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Justice Dept. Says Ex-Sen Burns is Off The Hook
It came about a year too late to do him any good, but the Justice Department has notified ex-Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) that he's no longer under investigation for his ties to Jack Abramoff. Burns, you may remember, lost very narrowly to Jon Tester (D) last November, with Burns' Abramoff problem a huge issue in the election.
The feds had been investigating whether Burns helped Abramoff's tribal clients in exchange for tens of thousands in campaign contributions and other goodies. Abramoff himself said that he got whatever he wanted from Burns and that his staffers "pratically" used Abramoff's D.C. restaurant Signatures "as their cafeteria."
Abramoff continues to busily cooperate with investigators from prison. But whatever prosecutors came up with on Burns, they apparently didn't think it would stick in court -- bribery cases, of course, are notoriously hard to make.
Burns, who spent around $300,000 in campaign contributions on defense lawyers, fittingly got a lobbying gig after his forced retirement. And how does he feel about not being under investigation for the first time in more than two years? He says that he feels "so great that it's unbelievable." I'll bet he's "ready to go get knee-walking drunk."
Update: Don't forget that Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) are still very much on the hook.
When did Doolittle become a Dem?
January 3, 2008 1:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
a repub who's not a crook after all...who knew?
January 3, 2008 1:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hahahahahahhahahaha.... destroyed the evidence before I went.
January 3, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Major typo.
Should be "Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)"
This isn't Fox News after all...
January 3, 2008 1:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
"...baseless and politically motivated charges..."
Those evil liberals in the Bush justice department...right. Pull the other one.
January 3, 2008 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can someone explain why Tom Delay isn't in jail? Was the U.S. Attorney investigating his case appointed under the auspices of the Gonzalez Justuce Department? How much more time does Abramoff need to give his clean up statements? Let the trial begin.
January 4, 2008 10:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Can someone explain why Tom Delay isn't in jail? Was the U.S. Attorney investigating his case appointed under the auspices of the Gonzalez Justuce Department? How much more time does Abramoff need to give his clean up statements? Let the trial begin.
January 4, 2008 10:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
High ranking state and federal Republican officials in Alabama are above the law; Bush has instructed his new Attorney General appointee not to investigate corruption in Alabama.
The GOP is deeply involved in the Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon scandal. Lobbyist Jack Abramoff who was a major GOP campaign fund raiser has almost 400 recorded visits to the White House. The documented prison confessions by these two along with these White House records have recently been declared secret by Bush and is being withheld by the White House. Abramoff and Lobbyist Scanlon con over sixty million dollars from the six Indian tribes that ran gambling Casinos. Abramoff also arranged secret meetings for foreign businesses and governments with the White House where Bush granted government and military favors in exchange for major campaign contributions to Bush supporters.
Now the GOP in Alabama has to depend on T. Roth and W. Canary to deal with the Choctaw Indians directly. The Choctaws aren’t the only ones that they are using scare tactics on. The GOP depends on contributions from large businesses in return for political favors. They also depend on kickbacks from military/government contractors. Some contractors in Alabama are charging tax payers as much as 80% over costs.
“THE ALABAMA GOP MISSION STATEMENT”
-We will support our present U.S. Republican senators, our U.S. Republican congressmen and our Republican governor.
-We will support our high ranking Republican judges, our Republican attorney generals and our three republican newspapers owned by Newhouse/Advance Publications, Inc. that persecutes and prosecutes those darn Democrats that keeps getting in the way.
January 5, 2008 3:32 AM | Reply | Permalink