Reply #36: Abramoff/Iran-Contra connections

[UpInArms]

This new topic is awaiting edits. It was started by Peter Frank.

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Controversial lobbyist had close contact with Bush team

WASHINGTON (AP) — In President Bush's first 10 months, GOP fundraiser Jack Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration as they pressed for friendly hires at federal agencies and sought to keep the Northern Mariana Islands exempt from the minimum wage and other laws, records show.

The meetings between Abramoff's lobbying team and the administration ranged from Attorney General John Ashcroft to policy advisers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, according to his lobbying firm billing records.

Abramoff, a $100,000-plus fundraiser for Bush, is now under criminal investigation for some of his lobbying work. His firm boasted its lobbying team helped revise a section of the Republican Party's 2000 platform to make it favorable to its island client.

In addition, two of Abramoff's lobbying colleagues on the Marianas won political appointments inside federal agencies.

Read more here….

Controversial lobbyist had close contact with Bush team - Associated Press - usatoday.com

–––––––––

the FEC says Abramoff gave NO MONEY to Dems
http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/norindsea.shtml

Type "Abramoff" and search.

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Abramoff's contributions to Republicans (100%): Data Provided by the Federal Election Commission as of 1/2/06


GOP Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and His Closest Allies


A Google search links Abramoff--possibly--to Tom DeLay, Richard DeVos, Ralph Reed, Mohammad Atta, Oregon State University, George W. Bush, Contras, Mobutu Sese Seko, Council for National Policy, The Mafia, David Safavian, Apartheid, Adam Kidan, Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, Michael Scanlon,Bob Ney?

__________________________

Geov Parrish
The Abramoff primer
WorkingForChange.com
12.12.05

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=20051

Four scandals, 25 players, one sad episode for American democracy

The ever-widening scandal surrounding Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff threatens to take down at least a half-dozen Congressmen in 2006, more of their aides, Executive Branch employees, and untold numbers of other members of the Republican Beltway hierarchy...

Appallingly, it's hard to tell with many of Abramoff's activities whether they are crimes, D.C. business as usual, or both. Here, then, compiled from the Washington Post and other sources, is a summary in alphabetical order of 25 of the key players involved...

JACK ABRAMOFF
EDWARD AYOOB
EDWIN BUCKHAM
SEN. CONRAD BURNS
REP. TOM DELAY
REP. JOHN DOOLITTLE
SEN. BYRON DORGAN
ITALLIA FEDERICI
TIMOTHY FLANAGAN
STEVEN GRILES
REP. DENNIS HASTERT
REP. DOC HASTINGS
ADAM KIDAN
RABBI DANIEL LAPIN
ED MILLER
REP. ROBERT NEY
GROVER NORQUIST
PATRICK PIZZELLA
REP. RICHARD POMBO
RALPH REED
SEN. HARRY REID
TONY RUDY
DAVID SAFAVIAN
MICHAEL SCANLON
NEIL VOLZ

___________________________

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In Hollywood

Abramoff...spent ten years in Hollywood, producing such movies as Red Scorpion, an anti-communist film...

____

College years

In college, Abramoff organized Massachusetts campuses for Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980. A year later, he graduated from Brandeis University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Abramoff was soon elected chairman of the College Republican National Committee with the campaign being managed by Grover Norquist and aided by Ralph E. Reed, Jr.. "It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left," Abramoff was quoted as saying in the group's 1983 annual report, "Our job is to remove them from power permanently".

Abramoff "changed the direction of the committee and made it more activist and conservative than ever before," notes the CNRC. <3>

At the CRNC in the 1980s, Abramoff developed political alliances with College Republican chapter presidents across the nation, many of whom now have gone on to graduate to significant national influence in American politics and business. Some of these long-standing alliances are the subject of various federal investigations into Abramoff and his political and business dealings.

http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=1917&name=Jack-Abramoff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Abramoff
http://www.firedupmissouri.com/abramoff_skybox

________________________________

Bloomberg
Scanlon Pleads Guilty, Cooperates in Abramoff Probe (Update2)
Nov. 21

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aM0MEONh7DpE&refer=us

``They're using Scanlon to get everybody,'' said Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who now heads Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an advocacy group. ``That's how it works. You keep rolling people. I'm sure Tom DeLay is unhappy today to hear Michael Scanlon has made a deal.''


_____________________________________


Bloomberg
Scanlon Plea May Help Prosecutors Clear Constitutional Hurdle
Nov. 22

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aWh2N_pjMHwE&refer=us

Nov. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Former lobbyist Michael Scanlon's cooperation with U.S. Justice Department lawyers in a conspiracy investigation may help them clear a constitutional hurdle that protects lawmakers from prosecution over official acts.

___________________________________________


Washington Post/AP
Bob Ney is poster boy in bribe probe
Pete Yost
Nov. 23, 2005

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/23/AR2005112300154.html

WASHINGTON - Identified in new court documents as "Representative No. 1," Republican Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has become the poster boy in the Jack Abramoff bribery probe, a beneficiary of trips, tickets and campaign donations, allegedly in exchange for official acts.

_____________________________________________


Miami Herald
Casino buyer pleads guilty to fraud
Jay Weaver and Wanda J. Demarzo
Dec. 16, 2005

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/13419048.htm

New York businessman Adam Kidan pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding lenders of more than $20 million in the purchase of SunCruz Casinos -- a deal that police believe is linked to the mob-style slaying of former SunCruz owner Gus Boulis.

Kidan agreed to help prosecutors build their fraud case against his former partner Jack Abramoff, a once-influential Washington lobbyist.

With the Abramoff case likely to reveal much more about the seamy side of Republican machinations, it would be helpful to compile all available info in a central spot.

Let's see how much material is out there, and watch as the entire picture takes shape. Peter Frank

There's a lot of material at this website: http://www.madcowprod.com/
I don't know if it would be considered a kosher source of information, however. AntiFascist.

See this DailyKos diary for some real meat:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/17/122311/72


Abramoff seems to be the spider at the center of much of the web of criminal influence peddling that have funneled money into the GOP during the past decade, creating ties between the Republican White House and terrorist-linked Persian Gulf bankers.


and this comment:


And people need to realize that the reason that the 9/11 attacks were never fully investigated was not for tinfoil reasons like "CIA planned it," but because too many al-Qaeda players have too many suspicious links to the president, members of the Bush Administration and to prominent Republicans.

The 9/11 trail leads directly back to rich Saudis who are playing an extremely complicated game of their own on their home turf, waging a proxy war with extremists, etc., etc., etc.

The problem that the Bush Administration has is that the whole lot of them are up to their neck in influence from the send Saudis who pumped and continue to pump money into Islamic extremism around the world.

The Abramoff story is chapter 1,342 of the book.


and more Abramoff diaries here:

http://www.dailykos.com/user/dengre

AHA!

He was Executive Director of "Citizens for America" a Reagan White House "citizen lobbying" effort that helped Ollie North organize the Contra speaking tours (that helped break open the Iran-Contra scandal).

In 1985 Jack went to Jamba, Angola to meet with and organize a US lobbying effort for Nicaraguan contras, the Afghan Mujahedeen and Laotian hill tribes.


AntiFascist

Hi all,

It occurs to be that Mr. Abramoff is at the center of so many different criminal acts that perhaps this research topic should be subdivided. I suggest starting with the following:

Abramoff ripping off Indian tribes
Abramoff's influence on the Department of the Interior (including CREA)
The murder of Gus Boulis and the fraudulent acquisition of SunCruz
Abramoff and the GSA (David Safavian)
Abramoff and Israel (faking his Orthodox credentials, the sniper school, the Eshkol Academy)
Abramoff and the 9/11 terrorists
The Scotland golf trip
Abramoff and Congress
Abramoff and the College Republicans
Abramoff and Signatures restaraunt
Abramoff and the skybox tickets
Abramoff and the Marianas Islands
Abramoff and the Philippines

I fully realize that every single one of these topics bleeds into others. For example, David Safavian was on the Scotland golf trip and also greenlighted the sale of GSA land for the Eshkol Academy. With each parallel reference, it might be practicable to add a parenthetical (e.g. see "Section X for more on the Eshkol Academy").

Critical to this endeavor should be the collection of as many publicly released references to primary documents, particularly the thousands of emails which are often quoted only in part in the press.

sofa king

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has released new documents from the 11/17/05 hearing:

http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/111705hrg/111705exhibits.pdf

And also from the 11/02/05 hearing:

http://indian.senate.gov/2005hrgs/110205hrg/110205exhibits.pdf

Many of these emails are poorly redacted, which will allow the diligent researcher to draw good guesses about players who are currently being protected.


How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck
Abramoff Used DeLay Aide, Attacks On Allies to Defeat Anti-Gambling Bill

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, October 16, 2005; Page A01

<snip>

Abramoff quietly arranged for eLottery to pay conservative, anti-gambling activists to help in the firm's $2 million pro-gambling campaign, including Ralph Reed, former head of the Christian Coalition, and the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition. Both kept in close contact with Abramoff about the arrangement, e-mails show. Abramoff also turned to prominent anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist, arranging to route some of eLottery's money for Reed through Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform.

More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101501539.html


Also:

October 17, 2005
TVC's Sheldon Accepted Big Bucks to Support Gambling, Mislead Followers

The Washington Post reported Oct. 16 that the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, head of the Traditional Values Coalition, accepted at least $25,000 in direct funds, and perhaps thousands more in indirect support, from an online gambling company and indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a 2000 campaign to block federal legislation that would have banned online gambling.

Furthermore, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed reportedly acted as a financial, political and marketing go-between, channeling (laundering) funds in a $2 million pro-gambling campaign involving former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's office, the gambling industry, and Christian rightists allied with Reed and Sheldon who were willing to accept money without knowing its source; shoot down antigambling legislation without concern for the facts; and battle fellow Christian rightists.

When the campaign briefly went sour, and Sheldon's lying was exposed, Sheldon diverted attention with an attack on homosexuals.

As XGW noted last week, Sheldon continues to exploit homosexuals to divert attention from his own unethical behavior.

<snip>

In June 2000, according to checks and e-mails obtained by the Post, gambling company eLottery paid Sheldon $25,000 directly, and $80,000 to Reed that was laundered through Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) and Virginia Beach, Va.-based Faith and Family Alliance. (Robin Vanderwall, head of the FFA, was a former Regent University Law School student and Republican operative later convicted of soliciting sex with minors.) Reed's company then collected a stake for itself and further laundered funds to Christian conservative and marketing outfits, according to the Post.

Vanderwall admits laundering money under instruction from Reed: "I was operating as a shell," Vanderwall said, adding that he was never told how the money was spent. He said: "I regret having had anything to do with it."

More:
http://www.exgaywatch.com/blog/archives/2005/10/tvcs_sheldon_ac.html



Meet the Lapin Brothers
Rabbis Daniel and David both count superlobbyist Jack Abramoff as a friend, and both now are turning up in news coverage of the Tom DeLay scandal.

by Rick Anderson

Daniel Lapin appears to be in overdrive these days. "I gave him your message," says a spokesperson for the Mercer Island rabbi, the Seattle talk-radio host, and the field commander in the religious right's war to reunite church and state. "He's just a busy guy," too busy to come to the phone and chat about Jack Abramoff, the dethroned D.C. superlobbyist and board member of Lapin's Mercer Island Judeo Christian charity.

More:
http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0519/050511_news_lapin.php


Queer allies
By Evan Gahr

The little-noticed alliance between gay marriage opponents and alleged terrorist sympathizers
http://www.jewishworldreview.com

The Massachusetts Supreme Court decision to legalize homosexual marriage in the Bay state re-ignited the culture wars. The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, perhaps the preeminent liberal Jewish organization in Washington, DC, applauded the ruling. Religious-minded conservatives, however, were horrified. They are determined to stop the gay rights movement in its tracks. At what price?

<snip>

But they sounded not like religious figures but rather crass politicians who lack any kind of moral compass. Rabbi Barry Freundel, of the Rabbinical Council of America, who wouldn't say much publicly, remained on the board. Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of First Things magazine and head of the Institute on Religion and Public Life, simply dismissed the AMC connection as the nature of alliances. So did Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Toward Tradition, which seeks to unite Jews and Christians.

"What I see is that I am supporting an idea and if others with whom I don't agree on a variety of other topics also support the idea," Rabbi Lapin told the Forward after the original expose was published on JewishWorldReview.com, "then they are supporting my idea. I'm not supporting theirs . . . When America allied itself with Russia to defeat Nazi Germany in no way was America endorsing the contemptible politics of the Soviet Union."

About six weeks later, a bunch of young men killed 3000 innocent civilians when they plowed highjacked planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

More:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1203/marriage_terrorists.php3


"Alliance for Marriage claims to represent several of the largest black denominations and millions of Latinos, Orientals, Jews and Muslims. Its board of advisers includes Bishop George McKinney of the huge Church of God in Christ, a black denomination; Patricia DeVeaux of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; and Vernon Shannon of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

"Other members include Sayyid Sayeed, secretary-general of Islamic Society of North America; the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, president of Institute on Religion and Public Life; Diane Knippers, president of Institute on Religion and Democracy; Episcopal Bishops Peter Beckwith of Illinois and Stephen Jecko of Florida; Catholic Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Centre; Steve Chin of Boston Chinese Evangelical Church; Grand Rabbi Y.A. Korff, and Rabbi Daniel Lapin."

More:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/14/150134.shtml



Jack Abramoff
The friend Tom DeLay can't shake.
By James Harding
Posted Thursday, April 7, 2005, at 6:36 PM ET

<snip>

Abramoff is an orthodox Jew and DeLay is a committed Christian; their relationship is rooted in their parallel faiths. They were introduced more than a decade ago by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, the South African-born radio talk-show host who established Toward Tradition, a nonprofit coalition of Jews and Christians that aims to advance the agenda of the devout. Since Abramoff's troubles began, he and DeLay have sought to distance themselves from the other. But DeLay can't shake Abramoff loose so easily?not after their trips abroad, the major role Abramoff played in DeLay's well-financed and successful run for whip, the public praise DeLay heaped on Abramoff for helping bring Native Americans into the Republican fold. Abramoff has hired a number of ex-DeLay staffers, worked closely with the congressman on trade issues, and was partly responsible for DeLay's trips to Britain and Russia. And he has contributed tens of thousands of dollars to DeLay's various political organizations. Given the unfolding details of Abramoff's extraordinary three-ring circus of lobbying, political fund-raising, and supposed nonprofit work, the danger for the House majority leader is that the Abramoff story has only just begun to come out.

More:
http://www.slate.com/id/2116389/


Posted on Wed, Jun. 22, 2005
Senators accuse lobbyist of `outright fraud'
BY ALLEN PUSEY
The Dallas Morning News

<snip>

In an e-mail to Rabbi David Lapin, a West Coast talk show host, Abramoff lamented that the club had members with Nobel prizes but he had no awards to speak of. He asked if the rabbi's organization, Toward Tradition, could concoct one for him: "Perhaps something like Scholar of Talmudic Studies?"

"Indeed, it would be better if it were possible that I received these in years past, if you know what I mean," Abramoff said in an e-mail.

More:
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/politics/11960477.htm





Commentary
Jack Abramoff, cinematic genius? He shoulda stayed in Hollywood
By Peter Carlson
The Washington Post


<snip>

Before Abramoff was a powerful Washington lobbyist and Republican fund raiser, before he was indicted on fraud charges, before he became the target of a Justice Department investigation of his alleged rip-off of casino-rich Indian tribes, before he was summoned to a Senate hearing where he took the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify, Jack Abramoff was a Hollywood producer.

<snip>

When "Red Scorpion" was released, it was picketed by anti-apartheid protesters angry that Abramoff had shot the movie in territory controlled by South Africa's white supremacist government, using soldiers and military equipment lent by the South Africans. The protesters would have been even angrier if they'd known that the International Freedom Foundation, a right-wing group founded by Abramoff, was secretly bankrolled by the South African army ? but that wasn't known until a South African colonel revealed it in 1995.

Ironically, Abramoff's e-mails contain better dialogue than Abramoff's movies. The man's a natural. And he'd be the perfect screenwriter for a blockbuster about influence peddling in Washington.

Hey, it could happen. Peter Mirijanian, a Washington PR man, says his friend Abramoff is actively pursuing several movie ideas: "He is in discussion, and he is moving forward on a couple of projects."

More:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2002648615_abramoff28.html

Abramoff associate Daniel Lapin (anti-gay, anti-recycling rabbi) wrote a letter to support Rabbi Mordecai Tendler-- accused of sexual harassment.
Exclusive: Rabbi Mordechai Tendler gets public letter of support from friend Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Could Towards Tradition be RMT's next home?
http://jewishwhistleblower.blogspot.com/2005/07/exclusive-rabbi-mordechai-tendler-gets.html#comments

Also:

Case of Rabbi Mordecai Tendler
(AKA: Mordechai Tendler)
http://www.theawarenesscenter.org/Tendler_Mordecai.html

Jerry Weller's Mystery Trip

Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.), a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, took a trip to Louisiana in mid-1999 that may have been paid for by former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. If Abramoff did in fact pick up the tab for the trip, that would be a violation of House ethics rules.

Weller travelled to Lafayette, La., on June 11-13, 1999, according to disclosure forms submitted by Weller to the Clerk of the House. The sponsor of the trip listed on the forms was Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds. The cost of the trip was $1,640, including meals.

Under House ethics rules, registered lobbyists or lobbying firms cannot pay for travel by lawmakers or Congressional staff, even if later reimbursed by an entity that is able to legally fund the trip, such as a nonprofit group.

Officials at Preston Gates said they had no record of the trip at all. “Based on a few hours of review of documents in response to Roll Call’s inquiry, we do not believe that the firm paid for a trip by Congressman Weller to Louisiana,” said a statement from the company on Monday night.

However, Abramoff worked for Preston Gates until early 2001, when he moved to Greenberg Traurig, and a source familiar with the situation said it likely involved Abramoff.


http://www.archpundit.com/archives/012294.html





Abramoff plea could bring renewed scrutiny of Hastert letter
BY MIKE DORNING
Chicago Tribune
Jan. 04, 2006

WASHINGTON - The guilty plea by lobbyist Jack Abramoff could bring renewed scrutiny of a letter sent by House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois to Interior Secretary Gale Norton urging her to block an Indian casino opposed by rival tribes represented by Abramoff just one week after the lobbyist hosted a fundraiser for Hastert's political action committee. Many in official Washington, Republicans and Democrats, were scrambling Wednesday to try to distance themselves from Abramoff - Hastert among them - fearing that they could be tainted by even the appearance of an association with the now disgraced lobbyist.

Abramoff pleaded guilty this week to corruption charges and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors in a broadening investigation of bribery in Washington, which Abramoff admitted included the exchange of campaign contributions and other favors for official assistance to his clients. As part of his plea agreement, Abramoff is expected to help investigators determine whether others, including elected officials, broke any laws.

Indian tribes represented by Abramoff donated more than $20,000 to Hastert around the time of the fundraiser, which was held at Signatures, a Washington restaurant owned by Abramoff. Hastert's campaign committee did not pay the tab for the June 3, 2003, luncheon fundraiser until last year, following media inquiries about the unpaid check.

Hastert, who wields considerable influence as the top-ranking Republican in the House, was joined in his letter to Norton by three of the most powerful House Republican leaders: former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, then-Majority Whip Roy Blunt and Chief Deputy House Whip Eric Cantor, all of whom also received campaign contributions from Indian tribes represented by Abramoff.


more...
http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradenton/news/politics/13550936.htm

===

Great Chronology of Abramoff News by Indianz.com (Must Bookmark)
http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/010774.asp

===
Jack was also involved with the General Council of Islamic Banks
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/8/16/233950/633

snip

Shortly after 9/11, Abramoff signed up as a lobbyist for this consortium of banks that operate according to sharia, or Islamic law. According to the National Journal (Aug 31, 2002), the consortium was created after the attacks as President Bush began cracking down on terrorist financing. Abramoff's job was to spread the word about Islamic banking practices and to refute claims that Islamic banks sheltered money used for terrorist networks. And if anyone needed a good PR man, it was the chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks, a Saudi businessman named Saleh Abdullah Kamel estimated to be worth in the neighborhood of $ 2.6 billion, who was quickly the subject of intense government scrutiny over his possible ties to terrorist activity.

You see, Kamel is also the chairman of Dallah al Baraka Group (DBG), which is suspected of having ties to al Qaeda and other extremist groups, and he was also the co-founder and large shareholder of Al Shamal Bank in Sudan, Osama bin Laden's bank of choice from 1983 onward. He was listed as being one of the seven "main individual sponsors of terrorism" in this report by French researcher Jean-Charles Brisard submitted to the UN Security Council in December 2002. (You might remember that Omar al-Bayoumi, who befriended and provided money to two of the 9/11 hijackers, was once an assistant to the Director of Finance for Dallah Avco, a DBG company that works with the Saudi aviation authority. And the WSJ has reported that the United States believes the Dallah al-Baraka Bank, another DBG company, was also used by al-Qaeda.)

Kamel's name also appeared in the "Golden Chain," a roster seized by Bosnian authorities in Sarajevo in March 2002 listing Saudi donors to bin Laden and his associates; and he was named as a defendant in two Sept. 11th related lawsuits: one filed by the victims' families in 2003 and another filed by Cantor Fitzgerald in September 2004 (Although claims of two plaintiffs from the first suit were dismissed, the same claims from other plaintiffs have yet to be.)

I believe I may have found the link between Abramoff and Rove:

College Republicans

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for	
Jack Abramoff	
Government
28-Feb-1958	 	Lobbyist, friends with Tom DeLay	
Lee Atwater	
Politician
27-Feb-1951	29-Mar-1991	RNC Chairman 1988-90	
Morton C. Blackwell	
Activist
16-Nov-1939	 	Influential conservative activist	
Phil English	
Politician
20-Jun-1956	 	Congressman, Pennsylvania 3rd	
Bobby Jindal	
Politician
10-Jun-1971	 	Congressman, Louisiana 1st 2005-	
Patrick McHenry	
Politician
22-Oct-1975	 	Congressman, North Carolina 10th 2005-	
Grover Norquist	
Activist
19-Oct-1956	 	Washington lobbyist, anti-tax crusader	
Ralph Reed	
Activist
24-Jun-1961	 	Former head of the Christian Coalition	
Karl Rove	
Government
25-Dec-1950	 	Turd Blossom

---

a very clear list of States ties to Abramoff and those involved

www.waynemadsenreport.com/gopscorecard.htm&w=walden+o%27dell+abramoff&d=PIiSog0DMFMP&icp=1&.intl=us


==

Worth remembering Delay screwing military personnel over supremely high interest loans - DU'ers were on this when it occurred..Delay was the KEYNOTE SPEAKER at the payday loan industry convention this year...

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050625/ap... (link not available now)

Now the Defense Department is launching a new effort to warn service members about the dangers of payday loans, citing new reports that suggest these lenders are targeting them.

John Molino, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, said last week the department would begin teaching service members how payday loans can lead to an endless cycle of debt.

A study released last month by two professors at the University of Florida and California State University found "irrefutable geographic evidence demonstrating payday lenders are actively and aggressively targeting U.S. military personnel."

In 12 of 19 states surveyed, the study found the single greatest concentration of payday loan stores in a county with a military base. Those states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

~snip~
more:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050625/ap... (link not available now)

http://lefarkins.blogspot.com/2004/12/now-for-something-different.html

snip

According to Wall Street tea leaf readers, one of the major loansharking companies, Cash America, also stands to profit from increased energy and health costs, leading analysts to rate it a "strong buy" for people who don't have to worry about ever being charged a 700% interest rate. Not surprisingly, Cash America, which is based in Texas, has donated to the PAC formed by a Tom DeLay crony and its federal PAC gave to Republicans over Democrats by a two to one margin. Cash America's profits are so strong that it has catapulted into the Forbes 200 Best Small Companies, along with Texas competitor First Cash. ("Best" clearly means most profitable, not "best" in any other sense of the word.)

According to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, these firms have PACs that gave to Republicans rather than Democrats in the 2004 election cycle by an average ratio of two to one. So you know who's pushing for their legislative interests and what those legislative interests are: less regulation, less tax, you get the idea.


http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2005/1001nj1.htm
Grover and Jack's Long Adventure
About once a month since 2001, Grover Norquist has invited a top Bush administration official or a Republican congressional leader to dine with him and some 20 or 30 corporate lobbyists who help subsidize Americans for Tax Reform, the anti-tax group that Norquist heads.

The dinners at Norquist's Washington, D.C., home aren't cheap: The lobbyists pay ATR between $10,000 and $25,000 a year for the privilege of attending several of the intimate get-togethers, which have featured the likes of White House political guru Karl Rove and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, according to several lobbyists who have attended.

The Indian tribes' participation in the ATR dinners and the White House visits underscores the long and successful political partnership that Norquist and Abramoff have maintained since the early 1980s, when Norquist managed Abramoff's successful campaign to be chairman of the College Republicans. The pair's friendship and political ties continued through the '80s as they worked on conservative causes. It blossomed in the decade after the GOP captured Congress in 1994 and Abramoff began his meteoric rise as a GOP lobbyist and fundraiser.

<snip>

"The Marianas became a great cause celebre at the Wednesday meetings shortly after the Republicans took power," recalled Marshall Wittman, a onetime Christian Coalition lobbyist who now works for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council.

Abramoff was a member of the Council for National Policy in 1984 -1985

THE COUNCIL FOR NATIONAL POLICY

Jack Abramhoff - CNP Membership Roster (1984-85. The International Freedom Foundation (IFF), an organization founded by "conservative" activist, Jack Abramhoff, was recently exposed by senior South African military personnel as a cut-out of the South African military and Special Branch. IFF functioned as a propaganda arm for South African STRATCOM (strategic communications) counter-insurgency operations directed against the African National Congress and the trade union confederation. A Small Circle of Friends

"Jack Abramoff became a Washington lobbyist after the Republicans won control of the House in 1994. He has ties that reach to all parts of Washington. He played a key role in what was called the K Street Project -- a Republican attempt to essentially take control of the D.C. lobbying world. By 1995 he would befriend Tom Delay -- who would later call Abramoff 'one of his closest and dearest friends.' He became a key fundraiser for President Bush and served on Bush’s transition team in 2000. His former assistant became Karl Rove’s personal assistant. He was accused of offering Congressional staffers lucrative jobs in exchange for legislative help. Abramoff ordered lobbying clients to give millions in political contributions to key lawmakers. The Wall Street Journal reports Abramoff could implicate as many as 60 lawmakers in the corruption inquiry.

"Lobbyist Jack Abramoff admitted to defrauding at least four Native American tribes of tens of millions of dollars, bribing government officials and evading taxes. Abramoff has reportedly agreed to testify against several members of Congress who received favors or donations from him or his clients. Washington analysts say the corruption scandal could take down as many as twelve lawmakers." The Biggest Congressional Scandal in Over a Century?

What was The International Freedom Foundation (IFF)

Editors Note:Front for Apartheid, appeared in Newsday, Sunday, July 16, 1995. The article was reported by Dele Olojede in South Africa and Timothy M. Phelps in Washington. The article concerns a Washington think-tank called the International Freedom Foundation that had branches in Johannesburg, South Africa and London, England. The International Freedom Foundation was actually a front for intelligence operators who worked on psycho-political operations to prolong apartheid. People involved included United States Department of State Officials, United States Congressmen, and US Intelligence agents. The article says "jobs" for South African intelligence provided at least half of the total IFF revenue, and South African military intelligence would send fees from the "jobs" directly to the IFF Washington office.

The article is a limited hangout that doesn't mention the South African Institute of International Affairs, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, or the Council on Foreign Relations. The article has a picture of Secretary of State George Shultz shaking hands with Oliver Tambo, the late exiled leader of ANC, at the State Department in 1987. The article mentions that people like Henry Kissinger were invited to International Freedom Foundation seminars to deliver keynote speeches. Among those in attendance was former CIA director William Colby. Shultz, Kissinger and Colby were members of the Council on Foreign Relations. The article talks about Americans who were on the board of Directors of the IFF, and who worked for the IFF in South Africa. Nearly every man mentioned was a United States Intelligence agent at one time or another. Do former United States intelligence agents, continue working as agents even after they become elected government officials, or are appointed to the US Department of State?

A list of some of the people mentioned in the story with locations and dates of intelligence service follows:

SHULTZ GEORGE P (Council on Foreign Relations Member) Panama 1984, Grenada 1984, Libya 1986

KISSINGER, HENRY A (Council on Foreign Relations member ) South Africa 1969-1977, Philippines 1972, Indonesia 1975, Angola 1976, Britain 1976, Chile 1976,China 1989-1997

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If the International Freedom Foundation is a front for Intelligence organizations do their publications contain information telling intelligence agents what to do?

Why didn't Newsday connect the International Freedom Foundation to the Council on Foreign Relations? Did the Truth and Reconciliation Commission investigate the Council on Foreign Relations/Royal Institute of International Affairs/South African Institute of International Affairs role in creating the racial tension, hatred and genocide in South Africa? If they did, what were their findings? If they did not, don't you think it is about time they did? The Newsday article follows:

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The International Freedom Foundation, founded in 1986 seemingly as a conservative think tank, was in fact part of an elaborate intelligence gathering operation, and was designed to be against apartheid's an instrument for "political warfare" against apartheid's foes, according to former senior South African spy Craig Williamson. The South Africans spent up to $1.5 million a year through 1992 to underwrite "Operation Babushka," as the IFF project was known.

...more...

The Conservative Caucus

excerpt:

In its ongoing campaign opposing the INF treaty the TCC in 1988 made a 30-minute documentary film on the deficiencies of the proposed treaty. The film, aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network, featured remarks by Senators Jesse Helms and Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) and retired military personnel Major General John Singlaub and Brigadier General Albion Knight. (13) Humphrey also chaired TCC's "Coalition for a Winning Ticket," a group which "urged Vice President Bush to consider as prospective running mates only persons with clearly enunciated conservative stands on key issues."(13)

TCC helped to line up 18 co-sponsors for Rep. Philip Crane's 10-percent Flat Tax bill (H. R. 111). (13) The Oliver North Defense Committee was a major project of TCC in 1987. Its goal was to gain the support of 600,000 TCC members on behalf of North, the former National Security aide who oversaw an illegal network which supplied the Nicaraguan contras. In January of 1987, national field director Dave Sanders claimed the committee membership to be around 5,000. (11) A later letter stated that the committee had fallen slightly short of its goal, collecting only 43,000 "declarations of support."(6)

Throughout the 1980s TCC was an active lobbyist for contra aid. The organization raised $40,000 to lobby Congress for contra aid. (19) TCC, along with groups such as the Committee for the Survival of a Free Congress, and the National Defense Council, organized a number of shipments of humanitarian aid to the contras. (20,21) TCC director Andy Messing used the Denton amendment to have some of the TCC shipments sent to Honduras on a Mississippi Air National Guard flight. (22)

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Jack Abramoff was the founder and first director of the rightwing think tank, International Freedom Foundation. He currently sits on the IFF board. Abramoff served as chairman of the very conservative College Republican National Committee from 1981 to 1985. From 1984 to 1985 he was executive director of Citizen's for America (CFA). CFA, headquartered at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, was begun by beer baron Joseph Coors and Rite-Way drugstore heir Lewis Lehrman. Abramoff also chaired the Heritage Foundation-based United Students of America Foundation (USA Foundation) in 1984. Abramoff is or was a member of the secretive rightwing Council for National Policy. (12)

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Major General John K. Singlaub (ret) was the chairman of WACL until mid-1986. Singlaub was the founder and chairman of the USCWF until it closed its doors in 1989. (41,57) He is or was a member of the RAMBO coalition. (45) Singlaub is or was on the national policy board of the American Freedom Coalition. (42) He is or was a member of the Council for National Policy. (30) Other rightwing groups of which he has been a board member include Refugee Relief International (a subsidiary of Soldier of Fortune), Western Goals, the Committee for a Free Afghanistan, and Western Goals in the United Kingdom. (46,47. 48)

It becomes apparent that Abramoff has been connected with figures involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.