Rep. Bob Ney pleads guilty to Abramoff bribery charge

[bishop]

Rep. Bob Ney pleads guilty to Abramoff bribery charge - CNN.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Rep. Bob Ney pleaded guilty Friday in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling investigation, the first lawmaker to confess to crimes in a scandal that has stained the Republican-controlled Congress and the Bush administration. Standing before Judge Ellen S. Huvelle, Ney pleaded guilty to conspiracy and making false statements. He acknowledged taking money, gifts and favors in return for official actions on behalf of Abramoff and his clients. The 52-year-old lawmaker faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. Huvelle said prosecutors had agreed to recommend a term of 27 months, and said federal guidelines suggest a fine of between $5,000 and $60,000. Ney did not immediately resign from Congress, and within minutes, Republican and Democratic leaders vowed to expel him unless he steps down. Beleaguered GOP leaders, struggling to overcome fallout from a separate scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley and teenage male pages, said they would make Ney's ouster the "first order of business" in a post-election session. Ney's lawyer, Mark Touhey, told the judge Ney would resign before sentencing on January 19. Under the Constitution, he'll be gone before then. His term expires when the new Congress is sworn in at noon on January 3. In a statement distributed to reporters after the court session, Ney said, "I accept responsibility for my actions and I am prepared to face the consequences of what I have done." Ney is the latest in a string of once-influential men convicted in a scandal that so far has caught several lobbyists and two members of the Bush administration. Abramoff, the Republican super-lobbyist, admitted guilt in January after secretly cooperating with prosecutors for weeks. Two former aides to Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, have also pleaded guilty, as has Ney's former chief of staff. Additionally, Roger Stillwell, a former Interior Department official, pleaded guilty in August to a misdemeanor charge for not reporting tickets he received from Abramoff. And former White House official David Safavian, who had been the Bush administration's top procurement official, was convicted of covering up his dealings with Abramoff. He is scheduled for sentencing on October 27. Ney confessed his wrongdoing in a federal courthouse a few blocks distant from the Capitol, where until recently he wielded a chairman's gavel.

another one bites the dust..

i almost wonder if there's some sort of republican strategy behind all of this. it seems as if we've had a different scandal going on every single month. (or at least multiple scandals are on monthly rotations.) this abramoff scandal is huge, and undoubtedly includes many more politicians than have already been indicted. you'd think that that would be a huge story, except for the continuous rotation of other scandals that have been borne out of the bush administration and republican-led congress.

[JohnMK]

Power corrupts. Pretty solid evidence, don't you think? That's why I think there needs to be less of it.

[PatrickHenry]

Corrupt congresscritters! My, my!

This goes back to the beginning of America, doesn't it? How can a nation protect itself from the curse?

Maybe outlaw peddling influence? Clear out 34,000 drug users from prisons and install the Washington lobbyists there?

[Georgia]

You're absolutely right JohnMK and this stuff happens on all sides:
CNN.com - Affidavit: $90,000 found in congressman's freezer - May 22, 2006

Affidavit: $90,000 found in congressman's freezer FBI wraps up search of Jefferson's office in bribery probe WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal agents searched the Capitol Hill office of a Louisiana congressman under investigation on bribery charges Sunday, while newly released court papers said agents found $90,000 in cash last year in his Washington home. In a 95-page affidavit used to obtain a warrant for the office search, investigators stated that an August 2005 search of Democratic Rep. William Jefferson's home turned up the cash sum in a freezer. The money was divided among various frozen food containers, according to the heavily redacted affidavit. (Watch what Jefferson said about the 'hell' of being investigated -- 4:47) Agents told a judge the money was part of a $100,000 payment that had been delivered by an informant in the bribery probe, which already has led to guilty pleas by a Kentucky businessman and a former Jefferson aide. The Justice Department has been investigating Jefferson's relationship to telecommunications deals in Africa and elsewhere, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation of him last week. The eight-term congressman, whose district includes New Orleans and some of its suburbs, has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to remain in office to battle any criminal charges he may face. But the affidavit states that investigators have collected evidence linking Jefferson to at least seven other cases in which he "sought things of value in return for his performance of official acts." Robert Trout, the congressman's lawyer, decried the release of the affidavit. In a statement issued Sunday night, he said it served "no legitimate investigative purpose." "This disclosure by the prosecutors is part of a public relations agenda and an obvious attempt to embarrass Congressman Jefferson," Trout said. "The affidavit itself is just one side of the story, which has not been tested in court." He said Jefferson would respond "at the appropriate time" if charged with any wrongdoing. FBI agents searched Jefferson's office in the Rayburn House Office Building from Saturday evening to early Sunday afternoon, bureau spokeswoman Debra Weierman said. One government official told CNN the search marked the first time FBI agents have searched a lawmaker's Capitol Hill office. Weierman would not comment on what agents removed from Jefferson's office. But in the papers released Sunday, investigators stated they were searching for faxes, notes, telephone records and other forms of communication, as well as ledgers and computer files related to meetings and travel. In an earlier statement, Trout called the search of Jefferson's office "outrageous" and said it was not necessary. "There were no exigent circumstances necessitating this action. The government knew that the documents were being appropriately preserved while proper procedures were being followed. We are dismayed by this action -- the documents weren't going anywhere and the prosecutors knew it," he said. However, a redacted copy of the search warrant and affidavit stated that federal investigators were unable to obtain the records relevant to the investigation inside Jefferson's office and, "left with no other method," proceeded with the search. A government official close to the investigation told CNN the search was executed over the weekend when few people are on Capitol Hill because they believed that time would "be appropriate." Agents had previously searched Jefferson's home in New Orleans. The cash found in his Washington residence was part of a $100,000 payment delivered by a cooperating witness, according to the affidavit, which said the delivery was videotaped by the FBI. The FBI began investigating Jefferson in March 2005 stemming from accusations made by the witness, a Virginia resident who owns an investment firm. He told the FBI that he was "a victim of a fraud and bribery scheme" involving Jefferson; Vernon Jackson, CEO of the Louisville, Kentucky-based company iGate; and Brett Pfeffer, the president of the investment firm owned by the unnamed witness and a former Jefferson aide. According to the affidavit, Jefferson had asked the witness for a percentage ownership interest in his Nigerian broadband company in exchange for the congressman "using his official acts to support the the Nigerian business venture." Guilty pleas Jackson pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this month to bribing the congressman with more than $400,000 in payments, company stock and a share of the profits in order to promote iGate's high-tech business ventures in Africa. (Full story) Pfeffer, of Herndon, Virginia, pleaded guilty in January to aiding and abetting bribery of a public official. Both have agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of their plea agreements. The affidavit states Jefferson "attempted to use his position as a United States Congressman" to promote other iGate business ventures in Nigeria, Ghana and possibly other African nations. "In exchange for his official acts supporting the proposed business ventures," the affidavit said, Jefferson has received a 30 percent equity stake in the witness' Nigerian company and more than $400,000 in payments from iGate. The 30 percent equity, in the form of stocks, was placed in the name of a Nigerian limited liability corporation held by the congressman's children, the affidavit said. The cloud over Jefferson comes as Democratic leaders have been attacking what they call a "culture of corruption" surrounding the Republican leadership in Congress. With midterm elections in November, Democrats are trying to highlight GOP ties to the influence-peddling investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in a Texas court, and last year's guilty plea of California Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, now serving an eight-year stretch for taking bribes from defense contractors. In a news conference last week, Jefferson said he was innocent and that he would remain in office while he fights any charges. (Full story)

""I wish to say emphatically that in all of my actions that are here under scrutiny, that I have never intended to dishonor my office, or you, the public, and I certainly did not sell my office," Jefferson told reporters.

R-r-r-r-right. Of course he didn't, and too bad he insists on fighting a long, drawn out court battle further burdening the American tax payer.
Or perhaps he thought his freezer had a higher return rate for the money?

I hope Bob Ney acutally faces real time in prison along with Jefferson. Perhaps they could share a cell and get to be "good buddies"

[underbear1]

There's gamblin' going on in this casino...........I'm shocked!

[The Dunedan]

The sound and fury over that Louisiana congressman always cracks me up. I'm from Louisiana originally; we're the bunch that made political corruption a sport. Edwin "Fast Eddie" Edwards is due to be out of jail in about 18 months...at which time he's reportedly planning to run for a fifth term as Govorner. If he runs, he'll win, and he won't even have to rig the election. He's just that popular. "Outsiders" wonder how a Congressman could do such a thing ( shocked, I tell you! ) we just wonder why it took so long for someone so sloppy to get caught. Edwards was so slick they had to put him on trial six times before they were finally able to nail him; this other guy's some amatuer who's not even much fun to watch.

[RickSp]

I liked the bumper stickers from when Edwards ran against David Duke, a klansman, for governor. They read - "Vote for the Lizard, Not the Wizard". And of course, the lizard won.

[The Dunedan]

Yup. And the Lizard would win again if he ran again, especially after the Godawful fuckup Blanco put the State into. "Fast Eddie" would have had his cut too, naturally, but things would have gotten -done-. That's why nobody cared that he was taking 5% off the top; things still got done and done properly. Sometimes his solutions were a little off-putting, but they worked.

When petty crime in New Orleans became a problem too big to ignore, Eddi e lobbied to legalize gambling as a way to cut down on muggings and rapes and such. His rationale was simple; wherever you have a casino, you have Mafia, and the Mob doesn't take kindly to small-time thugs who scare away the cash-cows otherwise known as Tourists.

Sure enough; the casinos came, and right behind them came the Mafia. New Orleans has always had an extremely powerful Mafia organization, but it had mostly gotten into shipping, union graft, that kind of thing. But now, they had their hands in the casinos too, and a vested interest in keeping the tourists coming. And whaddaya know, the crime-rate dropped. There were a number of high-profile shootings in the Quarter in which car-thieves were found shot to death outside the cars they were attempting to steal; SlimJim still in the car's door.

And if course, Fast Eddie was basking in the glow of a reduced crime-rate, more tourism money...and his usual 5% "unofficial commission" fee.

[RickSp]

Now the FBI is investigating Curt Weldon.

Weldon Faces Probe on Daughter's Deals

The FBI is investigating whether Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., used his influence to secure lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, two people familiar with the inquiry said Saturday. The inquiry focuses on lobbying contracts worth $1 million that Weldon's daughter, Karen Weldon, obtained from foreign clients and whether they were assisted by the congressman, they said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the confidentiality of the criminal investigation.

[bishop]

jeez... what's the current count of people who've been involved in this scandal?

[gr8fuldaniel]

Ney is still working and getting paid as if nothing ever happened. ~~~ source

Where's my pitchfork and torch?

[Osborn F Enready]

Bishop said: jeez... what's the current count of people who've been involved in this scandal?

I say:
Watch this two-hour Bill Moyers special to learn more:
Capitol Crimes link:
Moyers on America | PBS

Also his special on Internet Neutrality was spectacular, and more showing evidence of how this is a bi-partisan conspiracy against American citizens.