[By November, this could conceivably substantially improve the odds of Dems gaining control of a house of Congress by substantially increasing the number of seats in play -- and these new seats being mostly Republican seats to lose.]
http://nytimes.com/2006/01/03/politics/03cnd-abramoff.html
The New York Times
January 3, 2006
G.O.P. Lobbyist Pleads Guilty in Deal With Prosecutors
By ANNE E. KORNBLUT
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony
counts in Washington today as part of a settlement with federal
prosecutors, ending an intense, months-long negotiation over whether
the Republican lobbyist would testify against his former colleagues,
people involved with the case said.
Mr. Abramoff, 46, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud, and tax
evasion, setting the stage for prosecutors to begin using him as a
cooperating witness against his former business and political
colleagues. In exchange, Mr. Abramoff faces a maximum of about 10
years in prison in the Washington case. The conspiracy charge included
Mr. Abramoff's effort to influence at least one member of Congress and
a Congressional staff member.
Mr. Abramoff is also scheduled to appear in Florida Wednesday in a
related case, in which he was indicted last year. In that case, he is
expected to plead guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with
his purchase of the SunCruz casino boat line, and will face a maximum
of about seven years' prison time.
Mr. Abramoff has been talking to investigators in the corruption case
for many months, said participants in the case, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the
investigation. They said he had provided a full picture of what
evidence he could offer against other suspects.
His participation in Washington has taken place mostly below the
radar, as prosecutors made the Miami case the focus of their public
work and as Mr. Abramoff and his associates claimed they were
preparing to stand trial, facing up to as many as 30 years in prison.
Though Mr. Abramoff's pleas in each location are separate, the deal
reached with the Justice Department is all-encompassing, reducing the
severe penalties Mr. Abramoff could have faced in either
investigation, in exchange for his inside knowledge of certain
lobbying work and legislative actions. One element of the deal is that
he can serve prison time in the two cases concurrently, although the
sentencing will not take place until much further along in the
investigation.
Details of the long-sought plea agreement were not made final until
after 9 p.m. on Monday night, following weeks of around-the-clock
communications between numerous prosecutors in several Justice
Department offices and lawyers for Mr. Abramoff. The deal, a so-called
"global" arrangement because it encompasses separate prosecutions in
Florida and Washington, comes less than a week before Mr. Abramoff was
scheduled to stand trial in the Miami case.
Official Washington has been on edge for months awaiting word of Mr.
Abramoff's legal future. Once a masterful Republican lobbyist with
close ties to the former House majority leader, Representative Tom
DeLay, he earned tens of millions of dollars representing Indian
casino interests and farflung entities like the Commonwealth of the
Northern Marianas Islands. Through a complicated web of financial
arrangements, he helped funnel donations to his lawmaker friends' and
their campaigns, and took members of Congress, mainly the Republicans
in power, on lavish trips.
Now, after more than two years of investigations, prosecutors have
developed a list of at least a dozen lawmakers, congressional aides
and lobbyists whose work appears suspect and who are now at the core
of the case. With Mr. Abramoff's cooperation, the Justice Department
will have a potentially critical witness to alleged patterns of
corruption or bribery within the Republican leadership ranks, which in
some cases they believe also took the form of campaign donations and
free meals at Mr. Abramoff's downtown restaurant, Signatures.
Already, prosecutors have a key witness in Michael Scanlon, once press
secretary to Mr. DeLay. Mr. Scanlon reached a plea agreement last
year, putting pressure on Mr. Abramoff to reach his own deal. Now that
Mr. Abramoff has done the same, one person involved in the case said:
"When some people hear about this, they will clamor to cut a deal of
their own."
* Copyright 2006The New York Times Company