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Paper: Investigators Bear Down on Former DeLay Aide
The Jack Abramoff investigation has certainly come roaring out of its hibernation.
Next on the list, apparently, is Tom DeLay's former right-hand man, Ed Buckham. From The Houston Chronicle:
...prosecutors could decide within weeks whether to bring charges against former DeLay staff chief Edwin Buckham, according to sources close to the investigation who spoke on the condition that they not be identified. The decision should give a clear signal on whether DeLay remains in legal jeopardy, the sources said.
As we've noted before, Buckham was the main cog in DeLay's operation and a close associate of Abramoff.
And he also -- to further burnish his status as a distinguished muckrakee -- acted as the lobbyist for Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who was recently indicted for bribing Duke Cunningham and CIA #3 Dusty Foggo.
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As we've noted before, Buckham was the main cog in DeLay's operation and a close associate of Abramoff.
And he also -- to further burnish his status as a distinguished muckrakee -- acted as the lobbyist for Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who was recently indicted for bribing Duke Cunningham and CIA #3 Dusty Foggo
Man, there's so much corruption going on, it's hard to keep it all straight.
April 25, 2007 3:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Could someone please explain the corruption and how obvious the corruption was such that all these people connected to Abramoff are falling so quickly. I mean are there documents that say "I will give X for $$$." or what???
Thanks
April 25, 2007 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to complain, as TPMMuckraker is my favorite website of all-time, but it would be nice to have html in the comments so when we quote something we can put it in italics.
April 25, 2007 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
So is this some kind of Staff attorneys revenge?
All of a sudden the indictments start to flow, is it cause Goodling & Sampson are no longer holding them back? What's going on?
Code word butter, as is greasing the skids...
April 25, 2007 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Geez, I need a scorecard.
April 25, 2007 3:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Rather than wasting his energy blathering and raving about Pelosi's supposed treason, I'd think Delay’s time would be better spent researching the list of pleasant-climed countries with no extradition treaties.
April 25, 2007 3:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Last September, I compiled information about property and businesses owned by Buckham, Tony Rudy and Michal Mihalke in the TPM Cafe (link below).
April 25, 2007 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
If they can get Buckham to flip instead of taking the fall, then DeLay will be toast.
April 25, 2007 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
"If they can get Buckham to flip instead of taking the fall, then DeLay will be toast."
from your lips to God's ear!
The good thing about lobbyist types is that they seem to be less ideologues and more just garden variety crooks, so they flip a lot easier than neocons like Scooter and religious cultists like Monica.
I'd like to see how long it would take Karl to flip on his master if they could ever hold his feet to the fire.
April 25, 2007 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
pwapvt >"...All of a sudden the indictments start to flow, is it cause Goodling & Sampson are no longer holding them back? What's going on?..."
Post 11/07 activity.
Once Congress was no longer in ReThuglican control the writing was on the wall. No more rubber stamping of Bush handlers, Inc, no more sweet deals, no more control of the means of investigation.
Now is the time to maintain pressure so that the weak links "break".
Plenty more to come, stay tuned.
code = animal (behavior to model when going after these people)
"All successful revolutions are the kicking in of a rotten door." - John Kenneth Galbraith
April 25, 2007 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to complain, as TPMMuckraker is my favorite website of all-time, but it would be nice to have html in the comments so when we quote something we can put it in italics.
If you want to add your own italics tag, wrap your quote in (But remove the hyphen. It should only be 'em'. Had to do it that way so you could see it..............
April 25, 2007 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't have a comment, other than my security word is "crime". Somehow it just seems to fit....
April 25, 2007 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I so look forward to the whining crying baby tantrum Eddie will treat us to.
God forbid he should just say, yes, what I did was wrong -- and this is the story, all of it. I've brought shame and pain to my family. I knew what I was doing was wrong, and I'll accept my punishment. Then, perhaps, I can find a way to have a meaningful life beyond greed and an overwhelming desire for power.
Instead, we'll probably get more meaningless mea culpas which say, in essence, It was someone else's fault and I'm just an innocent victim.
April 25, 2007 3:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm puzzled why you didn't abstract from the Houston Chronicle story this statement referring to content in court documents related to the plea bargain by former DeLay aide Tony Rudy:
"Rudy did not implicate DeLay in court documents released in his plea agreement but indicated cooperation to come, noting '(The plea bargain) does not include all of the facts known to me. . . concerning criminal activity in which I or others engaged."
The article goes on to report what Rudy and DeLay did together to help Abramoff.
Taken together, this is about as incendiary as it gets regardless of DeLay's reported statement that he had "no knowledge of improper dealings by Rudy."
If DOJ doesn't mess this up, it won't be long before DeLay will be unable to claim that he was only an innocent bystander.
April 25, 2007 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
It seems to me that the FBI and prosecutors recent active prosecutions coming from the Abramoff matter are partially the result of the prosecutors not wanting to look like they are impeding any corruption investigations, in light of the prosecutor purge scandal. Plus, the White House and DoJ are being forced to lay low on inhibiting any investigations for fear of more bad publicity or a confirmation that they were impeding the investigations all along.
April 25, 2007 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
http://thehill.com/content/view/65663/70/
Schumer is zeroing in on Renzis involvement in Charltons fring.
April 25, 2007 4:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
he is an evangelical, you KNOW what that means.
code word: fear
April 25, 2007 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
And lest we forget, it seems to me that this fellow was also a preacher, heavy into the Christian right.
April 25, 2007 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmm. And here I thought that the naming of Feeney was a signal that the Feds will deal with those still in office first...
April 25, 2007 4:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just to reluctantly throw cold-water...the above article suggests that DOJ could just as easily decide NOT to bring charges next week. I don't get the sense that a celebration is in order quite yet.
If Buckham gets hyped as a Delay surrogate...and Buckham walks...it's gonna look bad. Delay has been re-emerging from his chrysalis...to be sure, he's hawking a book but I hope it's not a signal that he has inside information that he's free to terrorize the nation again.
April 25, 2007 4:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Just to reluctantly throw cold-water...the above article suggests that DOJ could just as easily decide NOT to bring charges next week. I don't get the sense that a celebration is in order quite yet.
If Buckham gets hyped as a Delay surrogate...and Buckham walks...it's gonna look bad. Delay has been re-emerging from his chrysalis...to be sure, he's hawking a book but I hope it's not a signal that he has inside information that he's free to terrorize the nation again.
April 25, 2007 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting, isn't it, how all of a sudden all the US attorneys around the country are pushing forward with their Abramoff investigations, which were in the deep freeze for the first part of the year. My theory is that they were being blocked by Gonzo until this scandal erupted in the last two months and suddenly, with Gonzo terribly weakened and unable to issue any orders to stop for fear of making things worse, they are free to move ahead. And all of them are taking advantage of it right away. Notice how many of these probes are suddenly making news? It's a sign of what's to come as this White House implodes. The civil servants can only be held back for so long, it seems.
April 25, 2007 4:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
re henry's point: Not only that, I suspect there's an element of payback to the GOP and Administration and Gonzalez in this.
And, of course, for the rest there's the prospect of being shown up as a hack and incompetent if Henry Waxman suddenly decides to call you to the front of the class.
April 25, 2007 4:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Goddamnit, we need a scorecard. Another Republican cockroach is sent scurrying away from the light.
April 25, 2007 9:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Like others here, I'm having a helluva time keeping up on this scandal. God, but I love it.
Former Gov Geo McGovern says flatly that Bush and Cheney will resign in 2008.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. Does he know something?
I hope so.
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of Bushmen? To quote Flip Wilson, da Shadow do.
xxx
April 25, 2007 9:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
What would you expect when you marry the prophets of the right, the Rockefellers(who sponsered the eugenics movement and race cleansing propaganda)from the earlier icons of their dynasty, with the contemporary professors of the Christian right to life movement? Rosemary's baby? Or the Anti-Christ?
April 26, 2007 9:51 AM | Reply | Permalink