Just take a look at his listed donations on Open Secrets
here and
here.
There isn't a Democrat on the list.
It is true that some employees of the large lobbying firms he worked at and some of his clients gave to Democrats as well the GOP. These are the Abramoff-connected donations that we read about in the press. They are always separated from Jack by two or more degrees and most often the connection is a single thread.
The same is not true for the GOP.
Jack was a 25-year GOP bagman. He collected and moved money around. He may cut a deal at any moment. This is a BIG problem for the GOP and they will try and tie Jack to Democrats. It's just bullshit and it won't work.
More on the jump...
The
GOP Talking Points are out: Everybody does it and Abramoff gave equally to both parties. Hell, even George W. Bush himself has been trained to repeat them, but
Bloomberg (and many others) have looked at the facts:
U.S. President George W. Bush calls indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff ``an equal money dispenser'' who helped politicians of both parties. Campaign donation records show Republicans were a lot more equal than Democrats.
Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff gave more than $127,000 to Republican candidates and committees and nothing to Democrats, federal records show. At the same time, his Indian clients were the only ones among the top 10 tribal donors in the U.S. to donate more money to Republicans than Democrats. [snip]
Between 2001 and 2004, Abramoff joined with his former partner, Michael Scanlon, and tribal clients to give money to a third of the members of Congress, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, according to records of the Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service. At least 171 lawmakers got $1.4 million in campaign donations from the group. Republicans took in most of the money, with 110 lawmakers getting $942,275, or 66 percent of the total.
Of the top 10 political donors among Indian tribes in that period, three are former clients of Abramoff and Scanlon: the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California. All three gave most of their donations to Republicans -- by margins of 30 percentage points or more -- while the rest favored Democrats. [snip]
Abramoff faces allegations that he bilked the casino-owning tribes out of millions of dollars and attempted to corrupt public officials. E-mails released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during a year of hearings offer evidence that he directed the tribes to donate funds to specific lawmakers.
Abramoff's tribal clients continued to give money to Democrats even after he began representing them, although in smaller percentages than in the past. [snip]
``Republicans are bending over backwards to exaggerate the links'' between Democrats and Abramoff, said Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. ``This is a Republican scandal that involves Republican lawmakers doing favors for a Republican lobbyist.''
And the LA Times reported more Abramoff donation facts:
Abramoff, a once-powerful lobbyist who is the subject of a federal influence-peddling investigation, is considering a deal to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors, according to sources familiar with the probe. That could open the prospect that Abramoff will implicate any number of lawmakers and aides who were part of his vast network of access. [snip]
"Washington is holding its collective breath," said one Republican lobbyist who did not want to comment for the record on a scandal affecting his profession and political allies.
The concern is widespread because Abramoff's reach into the Capitol was so deep. According to an analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, 210 current members of Congress have received contributions from Abramoff, his Indian tribe clients or SunCruz Casinos since 1999.
Most received less than $10,000, but 25 lawmakers received $21,500 or more. Twenty were Republicans and five were Democrats, but none of the Democrats received money directly from Abramoff.
And that's just money from the Tribes and SunCruz. It doesn't count Jack's other clients such as the Hong Kong family that owned those sweatshops over on Saipan.
So, let's stop this Abramoff myth in its tracks before it becomes one of those Clinton/Gore era lies that the MSM treats as a fact. And the myth is being repeated as a fact.
Recently, Media Matters took on Anne Kornblut of the NYTs for a perpetuating the myth that Jack gave money to both parties. They were right to do so and we should not muddy the water by repeating a lie.
And then there was Jonathan Chait who wrote about the growing Abramoff scandal in his LA Times column, but sadly he repeats the myth that Abramoff gave to Democrats as well as Republicans. That's false.
Jack only gave his donations to Republicans. Chait should know better.
Jack's lobbying firms and some of his clients gave to Democrats as well the GOP. While those are Abramoff-connected donations, they are not the same as Jack's personal checks to candidates.
It is only true to say that some Democrats received donations from co-workers of Abramoff and/or his clients, but that is different than an direct donation or connection to Abramoff.
And all Democrats are auditing all their connections and purging any funds that they find to be connected to Jack by the thinnest of threads.
Let's stop this GOP Talking Points whenever it pops up. And it will be the talking point of the day when Jack makes his deal--which could come before the end of the year.
The Abramoff scandal is an entirely GOP owned and operated affair. The numbers in the LA Times story should make even the most partisan Republican weak in the knees, but it should encourage Democrats to go on the attack and end the GOP Culture of Corruption!
2006 is our year.
54th Biennial College Republican National Convention