Republican Bagman Abramoff Pleads Guilty

[exlrrp]

Breaking news here, the most important story of the year on the 2d day: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/03/po...rtner=homepage

Before this is over, this will be the end to the Republican Culture of Corruption that so pervades the corridors of power. Whats REALLY intersting is to hear the Republicans pretend this is a 'bi partisan" scandal. Its not---its almost an exclusively Republican scandal. Abramoff himself has said the got no traction at all in the Clinton Administration but when B ush took over it was YABADABADOOO!! Registered lobbyists have DOUBLED under the Bush administrationh, from 16000 to over 32000 as the Repubs line up to feed at the trough.
This scandal is all about the revolving door between Republicans and the lobbyistys with several major figures (like Scanlon) goiong back and forth between lobbying and Republiocan Congressional Staff jobs. This is about Republiocan wives collecting huge fees for doing.....nothing.
Before this is over, the republicans conduit of illegal funding will be well known--its already started to break wuith the Delay scandal. This will be worse than the Ronnie Earle indictment for Delay, the testimony will be all from the inside as the Republkican rats jump the ship and start squealing on each other, as is happeneing in the Enron case now.
2006 is going to be a good year, its starting off really well.

Republican Bagman Jack Abramofff to plead guilty. (emphasis:mine)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - Jack Abramoff will plead 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, is pleading guilty to fraud, public corruption 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.

After entering his guilty plea in United States District Court in Washington, Mr. Abramoff will also announce a plea agreement in a related Florida case, in which he was indicted last year. In that case, he is pleading 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.

Mr. Abramoff will enter separate pleas in each location. But 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 REPUBLIICANS 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."

[exlrrp]

A partial list of the Republican malefactors names you'll soon be hearing more about


Jack A. Abramoff: A few years ago Jack Abramoff was one of the most influential lobbyists in Washington. He leveraged his close ties to Republican and conservative leaders, including then?House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), to collect tens of millions of dollars from clients such as casino-rich Indian tribes. He treated lawmakers and their aides to lavish trips, meals and tickets to sporting events, and directed the tribes to donate millions of dollars to political candidates and parties. Now he is at the center of one of the widest-ranging federal corruption investigations in decades.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Abramoff defrauded the tribes and are probing his links to Congress and government officials. In a related matter, Abramoff agreed to plead guilty to three criminal charges on Tuesday, Jan. 3 for allegedly defrauding lenders in his 2000 purchase of SunCruz casinos, a fleet of gambling boats. The former lobbyist also agreed to cooperate with federal investigators in Washington. His partner in the Florida deal, Adam Kidan, has agreed to plead guilty and testify against Abramoff. Abramoff's Washington partner, public relations executive Michael Scanlon, has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe public officials and also will testify against Abramoff.

Born in Atlantic City, N.J., Abramoff, 46, graduated from Brandeis University and Georgetown University Law Center. He was a leader of the College Republicans where he met Kidan; anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist; and Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition who now is a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia.

The lobbyist has said, "I can't imagine there's anything I did that other lobbyists didn't do and aren't doing today."


Michael Scanlon: A former press secretary to Rep. Tom DeLay, Scanlon pleaded guilty on Nov. 22, 2005, to conspiring to bribe a congressman and other public officials. Scanlon, 35, and Abramoff allegedly plotted to defraud the Indian tribes and bribe government officials, taking in tens of millions of dollars.

According to court records, Scanlon and Abramoff concocted a scheme to "corruptly offer and provide things of value, including money, meals, trips and entertainment to federal public officials in return for agreements to perform official acts." Scanlon is expected to testify about gifts he and Abramoff offered to Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) "in exchange for a series of official acts," according to court records.

Ben Waldman: A former Reagan administration aide, Waldman joined Abramoff and Kidan in purchasing SunCruz Casinos. Records show that Waldman and Kidan faxed copies of a purported wire-transfer document in order to prove they had paid a promised $23 million to the owner of SunCruz. Abramoff and Kidan have been indicted on charges of fraud after an investigation determined the wire-transfer document was a fake. Waldman has not been indicted in the case.


Adam Kidan: Kidan, a New York City businessman who had owned the Dial-a-Mattress franchise in Washington, was indicted in August 2005 on fraud charges related to the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos with Abramoff. According to court records, the SunCruz purchase hinged on a fake wire transfer for $23 million intended to persuade lenders to provide financing to Kidan, Abramoff and Ben Waldman, who were purchasing a 90 percent share of the company. Each of the six counts in the indictment could bring a punishment of as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Grover Norquist: Founder and president of the conservative lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform, Norquist allegedly allowed Abramoff to route money through the group in order to whip up opposition to an anti-gambling bill. If the bill had passed, Abramoff's client, a company that wanted to sell state lottery tickets online, would be out of business. Norquist has known Abramoff since their days in the College Republicans.

Ralph Reed: Best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s, Reed is now a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia. In 1981 he worked as an intern for Abramoff, the newly elected chairman of the College Republicans National Committee. Abramoff promoted Reed in 1983, appointing him to succeed Grover Norquist as executive director of the organization. Reed left the Christian Coalition in 1997 and started a political consulting firm in Georgia.

E-mails released by federal investigators in June 2005 suggest that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery at the same time that Abramoff was being paid to promote Indian casino gambling. Additional e-mails released in November 2005 show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. Reed has said he did not know the funds came from pro-gambling sources

Rev. Louis P. Sheldon: Sheldon is the founder of the Traditional Values Coalition that represents a number of conservative Christian churches. Sheldon's organization, which has protested loudly against gambling, allegedly accepted money from an online lottery firm, eLottery, to help in its $2 million pro-gambling campaign. Checks and e-mails obtained by The Post show that Abramoff recruited Ralph Reed to join Sheldon in the effort to pressure members of Congress.

Sheldon told The Post that he could not remember receiving eLottery money and that he was unaware that Abramoff was involved in the campaign to defeat an anti-gambling bill. Sheldon received at least $25,000 from eLottery; Abramoff is known to have referred to him as "Lucky Louie."

David Safavian: Safavian, who once worked with Abramoff, worked in the White House until he was arrested Sept. 19, 2005 for allegedly lying to investigators in the probe of the lobbyist's activities. At the time he was head of procurement for the Office of Management and Budget.

Until his resignation, Safavian was the top administrator at the federal procurement office in the White House Office of Management and Budget, where he set purchasing policy for the entire government. The FBI alleges that Safavian made repeated false statements to investigators about a golf trip with Abramoff to Scotland in 2002, when Safavian was chief of staff at the General Services Administration. Investigators contend that he concealed his efforts to help Abramoff acquire control of two federally managed properties in the Washington area.

J. Steven Griles: Griles was deputy secretary of the Interior Department from July 2001 to January 2005. E-mails released by congressional investigators show he had numerous meetings, telephone calls and other contacts with Jack Abramoff concerning the lobbyist's tribal clients. According to the e-mails, Griles advised Abramoff how to get members of Congress to pressure the department and provided him information about Interior decision-making. The e-mails show Abramoff tried to influence Griles through Italia Federici, head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.

In testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Griles denied having any special relationship with Abramoff. Since leaving office, Griles has joined former White House national energy policy director Andrew Lundquist and former House member George Nethercutt (R-Wash.) to form the political lobbying firm of Lundquist, Nethercutt & Griles, LLC.

Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio): Ney, 51, was subpoenaed in early November by the federal grand jury investigating Abramoff's lobbying activities. The lawmaker is under scrutiny because of alleged favors he performed for Abramoff and Scanlon, including introducing legislation, putting two statements into the Congressional Record, contacting federal officials to influence decisions and meeting with Abramoff's clients.

A spokesman for Ney, who has served as chairman of the House Administration Committee since January 2001, said that the lawmaker was defrauded by Scanlon and Abramoff and his official actions had nothing to do with improper influence. Ney has represented Ohio's 18th congressional district since 1995.

Rep. Thomas DeLay (R-Tex.): DeLay was one of the most powerful leaders on Capitol Hill before he was indicted on campaign finance charges in September 2005 and temporarily resigned as majority leader. Abramoff, who DeLay once called "one of my closest and dearest friends," held fundraisers for the congressman in his sports boxes and arranged for DeLay to accompany him on a luxury golf trip to Scotland and a trip to the Northern Mariana Islands. Abramoff also maintained close ties with DeLay aides.

A native Texan, DeLay holds a biology degree from the University of Houston and owned a pest extermination company. He was elected to the Texas State House in 1978 and went to Congress six years later, becoming majority leader in 2002. The lawmaker is vigorously challenging the Texas campaign finance case, which he says was filed against him by a prosecutor with close ties to Democrats. On Dec. 5, 2005, a judge dropped a conspiracy charge against DeLay, but let stand money laundering charges


Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.): Burns, chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations subcommittee, pressured the Bureau of Indian Affairs to award a $3 million grant to the Saginaw Chippewas of Michigan, despite objections from Interior Department officials. The Indian tribe was an Abramoff client and during the past five years Burns has received $137,000 in contributions from Abramoff, his associates and their tribal clients, according to federal election records. Two of his staffers left to work as lobbyists with Abramoff during that same time period. Burns, who has said his actions were consistent with his support for Indian tribes, was first elected to the Senate in 1988.

Tony C. Rudy: A former top aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), Rudy was central to Abramoff's efforts to scuttle an anti-gambling bill in July 2000. He e-mailed Abramoff internal congressional communications and advice, according to documents and the lobbyist's former associates.

Rudy, who had known Abramoff for years, went to work for Abramoff when the lobbyist moved to a new law firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP, in January 2001. Abramoff also arranged for a client, eLottery, to pay $25,000 to a Jewish foundation that hired Rudy's wife Lisa as a consultant, according to documents and interviews. Months later, Rudy himself was hired as a lobbyist by Abramoff.

During his tenure as a congressional aide, Rudy received favors from Abramoff, including several trips paid for by eLottery. Rudy also accompanied DeLay to Scotland in 2002 for a trip, now under investigation, arranged by Abramoff. Abramoff listed Rudy as a financial reference in his purchase of SunCruz, an offshore gambling enterprise. That transaction ultimately led to the indictment of Abramoff and a business partner on charges that they had forged a $23 million wire transfer. Rudy has declined to comment on his involvement in any of these investigations

[Advisor]

Reb/Dem...same same. There is a culture of corruption in DC which goes on and on, no matter which party seems to be in charge. If these people are found guilty, they need to go to the pen, not Club Fed, & be Big Bubba's bedmate for a few years.
All I ask is that the Dems give me someone I can vote for..not a lowlife 2 faced so n so like Kerry, or a wolf in sheep's clothing like Hilary. How about someone really middle of the road, not prone to sucking up to every looney toon on the planet. Please, please DNC!!!

[SuperScout]

Ahhh, yes, in the finest tradition of American jurisprudence, we have yet another example of the gallows being employed long before the trial has even begun! But what will be interesting is the final fallout. Let those found guilty or those that pled guilty be punished in accordance with the law. And let those perceived guilty in the minds of the hate-filled, yet innocent as new driven snow, be exonerated and restored to the former positions.

And here's the latest on ol' Harry Reid: Yesterday's announcement that Washington super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff has reached a plea bargain deal with the Justice Department has reporters salivating over what they hint is going to be a Republican mega-scandal. But it turns out that the most prominent player in Abramoff's web of influence was reportedly none other than the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid.

In a little-noticed story in November, The Associated Press revealed that Reid had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client, the Coushatta Indian tribe, after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe.

Reid "sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002," reported the AP. "The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."

Questioned about the donations last month by "Fox News Sunday's" Chris Wallace, Reid immediately turned testy. "Don't try to say I received money from Abramoff. I've never met the man, don't know anything," he insisted. (And why not? If it smells like a duck, and waddles like a duck, and swims like a duck, it probably ain't an anvil, Skippy.)

When Wallace protested: "But you've received money from [one of his Indian tribe clients]," the top Democrat shot back: "Make sure that all your viewers understand - not a penny from Abramoff. I've been on the Indian Affairs Committee my whole time in the Senate." (And just what does that have to do with the price of rice in China? Does Reid think that the viewers don't know how money can be laundered in Washington? Come on, Harry, gives us a little more credit!)

When the Fox host pressed again on the Abramoff-linked donations, a flustered-sounding Reid continued to stonewall, saying: "I'll repeat, Abramoff gave me no money. His firm gave me no money. He may have worked [at] a firm where people have given me money. But I have ? I feel totally at ease that I haven't done anything that is even close to being wrong." (Well, let's call for a Special Prosecutor, and get to the bottom of this, and in the wonderful words of the Cable Guy, "git 'er done!")

[exlrrp]

Gee you say I'm jumping the gun, that evrybody gets a fair trial? just think albout all the assumptions the conservatives made about Clinton before his impeachment trial.

Now this is what I was saying about the republicans trying to blame it all on Democrats. Theyre good at this--look how theyre going after the whistleblower who leaked the news about Bush 's illegal spying practices on American citizens. You havent heard the last of that. Republicans think they finally got what they aslways wanted---to spy on their fellow citizens without being bothered by those pesky Constitutional guarantees. But what goes around comes around.

First let me say that if any Democrat is cought up in this and committed crimes in any way, they deserve condign justice just as Republicans do
if Reid committed crimes, let him get what he deserves and with the Republicans running Congress thats all they'll want to look at him first last and always. But that won't stick
Now: Name another Democrat involved.
Can't??? Match this, all Republicans

Tom DeLay

Bob Ney

Grover Norquist

Ralph Reed

John Doolittle

Dana Rohrabacher

Chris Cannon

Dan Burton

Richard Pombo

George Radanovich

Robert Ehrlich

Tom Feeney

Rob Simmons

Denny Hastert

Ben Fitial (Governor-elect CNMI)

Roy Blunt

Conrad Burns

Dennis Rehberg

Jim Saxton

Charles Taylor

Mike Fitzpatrick

Pete Sessions

Tom Davis

George Nethercutt

Charles Pickering

Kay Granger

Steven Griles

These are all Republicans implicated in this scandal. Its not about who took money from Abramoff by the way, or his Indian Clients--that was legal. There's 210 Congressmen (mostly Republiicans) who took money from Abranoffs clients What was illegal is the favors the Republicans did for Abramoff in return--that you'll NEVER be able to prove on Reid. But theyre going to do it with Delay and Ney and their revolving door staffers taking jobs with Abramoffs lobbying firm
Reid didn't get invited on the million dollar golf trips to Scotland that Delay, Ney and Safavian did THAT ARE ON ABRAMOFFS VISA CARD. Including the $2000 greens fees per golfer. Its illegal to take gratuities from lobbyists that have business before the government--as Abramoff did when Delay Ney and Safavian took those golf trips. Republicans don't think this is a crime--taking money from someone with business before the Congress but rest assured: it is! THIS is what the crimes are about--not necssarily who took money from who
Delay and Ney are trying to pretend this was all part of ffundrainsing and that they had no effect on their voting on issues exactly the way Abramoff wanted them to.
Whats going to come out is how Delay and Ney and the others complied with Abramoffs wish list in terms of policy creation--that they voted exactly the way he wanted them to after taking his bribes.
You'll never stick Reid with that---but Delay, Ney, Pombo, Rorhrabacher, Doolittle, Burns, Blunt and others have a whole lot off explaining to do. theyve got their names all over legislation benfitting Abramoffs Indian clients aand his Marianas sweat shop owners.
BRING THE SPECIAL PROSECUTOR ON!!! As soon as posssible!!
Its lots of fun to watch Republicans being led away in handcuffs.

[Advisor]

You say implicated..by evidence or press? If it's the press, then I'd just as soon wait for the trial.
Now I'm just asking...
anyone guilty should get life in a supermax rooming with Big Bubba.

[Gimpy]

Thanks for postin this!

More evidence of these scumbags criminal and corrupt behavior.

Looks like the "hammer" is coming down on these crooked bunch of unscrupulous scumbags, ESPECIALLY those from 'Texas'! How appropiate. It must be something in the water in Texas, huh????

###START###

The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail

Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker Was Funded Mostly by

Clients of Lobbyist

By R. Jeffrey Smith

Washington Post Staff Writer


The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins.

Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay (R-Tex.).

The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy.

A spokesman for DeLay, who is fighting in a Texas state court unrelated charges of illegal fundraising, denied that the contributions influenced the former House majority leader's political activities. The Russian energy executives who worked with Abramoff denied yesterday knowing anything about the million-dollar London transaction described in tax documents.

Whatever the real motive for the contribution of $1 million -- a sum not prohibited by law but extraordinary for a small, nonprofit group -- the steady stream of corporate payments detailed on the donor list makes it clear that Abramoff's long-standing alliance with DeLay was sealed by a much more extensive web of financial ties than previously known.

Records and interviews also illuminate the mixture of influence and illusion that surrounded the U.S. Family Network. Despite the group's avowed purpose, records show it did little to promote conservative ideas through grass-roots advocacy. The money it raised came from businesses with no demonstrated interest in the conservative "moral fitness" agenda that was the group's professed aim.

In addition to the million-dollar payment involving the London law firm, for example, half a million dollars was donated to the U.S. Family Network by the owners of textile companies in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, according to the tax records. The textile owners -- with Abramoff's help -- solicited and received DeLay's public commitment to block legislation that would boost their labor costs, according to Abramoff associates, one of the owners and a DeLay speech in 1997.

A quarter of a million dollars was donated over two years by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Abramoff's largest lobbying client, which counted DeLay as an ally in fighting legislation allowing the taxation of its gambling revenue.

The records, other documents and interviews call into question the very purpose of the U.S. Family Network, which functioned mostly by collecting funds from domestic and foreign businesses whose interests coincided with DeLay's activities while he was serving as House majority whip from 1995 to 2002, and as majority leader from 2002 until the end of September.

After the group was formed in 1996, its director told the Internal Revenue Service that its goal was to advocate policies favorable for "economic growth and prosperity, social improvement, moral fitness, and the general well-being of the United States." DeLay, in a 1999 fundraising letter, called the group "a powerful nationwide organization dedicated to restoring our government to citizen control" by mobilizing grass-roots citizen support.

But the records show that the tiny U.S. Family Network, which never had more than one full-time staff member, spent comparatively little money on public advocacy or education projects. Although established as a nonprofit organization, it paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to Buckham and his lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group.

There is no evidence DeLay received a direct financial benefit, but Buckham's firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine, and paid her a salary of at least $3,200 each month for three of the years the group existed. Richard Cullen, DeLay's attorney, has said that the pay was compensation for lists Christine DeLay supplied to Buckham of lawmakers' favorite charities, and that it was appropriate under House rules and election law.

Some of the U.S. Family Network's revenue was used to pay for radio ads attacking vulnerable Democratic lawmakers in 1999; other funds were used to finance the cash purchase of a townhouse three blocks from DeLay's congressional office. DeLay's associates at the time called it "the Safe House."

DeLay made his own fundraising telephone pitches from the townhouse's second-floor master suite every few weeks, according to two former associates. Other rooms in the townhouse were used by Alexander Strategy Group, Buckham's newly formed lobbying firm, and Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), DeLay's leadership committee.

They paid modest rent to the U.S. Family Network, which occupied a single small room in the back.

'Red Flags' on Tax Returns

Nine months before the June 25, 1998, payment of $1 million by the London law firm James & Sarch Co., as recorded in the tax forms, Buckham and DeLay were the dinner guests in Moscow of Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky of the oil firm Naftasib, which in promotional literature counted as its principal clients the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior.

Buckham, a graduate of the University of Tennessee, had worked for DeLay since 1995, after serving in other congressional offices and then as executive director of the Republican Study Committee, a group of fiscally conservative House members.

Their other dining companions were Abramoff and Washington lawyer Julius "Jay" Kaplan, whose lobbying firms collected $440,000 in 1997 and 1998 from an obscure Bahamian firm that helped organize and indirectly pay for the DeLay trip, in conjunction with the Russians. In disclosure forms, the stated purpose of the lobbying was to promote the policies of the Russian government.

Kaplan and British lawyer David Sarch had worked together previously. (Sarch died a month before the $1 million was paid.) Buckham's trip with DeLay was his second to Moscow that year for meetings with Nevskaya and Koulakovsky; on the earlier one, the DeLay aide attracted media attention by returning through Paris aboard the Concorde, a $5,500 flight.

Former Abramoff associates and documents in the hands of federal prosecutors state that Nevskaya and Koulakovsky sought Abramoff's help at the time in securing various favors from the U.S. government, including congressional earmarks or federal grants for their modular-home construction firm near Moscow and the construction of a fossil-fuel plant in Israel. None appears to have been obtained by their firm.

Former DeLay employees say Koulakovsky and Nevskaya met with him on multiple occasions. The Russians also frequently used Abramoff's skyboxes at local sports stadiums -- as did Kaplan, according to sources and a 2001 e-mail Abramoff wrote to another client.

Three sources familiar with Abramoff's activities on their behalf say that the two Russians -- who knew the head of the Russian energy giant Gazprom and had invested heavily in that firm -- partly wanted just to be seen with a prominent American politician as a way of bolstering their credibility with the Russian government and their safety on Moscow's streets. The Russian oil and gas business at the time had a Wild West character, and its executives worried about extortion and kidnapping threats. The anxieties of Nevskaya and Koulakovsky were not hidden; like many other business people, they traveled in Moscow with guards armed with machine guns.

During the DeLays' visit on Aug. 5 to 11, 1997, the congressman met with Nevskaya and was escorted around Moscow by Koulakovsky, Naftasib's general manager. DeLay told the House clerk that the trip's sponsor was the National Center for Public Policy Research, but multiple sources told The Post that his expenses were indirectly reimbursed by the Russian-connected Bahamian company.

DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said the principal reason for his Moscow trip was "to meet with religious leaders there." Nevskaya, in a letter this spring, said Naftasib's involvement in such trips was meant "to foster better understanding between our country and the United States" and denied that the firm was seeking protection through its U.S. contacts.

Nevskaya added in an e-mail yesterday that Naftasib and its officials were not representing the ministries of defense and interior or any other government agencies "in connection with meetings or other lobbying activities in Washington D.C. or Moscow."

A former Abramoff associate said the two executives "wanted to contribute to DeLay" and clearly had the resources to do it. At one point, Koulakovsky asked during a dinner in Moscow "what would happen if the DeLays woke up one morning" and found a luxury car in their front driveway, the former associate said. They were told the DeLays "would go to jail and you would go to jail."

The tax form states that the $1 million came by check on June 25, 1998, from "Nations Corp, James & Sarch co." The Washington Post checked with the listed executives of Texas and Florida firms that have names similar to Nations Corp, and they said they had no connection to any such payment.

James & Sarch Co. was dissolved in May 2000, but two former partners said they recalled hearing the names of the Russians at their office. Asked if the firm represented them, former partner Philip McGuirk at first said "it may ring a bell," but later he faxed a statement that he could say no more because confidentiality practices prevent him "from disclosing any information regarding the affairs of a client (or former client)."

Nevskaya said in the e-mail yesterday, however, that "neither Naftasib nor the principals you mentioned have ever been represented by a London law firm that you name as James & Sarch Co." She also said that Naftasib and its principals did not pay $1 million to the firm, and denied knowing about the transaction.

Two former Buckham associates said that he told them years ago not only that the $1 million donation was solicited from Russian oil and gas executives, but also that the initial plan was for the donation to be made via a delivery of cash to be picked up at a Washington area airport.

One of the former associates, a Frederick, Md., pastor named Christopher Geeslin who served as the U.S. Family Network's director or president from 1998 to 2001, said Buckham further told him in 1999 that the payment was meant to influence DeLay's vote in 1998 on legislation that helped make it possible for the IMF to bail out the faltering Russian economy and the wealthy investors there.

"Ed told me, 'This is the way things work in Washington,' " Geeslin said. "He said the Russians wanted to give the money first in cash." Buckham, he said, orchestrated all the group's fundraising and spending and rarely informed the board about the details. Buckham and his attorney, Laura Miller, did not reply to repeated requests for comment on this article.

The IMF funding legislation was a contentious issue in 1998. The Russian stock market fell steeply in April and May, and the government in Moscow announced on June 18 -- just a week before the $1 million check was sent by the London law firm -- that it needed $10 billion to $15 billion in new international loans.

House Republican leaders had expressed opposition through that spring to giving the IMF the money it could use for new bailouts, decrying what they described as previous destabilizing loans to other countries. The IMF and its Western funders, meanwhile, were pressing Moscow, as a condition of any loan, to increase taxes on major domestic oil companies such as Gazprom, which had earlier defaulted on billions of dollars in tax payments.

On Aug. 18, 1998, the Russian government devalued the ruble and defaulted on its treasury bills. But DeLay, appearing on "Fox News Sunday" on Aug. 30 of that year, criticized the IMF financing bill, calling the replenishment of its funds "unfortunate" because the IMF was wrongly insisting on a Russian tax increase. "They are trying to force Russia to raise taxes at a time when they ought to be cutting taxes in order to get a loan from the IMF. That's just outrageous," DeLay said.

In the end, the Russian legislature refused to raise taxes, the IMF agreed to lend the money anyway, and DeLay voted on Sept. 17, 1998, for a foreign aid bill containing new funds to replenish the IMF account. DeLay's spokesman said the lawmaker "makes decisions and sets legislative priorities based on good policy and what is best for his constituents and the country." He added: "Mr. DeLay has very firm beliefs, and he fights very hard for them."

Kaplan did not respond to repeated messages, and through a spokesman for lawyer Abbe Lowell, Abramoff declined to comment.

No legal bar exists to a $1 million donation by a foreign entity to a group such as the U.S. Family Network, according to Marcus Owens, a Washington lawyer who directed the IRS's office of tax-exempt organizations from 1990 to 2000 and who reviewed, at The Post's request, the tax returns filed by the U.S. Family Network.

But "a million dollars is a staggering amount of money to come from a foreign source" because such a donor would not be entitled to claim the tax deduction allowed for U.S. citizens, Owens said. "Giving large donations to an organization whose purposes are as ambiguous as these . . . is extraordinary. I haven't seen that before. It suggests something else is going on.

"There are any number of red flags on these returns."

Hailing Indian Tribe's Hiring of Lobbyists

Buckham and Tony Rudy were the first DeLay staff members to visit the Choctaw Reservation near Meridian, Miss., where the tribe built a 500-room hotel and a 90,000-square-foot gambling casino. Their trip from March 25 to 27, 1997, cost the Choctaws $3,000, according to statements filed with the House clerk.

DeLay, his wife and Susan Hirschman -- Buckham's successor in 1998 as chief of staff -- were the next to go. Their trip from July 31 to Aug. 2, 1998, was described on House disclosure forms as a "site review and reservation tour for charitable event," and the forms said it cost the Choctaws $6,935.

Buckham, who was then a lobbyist, arranged DeLay's trip, which included a visit to the tribe's golf course to assess it as a possible location for the lawmaker's annual charity tournament, according to a tribal source. Abramoff told the tribe he could not accompany DeLay because of a prior commitment, the source said.

One day after the DeLays departed for Washington, the U.S. Family Network registered an initial $150,000 payment made by the Choctaws, according to its tax return. The tribe made additional payments to the group totaling $100,000 on "various" dates the following year, the returns state. The Choctaws separately paid Abramoff $4.5 million for his lobbying work on their behalf in 1998 and 1999. Abramoff and his wife contributed $22,000 to DeLay's political campaigns from 1997 to 2000, according to public records.

A former Abramoff associate who is aware of the payments, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his clients, said the tribe made contributions to entities associated with DeLay because DeLay was crucial to the tribe's continuing fight against legislation to allow the taxation of Indians' gambling revenue.

An attorney for the tribe, Bryant Rogers, said the funds were meant not only to "get the message out" about the adverse tax law proposals but also to finance a campaign by Buckham's group within "the conservative base" against legislation to strip tribes of their control over Indian adoptions. "This was a group connected to the right-wing Christian movement," Rogers said. "This is Ed Buckham's connection."

In March 1999, after the tribe had paid a substantial sum directly to the U.S. Family Network, Buckham expressed his general gratitude to Abramoff in an e-mail. "I really appreciate you going to bat for us. Remember it is the first bit of money that is always the hardest, but means the most," Buckham said, according to a copy. He added: "Pray for God's wisdom. I really believe this is supposed to be what we are doing to save our team."

During this period, a fundraising letter on the U.S. Family Network stationery was sent to residents of Alabama, announcing a petition drive to promote a cause of interest to Abramoff's Indian gambling clients in Mississippi and Louisiana, including the Choctaw casino that drew many customers from Alabama: the blocking of a rival casino proposed by the Poarch Creek Indians on their land in Alabama.

"The American family is under attack from all sides: crime, drugs, pornography, and one of the least talked about but equally as destructive -- gambling," said the group's letter, which was signed by then-Rep. Bob Riley (R), now the Alabama governor. "We need your help today . . . to prevent the Poarch Creek Indians from building casinos in Alabama."

Asked about the letter, Rogers said "none of us have seen" it and "the tribe's contributions have nothing to do with it." A spokesman for Riley said that he could not recall the circumstances behind the letter, but that he has long opposed any expansion of gambling in Alabama.

DeLay, meanwhile, saluted Choctaw chief Philip Martin in the Congressional Record on Jan. 3, 2001, citing "all he has done to further the cause of freedom." DeLay also attached to his remarks an editorial that hailed the tribe's gambling income and its "hiring [of] quality lobbyists."

Throughout this period, the U.S. Family Network was paying a monthly fee of at least $10,000 to Buckham and Alexander Strategy Group for general "consulting," according to a former Buckham associate and a copy of the contract. While DeLay's wife drew a monthly salary from the lobbying firm, she did not work at its offices in the townhouse on Capitol Hill, according to former Buckham associates.

Neither the House nor the Federal Election Commission bars the payment of corporate funds to spouses through consulting firms or political action committees, but the spouses must perform real work for reasonable wages.

"Anytime you [as a congressman] hire your child or spouse, it raises questions as to whether this is a throwback to the time when people used campaigns and government jobs to enrich their families," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, and a former general counsel of the FEC.

Research editor Lucy Shackelford; researchers Alice Crites, Madonna Lebling, Karl Evanzz and Meg Smith; and research database editor Derek Willis contributed to this report.


###END###

Corruption at it's worst!....................Gimp.


###########

[exlrrp]

Weve already seen the conservative attempt to point fingers at everyone besides themselves.
They oversimplify the scandal to their benefit, of course, by saying it was people like Reid who also took money.
But the political contributions are just the tip of the iceberg. the whole republ;ican culture off corruption is involved.
By that I mean the Duke Cunningham type of republican ethics: Stuff all the money into my pockets right now, buy me a Rolls Royce right now, let me use your yacht as my own and I'll do you political favors. Cubnningham has already confessed to taking 2.4 million dollars in bribes the last 10 years so there's no" wait for the trial" there.
Cunningham was one of many and the many others are going to come out.
here's a great explanation of the facts of the story---the money given to Reid and others isn't even a part of it.
Don't be misled by Republicans AGAIN!! This is THEIR scandal, not the Democrats

Occasionally, very occasionaly, real life serves up a Shakespearean plot where the fatal flaw, the dirty deed, the MacBeth murder, comes back to doom the main players. Such is the case with the GOP and the Abramoff scandal. Although, I think by the end of this, it'll start to look more like the final scene of Hamlet, with dead political careers littering the stage.

With all the details coming out (there are multiple diaries and front page stories of various aspects of it at any time), it's hard to keep the story straight.

So, here it is, in all its dark grandeur, your one-stop narrative of the Abramoff scandal, its roots in the K Street Project, why it's only a GOP scandal, and how it spreads throughout the whole structure of the "conservative movement." Clip it, save it, use it as a Viewer's Guide as all the other details come out. Use it to amaze your friends with your understanding. Or just send it to a journalist who seems to have no clue.

Let's get one thing straight: this scandal doesn't involve Democrats. You see, the question is not, "How many Democrats took political contributions from Jack Abramoff's clients?" The political contributions were the small change of this scandal. The question really is, "How many families of Democrats were enriched by Abramoff's activities?" And, "How many Democratic political machines were funded by millions from Abramoff's clients and Abramoff himself?" And, more prosaically, "How many Democrats took golf trips to Scotland?"

All the efforts to paint this as a bipartisan scandal are done in by one salient fact: the GOP has set up the game to systematically exclude the Democrats. Right there is the fatal flaw in the whole thing. The GOP set up an updated version of the old-fashioned political machine, and, like all machines, it needs to press the boundaries of legality and propriety to fund the large apparatus it needs to perpetuate itself. Plus, the people who set up and run these machines are invariably corrupt and arrogant, and we all know what happens to folks like that when you give them power. Basically, this all has roots in the K Street Project.

The best rundown of the K Street Project can still be found here, in a 2003 article by Nicholas Confessore. He describes weekly meetings in Rick Santorum's office of top GOP apparatchiks like Ed Gillespie, Grover Norquist and handpicked lobbyists.


The chief purpose of these gatherings is to discuss jobs--specifically, the top one or two positions at the biggest and most important industry trade associations and corporate offices centered around Washington's K Street, a canyon of nondescript office buildings a few blocks north of the White House that is to influence-peddling what Wall Street is to finance. In the past, those people were about as likely to be Democrats as Republicans, a practice that ensured K Street firms would have clout no matter which party was in power. But beginning with the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, and accelerating in 2001, when George W. Bush became president, the GOP has made a determined effort to undermine the bipartisan complexion of K Street. And Santorum's Tuesday meetings are a crucial part of that effort. Every week, the lobbyists present pass around a list of the jobs available and discuss whom to support. Santorum's responsibility is to make sure each one is filled by a loyal Republican--a senator's chief of staff, for instance, or a top White House aide, or another lobbyist whose reliability has been demonstrated. After Santorum settles on a candidate, the lobbyists present make sure it is known whom the Republican leadership favors. "The underlying theme was [to] place Republicans in key positions on K Street. Everybody taking part was a Republican and understood that that was the purpose of what we were doing," says Rod Chandler, a retired congressman and lobbyist who has participated in the Santorum meetings. "It's been a very successful effort."

If today's GOP leaders put as much energy into shaping K Street as their predecessors did into selecting judges and executive-branch nominees, it's because lobbying jobs have become the foundation of a powerful new force in Washington politics: a Republican political machine. Like the urban Democratic machines of yore, this one is built upon patronage, contracts, and one-party rule. But unlike legendary Chicago mayor Richard J. Daley, who rewarded party functionaries with jobs in the municipal bureaucracy, the GOP is building its machine outside government, among Washington's thousands of trade associations and corporate offices, their tens of thousands of employees, and the hundreds of millions of dollars in political money at their disposal.


Now, that last sentence is a key one in understanding L'Affaire Abramoff. This is a machine that is primarily outside of government--but connected to it--and funded with millions of dollars. And it's all GOP. Oh, clients of the machine may give a few bucks to Democrats (like Harry Reid's and Byron Dorgan's contributions from Abramoff's Indian tribes), but the real money is outside these contributions. And it all goes to fund the GOP.

One example of how it works is the Celebrations for Children story Kos links to on the main page, where a phony charity gets millions of dollars to fund perks. But an even better example of it is the sordid story of the US Family Network, another Delay charity.


The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins.

Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay (R-Tex.).

--snip--

But the records show that the tiny U.S. Family Network, which never had more than one full-time staff member, spent comparatively little money on public advocacy or education projects. Although established as a nonprofit organization, it paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to Buckham and his lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group.

There is no evidence DeLay received a direct financial benefit, but Buckham's firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine, and paid her a salary of at least $3,200 each month for three of the years the group existed. Richard Cullen, DeLay's attorney, has said that the pay was compensation for lists Christine DeLay supplied to Buckham of lawmakers' favorite charities, and that it was appropriate under House rules and election law.

Some of the U.S. Family Network's revenue was used to pay for radio ads attacking vulnerable Democratic lawmakers in 1999; other funds were used to finance the cash purchase of a townhouse three blocks from DeLay's congressional office. DeLay's associates at the time called it "the Safe House."

DeLay made his own fundraising telephone pitches from the townhouse's second-floor master suite every few weeks, according to two former associates. Other rooms in the townhouse were used by Alexander Strategy Group, Buckham's newly formed lobbying firm, and Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), DeLay's leadership committee.

They paid modest rent to the U.S. Family Network, which occupied a single small room in the back.


So, there ya go. Money from all over (in addition to the Russians, money came from the Choctaw tribe and owners of sweatshops in the Nortern Marianas, central players in other aspects of this drama ... but I'm sure you know about them), and the money was used to fund a political operation and, tangentially, to enrich the Delay family through the person of Delay's wife. And remember the money involved. This is millions of dollars. Puts the $65,000 of contributions Byron Dorgan received (and returned) into the proper context.

This is the political machine aspect of this, at least how it intersects with Congress. Abramoff ran, basically, a pay-to-play operation, where people who wanted to do business with the GOP would give him millions of dollars in lobbying fees, which he would then spread around. These dollars were used to fund political operations by Congressmen, or they were used to give family members a sweet deal, or they were used to fund lavish trips to Scotland to play golf.

But remember, this is a big machine, primarily living outside of government. It needs a lot of dollars. And this is where folks like Ralph Reed and Grover Norquist come in. And the religious right. Here's a quick description of Ralph Reed's involvement:


E-mails released by federal investigators in June 2005 suggest that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery at the same time that Abramoff was being paid to promote Indian casino gambling. Additional e-mails released in November 2005 show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. Reed has said he did not know the funds came from pro-gambling sources.

And this happened all over the place. That's really what got Abramoff in trouble in the first place. If he had just kept things at your basic pay-to-play influence peddling, he might have gotten away with it. But the machine needed money. It needed it to run itself, and it needed it to fund the increasingly lavish lifestyles of the main players.

How this all works, how the money gets pushed around, can be seen in the story of Tyco Industries and Tim Flanigan, who withdrew his name from consideration for the Deputy AG job over this scandal. From Newsweek:


Tyco, based in Bermuda, paid $1.7 million to Abramoff's firm in 2003 and 2004--plus $1.5 million for a "grass roots" campaign to gin up opposition to the effort among Tyco's domestic suppliers. The Tyco official who hired Abramoff is the firm's general counsel, Tim Flanigan, a former White House lawyer nominated by President Bush for deputy attorney general. Tyco lawyer George Terwilliger says the firm "was a victim of a rip-off." Abramoff, he says, recommended the $1.5 million be paid to Grassroots Interactive, a group that allegedly did little work and later diverted funds for other purposes. Grassroots is "controlled" by Abramoff, says Nathan Lewin, a lawyer for Tyco's registered agent.

"Diverted funds for other purposes ..." Riiight. By this point, we can all guess what those other purposes were. You can also see this game at work in all the details of the Indian gaming scandal. Money going to fake astro-turf organizations, funding lobbying at cross-purposes to the original client ... it's an ugly tale.

A point to note in the Tyco story, though, is the entrance into our little story here of a big player: the Bush Administration. You see, if you're gonna run a pay-to-play system, a modern political machine, you've got to have the biggest playa on board. The WaPo on the Tyco fleecing:


Abramoff later said "he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove" about the issue, according to the statement by Flanigan, who oversaw Tyco's dealings with Abramoff and his firm and received reports from Abramoff about progress in the lobbying campaign. Flanigan's statement is the latest indication that Abramoff promoted himself as having ready access to senior officials in the Bush administration.

A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said Rove "has no recollection" of being contacted by Abramoff about Tyco's concerns.


Karl, bubbie, I'm startin' to worry about you, guy. What with forgetting about this, and not remembering all those Plame conversations ... have you been getting lost on your way to work lately? Forgetting family members' names? You better get that checked out.

Now, one salient point in all this: Karl Rove's trusted assistant, one Susan Ralston, used to work for Abramoff. Now isn't that a coincidence? Every machine needs its loyal workers.

You notice something though ... Flanigan works for the White House, goes to work for Tyco, then gets nominated to be Deputy AG. Susan Ralston works for Abramoff, then goes to work for the White House ... for the first time in modern political history, one party controls the levers of power. And the revolving door of private work/government work/influence peddling that is such a prevalent part of our political system is now all flowing among the workers of one party.

Like David Safavian. It's here that the corruption reaches possibly its uttermost simplicity. Safavian, a former worker for Grover Norquist, got hired by the White House to be their procurement chief, in charge of purchasing decisions for the executive branch. You can imagine the power that holds to reward friends and punish enemies. Of course, he was arrested for taking bribes from Abramoff. At this point in the story, Safavian seems inevitable. The bribes, the connection to Norquist ... it's all so predictable. When you set up a machine like this, this is what happens. It's the fatal flaw, the insularity making the corruption inevitable and focused.

The GOP systematically excludes Democrats from this Iron Triangle of corporations/lobbying firms/government, but now they are looking for those connections to save them. They rigged the game to serve themselves, and, drunk with that power, feeling unfettered by opposition, they went too far. They turned official and unofficial Washington into their private playground, piggy-bank, and job fair. They moved millions and millions around with impunity, getting paid to lobby both sides of an issue, shaking down corporations, tribes, anyone, all to fund their machine. And themselves. The political donations don't matter; they probably don't add up to a tenth of the real money involved.

So, next time you see any Abramoff-related news ... remember the context. Remember the greater story that this is a part of. It all fits together. Abramoff was a GOP bag-man, collecting funds, distributing them to the big players, and getting favors in return. There is not a single major GOP figure that is not involved here, from George Bush to Tom Delay to Ralph Reed. The only question is: how far do the prosecutors take this?

[Gimpy]

will make my day when I see that Christo-Hypocrite weasel, Ralph Reed carted off to prison in handcuffs and shackles! That sorry piece of crap has been misleading, misinforming and shitting on the folks from my home state of Georgia for more than a decade now!

It's high time he paid for his misdeeds and unethical, hypocritical behavior!

[SuperScout]

James - have you been reincarnataed into the same hateful person you once were, are did you just go back on your word not to post in the Political Discussion forum? Not that I give a fig.......

Whistleblower? Since when is it OK for a person to divulge Top Secret information? And who are you to declare that the work done by the NSA was illegal? Where is your outrage that classified information was divulged and its being made public can bring harm to America? Are don't you care about this country? Is your self-admitted hatred for anything and everything that has to do with this administration poisoned your allegiance to America?

And what were the "assumptions" made about Clinton? That he lied under oath? Proven in a court of law. That he obstructed justice? Proven in a court of law? Tee-hee, both in impeachable offenses, but thankfully, the gutless Senate didn't vote to convict, or we would have been stuck with the even more gutless wonder, Al Gore, who would have replaced Clinton, and made things even worse than they were.

In the words of another famous Texan, "Bring 'em on," regarding the Special Prosecutor; whoever gets caught in the net, send them up the river. Let's just tally up the score at the end of the prosecutions, and see how many Democrats and how many Republicans were indicted AND convicted.