Jack Abramoff's Minnesota connections
...are few: according to this, the only politician in Minnesota who has received money from Abramoff directly is Gil Gutknecht, and that was $250 in 1996. I don't think calling on him to return the money is very realistic. However, this doesn't include any other PACs or any of Abramoff's friends who made political donations. Of course, on the list of people Abramoff gave money to, there are no Democrats.
Republicans took control in 1994 and proceeded to become some of the most corrupt politicians in America's history. According to published reports, Abramoff has the goods on up to 60 members of Congress. Who knows if that includes anybody in the Minnesota delegation? There are one or two I wouldn't be too surprised about.
And although this is almost a purely Republican scandal, if any Democrats get involved, they should be punished too. I think that's another one of those differences between Democrats and Republicans: I believe that all corruption has to go, not just corruption on the other side.
posted by MN Politics Guru @ 16:59
1 Comments:
Don't forget current RPM Deputy Chair Eric Hoplin's connections with Abramoff. Jack spoke at the 2003 CRNC convention where Hoplin was crowned chair. Tom Delay introduced Jack...oh, a little Normie Coleman put in an appearance too.
And the CRNC paid Abramoff $10,000 in 2002, when Hoplin was the organization's executive director.
The CRNC also received non-monetary goodies from Abramoff during Hoplin's tenure as CRNC exec director and chair, according to Franklin Foer:
"When College Republicans invoke the Establishment, they mean a clique of former College Republicans--now grown-ups playing politics at the highest level--who will trample anyone to maintain their clique's control of the organization. Like all good cabals, it is hard to know exactly who belongs to the Establishment and how Machiavellian their meddling is. Before his tumble from grace, the lobbyist Jack Abramoff would lend College Republicans his skybox at the MCI center, donate money, and lead training sessions. (In 2002, the CRNC paid Jack Abramoff for "accounting & legal services."
Also, the Republican State Leadership Committee, a favorite 527 passthrough fund for Abramoff's hijinks, gave the CRNC $220,000 in 2004. Though that may just be a coincidence.
Nice.
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