American Prospect commissioned a non-partisan research firm to investigate
the allegations that Abramoff gave money to Democrats also. Their findings:
- in total, the donations of Abramoff’s tribal clients to Democrats
dropped by nine percent after they hired him, while their donations to
Republicans more than doubled, increasing by 135 percent after they signed
him up; - five out of seven of Abramoff’s tribal clients vastly favored Republican
candidates over Democratic ones; - four of the seven began giving substantially more to Republicans than
Democrats after he took them on; - Abramoff’s clients gave well over twice as much to Republicans than
Democrats, while tribes not affiliated with Abramoff gave well over twice as
much to Democrats than the GOP — exactly the reverse pattern.
Read the full article
here.
As it turns out the money that went to Democrats was from Indian tribes in
their districts. It just so happens that Abramoff was lobbying for those tribes.
He was actually trying to scam almost every Indian tribe in the country.
The report also shows that Democrats actually received less contributions
during the time Abramoff was directing the tribes money. The money that the
Democrats weren’t receiving was actually going to Republicans.
ABRAMOFF’S TIES TO BUSH
While there is constant talk about pictures of Bush and Abramoff and staff
level meetings Abramoff may have had in the White House, the
Washington Post reminds us today of a White House staffer that has been
indicted for his ties to Abramoff.
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff gave his client Tyco International an early
warning in 2003 that the government was about to suspend Tyco’s federal
contracts — inside information he received from a General Services
Administration official now under indictment, federal prosecutors alleged
yesterday.David H. Safavian, who has been charged with obstructing the Abramoff
corruption investigation, alerted Abramoff in November 2003 that the GSA was
about to suspend the contracts of four Tyco subsidiaries, prosecutors said
in court papers. Safavian provided “sensitive and confidential information”
about internal GSA deliberations, as well as advice about how to get around
the suspension, the prosecutors said.
Article continues
here.
Safavian was the director of the Office of Procurement Policy. He oversaw the
$300 billion budget for employee purchases and federal building leasing.
Safavian quit his job with the administration on Friday, September 16 of last
year. He was arrested on Monday, September 19.
Safavian is not the only person who has ties to the President. Timothy
Flanigan withdrew his nomination for deputy attorney general, the number
two spot at the justice department. Flanigan was the lead council for Tyco and
also closely tied with Abramoff. Also worth noting is Flanigan had a hand in
helping the administration write its torture policy.
Also we can not forget Karl Rove. Rove has had close ties to Abramoff through
the years. Abramoff has bragged to clients about his ties with Rove in emails
obtained by numerous news sources. Rove, whose secretary is a former Abramoff
assistant, also shares the honor of being a former head of the College
Republicans along with Abramoff.
Now with all these ties of Abramoff to people in the White House, how can the
President deny not knowing him?