A well connected Washington lobbyist agreed on Tuesday to give evidence against top politicians whom he allegedly bribed, in what analysts predict may prove the biggest congressional scandal in US history.
The lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, pleaded guilty to engaging in a conspiracy involving "corruption of public officials" as well as fraud and tax evasion, after striking a deal with federal prosecutors that is expected to lift the lid on a culture of corruption in Congress, in which legislative favors are routinely exchanged for perks.
Politicians from both parties received money from Abramoff and his business clients, but the scandal is likely to inflict most damage on the Republican party, and could ultimately threaten its hold on Congress.
One of the party's most powerful figures, Tom DeLay, who was instrumental in orchestrating its victories in 2000, 2002 and 2004, is at the center of the investigation for his close financial ties to Abramoff. A senior White House budget official, David Safavian, has been arrested for failing to report gifts from the indicted lobbyist.
"This is potentially the biggest congressional scandal in history," said Melanie Sloan, formerly a federal prosecutor and the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog organization. "Abramoff knew everybody. He knows how Washington works."
White House spokesman Scott McClellan was unable to say on Tuesday whether US President George W. Bush had ever met Abramoff, but he denounced the lobbyist.
"What he is reportedly acknowledged doing is unacceptable and outrageous," he said. "If laws were broken, he must be held to account for what he did."
Abramoff was a central fixture in Washington political life, wining and dining top politicians in his own restaurant, hosting them in plush corporate boxes at sporting events and paying for golf trips to Scotland.
The lobbyist and his partners also coordinated political donations worth US$1.7 million to more than 200 members of Congress on behalf of clients such as the Choctaw Indian tribe in Mississippi, the US-administered Northern Mariana islands in the Pacific and Russian oil magnates.
Legislation passed by Congress in recent years directly benefited those clients and the justice department is now seeking to prove that those votes were bought.
Papers presented to a Washington court on Tuesday alleged that Abramoff gave "money, meals, trips and entertainment to public officials and their relatives with the intent to influence and in return for agreements to perform official acts" benefiting Abramoff and his clients.
BRUSHED OFF: An ambassador to Australia previously said that Beijing does not see a reason to apologize for its naval exercises and military maneuvers in international areas China set off alarm bells in New Zealand when it dispatched powerful warships on unprecedented missions in the South Pacific without explanation, military documents showed. Beijing has spent years expanding its reach in the southern Pacific Ocean, courting island nations with new hospitals, freshly paved roads and generous offers of climate aid. However, these diplomatic efforts have increasingly been accompanied by more overt displays of military power. Three Chinese warships sailed the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand in February, the first time such a task group had been sighted in those waters. “We have never seen vessels with this capability
A Japanese city would urge all smartphone users to limit screen time to two hours a day outside work or school under a proposed ordinance that includes no penalties. The limit — which would be recommended for all residents in Toyoake City — would not be binding and there would be no penalties incurred for higher usage, the draft ordinance showed. The proposal aims “to prevent excessive use of devices causing physical and mental health issues... including sleep problems,” Mayor Masafumi Koki said yesterday. The draft urges elementary-school students to avoid smartphones after 9pm, and junior-high students and older are advised not
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has fired his national police chief, who gained attention for leading the separate arrests of former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte on orders of the International Criminal Court and televangelist Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, who is on the FBI’s most-wanted list for alleged child sex trafficking. Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin did not cite a reason for the removal of General Nicolas Torre as head of the 232,000-member national police force, a position he was appointed to by Marcos in May and which he would have held until 2027. He was replaced by another senior police general, Jose
POWER CONFLICT: The US president threatened to deploy National Guards in Baltimore. US media reports said he is also planning to station troops in Chicago US President Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to deploy National Guard troops to yet another Democratic stronghold, the Maryland city of Baltimore, as he seeks to expand his crackdown on crime and immigration. The Republican’s latest online rant about an “out of control, crime-ridden” city comes as Democratic state leaders — including Maryland Governor Wes Moore — line up to berate Trump on a high-profile political stage. Trump this month deployed the National Guard to the streets of Washington, in a widely criticized show of force the president said amounts to a federal takeover of US capital policing. The Guard began carrying