped aren't likely to reveal anything really insightful. In fact it's the perfect place to put out your own line or set up others to.

Nixon NEVER planned on anyone hearing the tapes

they were SECRET

Link please!

http://www.whitehousetapes.org/pages/tapes_rmn.htm


They were installed to preserve history for posterity. That was always on the President's mind ... he was very conscious of our having a good system for collecting the things which transpired with regards to the affairs of the State. [14]

The recording system would not only accurately record his meetings and conversations, but also the intangibles: nuances of expressions and tones of voices. Nixon, according to Haldeman, considered these intangibles "of substantive importance and always of historical significance.” [15]

Initially, Nixon used note-takers to describe a presidential meeting by writing a ‘color’ memorandum for the record. Color memoranda were intended to describe the details of presidential meetings as completely and thoroughly as possible. However, he was not satisfied with this system. As stated earlier, he felt that note-takers inhibited conversation, describing them to Haldeman as “scribbling intruders.” [16] Moreover, the ‘color’ memorandum for the record varied widely in detail and content, depending on the note-taker. Some aides wrote more thorough and accurate accounts than others. These memos were also subject to that aide's own interpretation and often, the aide misinterpreted what was said. [17]

Nixon and Haldeman searched for a way of resolving these problems. They experimented briefly with different options, including having Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters, who was known for both his outstanding memory and writing ability, sit in on the various presidential meetings, memorizing the conversations and writing memoranda afterwards. Walters refused, telling Haldeman that “I am a Commander of troops. I am not a secretary to anybody.” [18]

As Haldeman and Nixon were wrestling with finding a solution to this problem in the winter of 1970-71, former President Johnson, through an intermediary, offhandedly offered them a solution. Apparently, he told the intermediary that Nixon had made a mistake in removing his recording system. [19] Johnson went on to say that his tapes were invaluable in helping him write The Vantage Point. [20]

The Recording System

Haldeman and Nixon discussed installing a recording system in early 1971. Nixon finally agreed. [21] Haldeman and Butterfield decided that the best solution was to install a voice-activated recording system. They felt that Nixon would forget to turn a manually controlled system on and off. In addition, they felt that the President was “far too inept with machinery ever to make success of a switch system.” [22] Butterfield ordered the head of the Technical Services Division of the Secret Service, Alfred Wong, to install a taping system that required minimal maintenance. [23]

The Secret Service designed a voice-activated recording system that operated automatically. This system was tied to the Secret Service's presidential locator system. [24] Whenever President Nixon entered a designated recording area, his electronic beeper would automatically signal the recorder to switch into record/pause mode. A Voice Operated Relay turned the recorders on as soon as the microphones picked up any sound and the machines began recording. In theory, the system would continue recording for twenty to thirty seconds after the last sound was made. [25] The Secret Service installed seven different recording stations for President Nixon. The seven stations were: the Oval Office, the Cabinet Room, the White House telephone (which included Nixon's telephones in the Oval Office, his EOB office, and the telephone in the Lincoln Sitting Room in the residence), Nixon's EOB office, Aspen Lodge at Camp David, [26] the telephone on Nixon's Desk in Aspen Lodge, [27] and the telephone on a table in Nixon's study in Aspen Lodge. [28]

Each recording station had two Sony 800B recorders. A timer switched from one recorder to the other every twenty-four hours, except on weekends when one recorder ran for forty-eight hours. [29] Because Nixon and Haldeman wanted a system that required little maintenance and could record for extended periods, the Secret Service decided to use tapes that recorded at the very slow speed of 15/16 inches per second on very thin 0.5 millimeter tape. [30] Because of the slow recording speed, each reel could hold up to six and a half hours of recording time per reel.

On occasion, the Secret Service agents changed reels while a meeting was in progress. In these cases, some portions of those meetings were not recorded while the change took place. They placed the completed tape in a box and wrote the inclusive dates on it. These tapes were then placed in secure storage vaults and arranged into seven series or stations according to the recording location.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=admit...G=Google+Search