OUCH! That's gonna leave a mark!

[Cuda]

Howard Dean Kicks Harry Reid in the nuts on National TV

Reid Aided Abramoff Clients, Records Show
Feb 09 4:17 PM US/Eastern
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By JOHN SOLOMON and SHARON THEIMER
Associated Press Writers


WASHINGTON


Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.

The activities _ detailed in billing records and correspondence obtained by The Associated Press _ are far more extensive than previously disclosed. They occurred over three years as Reid collected nearly $68,000 in donations from Abramoff's firm, lobbying partners and clients.



Reid's office acknowledged Thursday having "routine contacts" with Abramoff's lobbying partners and intervening on some government matters _ such as blocking some tribal casinos _ in ways Abramoff's clients might have deemed helpful. But it said none of his actions were affected by donations or done for Abramoff.

"All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long- held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents," spokesman Jim Manley said.

Reid, D-Nev., has led the Democratic Party's attacks portraying Abramoff's lobbying and fundraising as a Republican scandal.

But Abramoff's records show his lobbying partners billed for nearly two dozen phone contacts or meetings with Reid's office in 2001 alone.

Most were to discuss Democratic legislation that would have applied the U.S. minimum wage to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory and Abramoff client, but would have given the islands a temporary break on the wage rate, the billing records show.

Reid also intervened on government matters at least five times in ways helpful to Abramoff's tribal clients, once opposing legislation on the Senate floor and four times sending letters pressing the Bush administration on tribal issues. Reid collected donations around the time of each action.

Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in collecting contributions around the times they take official acts benefiting donors.

Abramoff's firm also hired one of Reid's top legislative aides as a lobbyist. The aide later helped throw a fundraiser for Reid at Abramoff's firm that raised donations from several of his lobbying partners.

And Reid's longtime chief of staff accepted a free trip to Malaysia arranged by a consulting firm connected to Abramoff that recently has gained attention in the influence-peddling investigation that has gripped the Capitol.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case and is now helping prosecutors investigate the conduct of lawmakers, congressional aides and administration officials his team used to lobby.

Abramoff spokesman Andrew Blum declined to comment on the Reid contacts.

Reid has assailed Republicans' ties to Abramoff while refusing to return any of his own donations. He argues there's no need to return the money.

"Senator Reid never met Jack Abramoff and never has taken contributions from him, and efforts to drag him into this are going to fail," Manley said. "Abramoff is a convicted felon and no one has suggested the other partners we might have dealt with have done anything impermissible."

While Abramoff never directly donated to Reid, the lobbyist did instruct one tribe, the Coushattas, to send $5,000 to Reid's tax- exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund, in 2002. About the same time, Reid sent a letter to the Interior Department helpful to the tribe, records show.

Abramoff sent a list to the tribe entitled "Coushatta Requests" recommending donations to campaigns or groups for 50 lawmakers he claimed were helpful to the tribe. Alongside Reid's name, Abramoff wrote, "5,000 (Searchlight Leadership Fund) Senate Majority Whip."

Following a pattern seen with Abramoff and Republicans, Abramoff's Democratic team members often delivered donations to Reid close to key events.

Reid himself, along his Senate counsel Jim Ryan, met with Abramoff deputy Ronald Platt on June 5, 2001, "to discuss timing on minimum wage bill" that affected the Marianas, according to a bill that Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's firm, sent the Marianas.

Three weeks before the meeting, Greenberg Traurig's political action committee donated $1,000 to Reid's Senate re-election committee. Three weeks after the meeting, Platt himself donated $1,000 to Reid.

Manley said Reid's official calendar doesn't list a meeting on June 5, with Platt, but he also said he couldn't say for sure the contact didn't occur. Manley confirmed Platt had regular contacts with Reid's office, calling them part of the "routine checking in" by lobbyists who work Capitol Hill.

As for the timing of donations, Manley said, "There is no connection. This is just a typical part of lawful fundraising."

The Marianas, U.S. territorial islands in the Pacific Ocean, were one of Abramoff's highest-paying clients and were trying to keep their textile industry exempt from most U.S. laws on immigration, labor and pay, including the minimum wage. Many Democrats have long accused the islands of running garment sweatshops.

The islands in 2001 had their own minimum wage of $3.05 an hour, and were exempt from the U.S. minimum of $5.15.

Republicans were intent on protecting the Marianas' exemption. Democrats, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of California, wanted the Marianas to be covered by the U.S. minimum and crafted a compromise.

In February 2001, Kennedy introduced a bill that would have raised the U.S. hourly minimum to $6.65 and would have covered the Marianas. The legislation, which eventually failed, would have given the islands an initial break by setting its minimum at just $3.55 _ nearly $3 lower than any other territory or state _ and then gradually increasing it.

Within a month, Platt began billing for routine contacts and meetings with Reid's staff, starting with a March 26, 2001, contact with Reid chief of staff Susan McCue to "discuss timing and status of minimum wage legislation," the billing records say.

In all, Platt and a fellow lobbyist reported 21 contacts in 2001 with Reid's office, mostly with McCue and Ryan.

One of the Marianas contacts, listed for May 30, 2001, was with Edward Ayoob, Reid's legislative counsel. Within a year, Ayoob had left Reid's office to work for Abramoff's firm, registering specifically to lobby for the islands as well as several tribes. Manley confirmed Ayoob had subsequent lobbying contacts with Reid's office.

Manley cast doubt on some of the contacts recorded in the billing records, saying McCue was out of Washington for a couple of the dates. But he acknowledged the contacts could have occurred by cell phone.

In January 2002, McCue took a free trip, valued at $7,000, to Malaysia with several other congressional aides. The trip, cleared by Senate ethics officials, was underwritten by the U.S. Malaysia Exchange Association, a group trying to foster better relations between the United States and Malaysia.

The trips were part of a broader lobbying strategy by Malaysia, which consulted with Abramoff and paid $300,000 to a company connected to him, according to documents released by Senate investigators. The arrangements included a trip by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and his wife to Malaysia in October 2001.

While Abramoff worked behind the scenes, the Alexander Strategy Group run by two former DeLay aides, Ed Buckham and Tony Rudy, publicly registered to lobby for the U.S. Malaysia Exchange Association.

Rudy, who was cited in Abramoff's court case, had worked temporarily for Abramoff before joining Buckham at Alexander Strategy, and the three men were friendly. In January 2002, Alexander Strategy arranged two congressional trips to Malaysia underwritten by the association.

One trip took a delegation of Republican congressmen. A Democratic consultant hired by Alexander Strategy, former Clinton White House aide Joel Johnson, invited McCue and went on the second trip with congressional staffers.

Johnson said he invited McCue on behalf of Alexander Strategy and went on the trip with her but said he knew of no connections to Abramoff. "My interest was in getting Democrats to travel to the country and to learn more about Malaysia," Johnson said.

Reid intervened on other matters.

On March 5, 2002, he sent a letter to the Interior Department pressing the agency to reject a proposed casino by the Jena band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. Fellow Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, also signed.

The Jena's proposed casino would have rivaled one already in operation in Louisiana run by the Coushattas, and Abramoff was lobbying to block the Jena. The day after Reid's letter, the Coushattas wrote a $5,000 check to Reid's Searchlight group at Abramoff's suggestion.

Reid and Ensign recently wrote the Senate Ethics Committee to say their letter had nothing to do with Abramoff or the donation and instead reflected their interest in protecting Las Vegas' gambling establishments.

"As senators for the state with the largest nontribal gaming industry in the nation, we have long opposed the growth of off-reservation tribal gaming throughout the United States," Ensign and Reid wrote. Reid authored the law legalizing casinos on reservations, and has long argued it does not allow tribal gambling off reservations.

On Nov. 8, 2002, the Nevada Democrat signed a letter with California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton to reject a proposal by the Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians to convert land for a health clinic into a casino in southern California.

The casino would have competed with the Palm Springs gambling establishment run by the Agua Caliente, one of Abramoff's tribes.

Two weeks later, Reid went to the Senate floor to oppose fellow Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's effort to win congressional approval for a Michigan casino for the Bay Mills Indians, which would have rivaled one already operating by the Saginaw Chippewa represented by Abramoff.

"The legislation is fundamentally flawed," Reid argued, successfully leading the opposition to Stabenow's proposal.

The next month, Reid joined six other Democratic senators in asking President Bush in mid-December 2002 to spend an additional $30 million for Indian school construction. Several Abramoff tribes, including the Saginaw and the Mississippi Choctaw, were seeking federal money for school building.

Six weeks after that letter, three Abramoff partners _ including Platt and Ayoob _ donated a total of $4,000 to Reid's Senate re-election campaign. Later in 2003, the Agua Caliente contributed $13,500 to Reid's political groups while the Saginaw chipped in $9,000.

Reid sent a fourth letter on April 30, 2003, joining Ensign a second time to urge Interior to reject the Jena casino.

Two months later, Abramoff's firm threw a fundraiser for Reid at its Washington office that netted the Nevada senator several more donations from Greenberg Traurig lobbyists and their spouses. Ayoob was instrumental in staging the event, Reid's office said.

___

[Mister Bushice]

What's even worse is now abramoff is saying he's been to the Ranch in Crawford Texas, and that Bush knows the names of his kids, but oddly enough the Bush whitehouse says Bush barely knows the man...


things that make ya go hmmm...

[smackaholic]

what really makes you go hmmmmmm, is why congress is playing mob boss by deciding who gets to run what numbers rackets in which neighborhoods. it really is pathetic. if it is OK to operate a casino, every single citizen in the country should have that right. the only consideration should be that individual's own record.

who his daddy was (tribal membership) should not be a factor. but I can see why folks like ted kennedy and dubya might not understand this.

[Mikey]

What's even worse is now abramoff is saying he's been to the Ranch in Crawford Texas, and that Bush knows the names of his kids, but oddly enough the Bush whitehouse says Bush barely knows the man...


things that make ya go hmmm...

Not much surprising here.

Most of the time it seems like he forgets more stuff than he remembers.

[Cuda]

Only the truly myopic could take an article about Reid and make it into a story about Bush- when Bush isn't even fucking mentioned in the article.

But, of course, both mikey & babshice are synonymous with myopia

[ElvisMonster]

String him up.

[ChargerMike]

What's even worse is now abramoff is saying he's been to the Ranch in Crawford Texas, and that Bush knows the names of his kids, but oddly enough the Bush whitehouse says Bush barely knows the man...


things that make ya go hmmm...

Not much surprising here.

Most of the time it seems like he forgets more stuff than he remembers.

...and there-in lies the answer



sin.

[Bizzarofelice]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

[Felix]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

that's definitely leaving a mark.........

[ChargerMike]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

...pull up the last thread where I defended Dubya. Freekin borders are out of control, spending is off the freekin charts, and we should be bombing the sh!t out of North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. Other than that I have no opinion.

[Diogenes]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

that's definitely leaving a skidmark.........

So who was talking about our esteemed former Rapist-in-chief anyway?

And I'm sure you found his various crimes, his systemic corruption (was he looking for Al Queda leaks in filegate or what?}, his taking illegal campaign cash from the PRC (not quite as bad as Abrahamoff I guess) in exchange for missle technology totally uninteresting.

The media certainly did.

[Gunslinger]

So which laws are being broken here?

The same laws that you have violated to create your monopoly on black cock.

A gay popcorn company has produced the glory hole in a tub and your patent on the glory hole in a cup of grape soda is hurting their business.

The entire Abramhoff scandal is about extorting money without the casinos knowing they were being had. Again, some feel that most black men don't realize a white male is sucking them off. It's not illegal, but you are definately being deceptive.

What is illegal is the corruption of their practices to use their friends to extort money from the casinos, while the casinos believed Abramhof was on their side. They didn't know he was playing for the other team.

Sthuper?

[Gunslinger]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

...pull up the last thread where I defended Dubya. Freekin borders are out of control, spending is off the freekin charts, and we should be bombing the sh!t out of North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. Other than that I have no opinion.

Why Venezuela, cuz they don't like you? I'm getting my gun and tracking you down chargermike.

[ChargerMike]

Bitch, please. Clinton's presidency was a fucking bore compared to the shit Dubya has been asked to forget. You only bring up Clinton when you can't fully defend the half-wit sitting in the Oval Office

...pull up the last thread where I defended Dubya. Freekin borders are out of control, spending is off the freekin charts, and we should be bombing the sh!t out of North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. Other than that I have no opinion.

Why Venezuela, cuz they don't like you? I'm getting my gun and tracking you down chargermike.

...Hugo CHAVEZ Frias "the launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

[Gunslinger]

...pull up the last thread where I defended Dubya. Freekin borders are out of control, spending is off the freekin charts, and we should be bombing the sh!t out of North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela. Other than that I have no opinion.

Why Venezuela, cuz they don't like you? I'm getting my gun and tracking you down chargermike.

...Hugo CHAVEZ Frias "the launching pad for communist infiltration and Muslim extremism."

Yeh, Cristian nation and socialism to boot. The president offers to cut out the middle man in his oil and our government turns him down because he says "hateful things" about our administration.

So, let me get this straight: Upping gas prices= good. Killing 3,000 Americans= good. Saying hateful things about George Bush and stating positive things about the American people= bad.

I see, why I should now go suck off a Saudi. Shit, those crazy Muslims couldn't kill us fast enough! I love America!

Hate Hugo's wierd internal politics, but the fucker doesn't sound so insane when he has called on the US to buy it's oil at cost, so he can fund his government to provide some social welfare programs to turn his country around. It isn't as if South America is a profitable place to live as a normal person.

They have their problems and their system of government doesn't look like ours. So be it, they aren't killing Americans like the Muslim world is. Leave them alone and if Hugo wants to make his country communist, its fine with me, cuz I don't live in Venezuela and he could provide oil a shit load cheaper than the fucking political cartoony psycho fucks in the Middle East.

Why is it that the US wants to hate the dictator Castro, the communist Hugo, yet tie up our taxes and suck off dictators and kingdoms in the Middle East who have a constituency that is never afraid to throw moltov cocktails at anything that represents America.

Please explain?

[ChargerMike]

Why is it that the US wants to hate the dictator Castro, the communist Hugo, yet tie up our taxes and suck off dictators and kingdoms in the Middle East who have a constituency that is never afraid to throw moltov cocktails at anything that represents America.

Please explain?

..good question GS. I think it started when the Rooskies sneaked? those missles into Cuber and JFK called their bluff. For those of us who were around then, it woke us the hell up. Then the greatest President of all time blew down the Berlin wall and with it the evil empire.

With the rise of Islamo facist around the world, the commies don't seem all that bad..right Phibes. I'm with you GS, keep the cigars coming and let the Commies lie err lay.

[Gunslinger]

Why is it that the US wants to hate the dictator Castro, the communist Hugo, yet tie up our taxes and suck off dictators and kingdoms in the Middle East who have a constituency that is never afraid to throw moltov cocktails at anything that represents America.

Please explain?

..good question GS. I think it started when the Rooskies sneaked? those missles into Cuber and JFK called their bluff. For those of us who were around then, it woke us the hell up. Then the greatest President of all time blew down the Berlin wall and with it the evil empire.

With the rise of Islamo facist around the world, the commies don't seem all that bad..right Phibes. I'm with you GS, keep the cigars coming and let the Commies lie err lay.

Communism was ruined when they tried to compete on the global stage. It was wrecked, because the world then was trying to understand itself, sort of.

Russia now has exploited their oil and the silent South Americans have done it also.

My personal belief is that Africa is the greatest resource, they have oil and they don't hate us as much as those that we have been funding for so many years.

The Middle East has been wasting our time for entirely to long. Who do I blame? Bush. Sorry, but you don't elect the son of a president who was in cohoots with the Middle East for so long. I hate the argument: "But the US was giving Iraq money, so why attack them."

But sometimes they are correct for reasons those dumbshits don't understand.

Communism isn't something to be feared. We don't do communism, but if a couple of South American countries want to try it, then lets fund them. It is a human experiment. Communism was only tried in the USSR as far as the US is concerned. They failed, because they competed against us.

Latin America is a cesspool, but they have been decent people for a long fucking time. When was the last time we had to worry about Latin America? If Venezuela wants to give us some cheap oil, because they want government funded oil programs, then let them. It's their experiment and the only reason the US doesn't want to do it is because of who we have in government. I'm tired of the Middle East.

I'm tired of corporations having a handle on the Middle East, but can't break into South America or Africa, because they aren't corporate citizens the US recognizes. They are commie as hell, but let them be that way. They have offered us cheap oil over and over again (the mayor of Philly accepted it) and we want to ignore them.

Why?

Why do we allow mexicans into this country, yet don't support their local governments when they try new ideas that their people support? I'm tired of losing jobs to latin America and wish we could keep their shit in Latin America. If its a failed experiment in communism, then so be it. Communism may benefit them though, because their economy is shitty as it is.

It's the Euro! Europeans are uniting to confront the US. Our real challenger is China. If Latin America wants us to acknowledge them, then we should. We are going to lose to China if we don't listen. Castro is an asshole, but he only did the Cuban Missle crisis and killed Kennedy, because he could. Like the US tried to kill him. Yeh, that is frightening, but it's time to try and knock this retarded shit off. Mexico is poor. Why is so much of our crap produced in China? Make Mexico produce that shit! Give them incitive to stop sending their reletives over our borders. Keep their economy in their own country, while we regulate the service industry of the world.

Cuz India and China vs. the US is going to suck. Tremendously!! We need help and if those latinos want to give it then make it hillbilly redneck and dumb spic vs. Chink and caste system anyday.

China secretly smiles everytime they see the US battle the middle east.

[Ang]

Rack Gunslinger...but

but, don't get too down on Bush unless you are willing to pay about $10 for a gallon of gas. The whole cartel has been in place for decades, and even with Bush in charge, he's just a guy with hands tied as many Presidents before have been unless any of them could find a way to get out of it...which none of them did. And George W is no better.

Plus, I would love to see one...ONE example of our country not supporting an effort by a Latino country when they do as you say.."try a new idea". Is it just me, or do I sit and think...what ARE they? It all sounds great, but what are those new ideas you know about and how do we not support them? I know of several wonderful things going on in South America on agricultural efforts that we as a country support, and send our people there and bring their people here. They are just little things like educating people and sending money, helping folks in villages learn how to support themselves because their government is for shit and won't help them...but that's probably not what you are talking about.

Let me know if you know of specific things instead of just spouting off some general idea that we don't support Latino countries and let's talk about it.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

They are just little things like educating people and sending money, helping folks in villages learn how to support themselves because their government is for shit and won't help them...but that's probably not what you are talking about.

"School Of The Americas" isn't an actual book learnin' school, Ang.

[Dr_Phibes]

"School Of The Americas" isn't an actual book learnin' school, Ang.

[Ang]

I guess that's why we don't see all those ideas that we don't support from the decent people that Gunslinger was talking about. They all get executed by folks trained right here in the good ole USA by their home governments!