Washblog

Jack Abramoff and Doc Hastings refresher

I would like to be a fly on the wall over at Richard Wright's campaign HQ right about now. Jack Abramoff has plead guilty to fraud, public corruption and tax evasion, 'setting the stage for prosecutors to begin using him as a cooperating witness against his former business and political colleagues', according to the NY Times.

Sounds like it is time for a refresher course on the Doc Hastings/Jack Abramhoff/Tom Delay love triangle:

Over the past 10 years, Hastings received $14,000 from Preston Gates & Ellis, including $1,000 from Jack Abramoff himself.

After meeting with Preston Gates in 1996, Hastings stood on the House floor and praised the Marianas Island’s government for “moving in the right direction toward self-sufficiency” and warned requiring the island to abide by U.S. labor laws could “crush its fragile economy.”

Hastings has “received $5,930 in campaign contributions from DeLay’s leadership PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority.”

After taking control of the Ethics Committee, Hastings (R-WA) fired two senior staff lawyers who were involved in unanimous decisions to admonish DeLay three times for improper fundraising practices and bribes in the last two years.

And don't forget this beauty regarding Doc's role in suppressing labor laws for Abramhoff's sweatshop clients in the Mariana Islands.

A man with dignity would have resigned long ago.

Richard Wright takes on Doc

I am glad to see someone step it up early on the campaign to defeat Doc. Doc has been committing legislative malpractice and needs to be removed. There really is no question about it. Doc is part and parcel of the corrupt regime of power brokers led by Tom DeLay and Roy Blunt. His position on the ethics committee is allowing the corruption to exist - Doc could put an end to DeLay's slush-fund and cronyism, but sits on his hands with a dumb look on his face, pretending as if he doesn't know anything at all.

It is amazing to me that he could possibly even consider running for re-election, but that just speaks to the arrogance/hubris of the current Republican party. Anyone want to bet on who or what Jeff Sax and David Irons blame for their defeats?

So who is Richard Wright, anyway? Jimmy's got the goods:

Richard Wright was born in Pasco and attended Whittier Grade School in East Pasco where his father owned a grocery store. Richard played football, basketball, and baseball, starting on Don Monson’s Bulldog basketball team that played for the State Championship in 1970. Richard was ASB President and is an Eagle Scout. Richard Wright graduated from the University of Washington Physical Therapy School in 1979 and began his career in Moses Lake. Richard is President of Columbia Physical Therapy, a company he started in 1982. Richard has guided the growth of this company which now has eleven clinics in three states, and 60 employees.

Richard and his wife Marilyn have been married 29 years. They have 6 children, 5 of whom have graduated from high schools in Kennewick. The still have one son attending Southridge High School.

Richard has traveled extensively, including trips to mainland China in 1983, 1991, and 1998. He has taken 3 month-long trips to Europe with his family.

Richard now feels it is time to give back to his community and wishes to serve the people of the 4th Congressional District.

Sounds good, local boy with some flavor, and a businessman who understands working with others. He tried to self-finance in 2004 and was third in the primary, in addition to a case of Berendt anointing Matheson. He also understands the need to start now.

With last year's campaign in mind, Wright said he needs to get organized and get help now so he can spend more time meeting voters when his campaign kicks off in earnest.

"I think the main thing I learned is the mechanics of it take so much time," he said. "I need to get more people involved."

If I was Richard, I would hire Jimmy as an online campaign coordinator right away.

I am shocked

That Cathy McMorris didn't get her share.

"You guys are pathetic! Pathetic!"

So says Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA) in this article about yesterday's debacle ensuing from Jack Murtha's proposed amendment to begin withdrawal from Iraq. 

Murtha, a 37-year Marine veteran and considered the voice of the Pentagon brass on Capitol Hill, suggested that since our mission in Iraq has been accomplished (depose Saddam - check, start democracy - check, stop WMD production - check by default), and our troops are now nothing more than walking bullseyes and recruiting posters for insurgents, it's time to begin withdrawal from Iraq.  His amendment called for redeployment at the earliest "practicable date", establishing a quick-reaction force and Marine presence in the area, and pursuit of stability through diplomacy.  Of course, such measured approaches to withdrawal are anathema to the Republican mind, which reads all this as "cut and run".

Doc Hastings - Missed Opportunity for Leadership

With the idictment of Tom Delay, Doc Hastings has missed the golden opportunity to show leadership for Washington’s 4th District constituancy. And he missed that opportunity months ago. Allegations against Delay for misconduct in dealings with lobbyist pale in comparison to the charges he faces in Texas. Had Hastings called for an investigation as Chair of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Doc could have shown that Republicans were serious about ethical conduct. Apperently they are not.

I believe Doc’s real problem will be back home in Washington State’s 4th District. Republican voters I talk to don’t appreciate his butt dragging and stonewalling on Delay’s ethics issues. Even the scent of impropriety and most feel that an investigation should have been started to clear the air as soon as possible. Doc did not. Instead he followed the extreme voices of his party, did what they told him to do, and shut up…. Until recently.

Now, after the Delay indictment, Hastings has gone even further to publicly defend Delay and parrot the same old talking points for Delay’s defense. I would go as far as saying he was given a script because we have all heard the “Ronnie Earl is a partisan zealot”, or “this is a vendetta to get back at Delay”. In classic Doc fashion this is the same old trash. Defending Delay just shows what a political zombie Doc has always been. And he hammered that point home when he said this to the Yakima Herald:

All of us are aware we have to do what is ethically right.

Yes Doc, you do have to do what is ethically right. So why didn’t you?

Is it because of the money you got from Tom?

Hastings has received $5,930 in campaign contributions from DeLay’s leadership PAC, Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Is it because you accepted a trip coordinated by Abramhoff too?
(more here as well to see just how crazy this gets)

Hastings has been, and always will be a political stooge. Can anyone cite a major accomplishment Doc has achieved for the 4th? What good has he done for any voter to overlook these problems?

Myself, I have had enough of him. How about you?

Cross posted at http://www.mccranium.org/?p=55

DeLay indicted on conspiracy charge

Break out the bubbly! Texas grand jury indicts House Majority Leader Tom DeLay:

According to DeLay's lawyer, the grand jury indicted DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme.

The indictment could force DeLay to step down as House majority leader.

House Republican Party rules require leaders who are indicted to temporarily step aside from their leadership posts. The indictment comes on the last day of the grand jury's term.

MSNBC reports that DeLay will step down and Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.,will recommend that Congressman David Dreier, R-Calif., will take over DeLay's duties.

DeLay indictment watch

From the Dallas Morning News, Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay may be indicted today by a grand jury in Travis County, TX on conspiracy charges related to the activities of his political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, TRMPAC.

Delay's Delusion

Mission Accomplished verbage used once again, this time by Republican House Majority Whip Tom Delay.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an "ongoing victory," and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget. Mr. DeLay was defending Republicans' choice to borrow money and add to this year's expected $331 billion deficit...

Atrios points out that Delay is once again full of it:

And, it must be pointed out, that federal expenditures as a percentage of GDP were higher in 2002,2003, and 2004 than they were in 1997,1998, and 1999.

More Texas dung

Delay's cronies get indicted, but Delay himself has yet to be charged due to jurisdiction? On the surface that just makes a bad smell even worse.

The over\under on Doc Hastings

Speculation is rising that Doc Hastings will resign from his post as House Ethics Committee Chairman. According to a recent NY Times article:

Republican Congressional officials said Mr. Hastings had told colleagues privately in recent weeks that he might step down out of frustration with what he considered intractability of Democrats on the panel and their repeated public attacks on his leadership.

Aaaaw, poor Mr. Hastings. Maybe if Rep. Hastings actually provided some leadership, he wouldn't be criticized for being Tom Delay's lackey. The Tri-City Herald breaks down Hasting's conflict of interest, among other things:

Though the Northern Mariana Islands may be 5,000 miles from his central Washington congressional district, Republican U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings showed a curious interest in the U.S. commonwealth during his first term in Congress.

As a junior member of the House Resources Committee, Hastings served on a subcommittee that had jurisdiction over the Northern Marianas and was considering a Democratic proposal to impose new labor and immigration laws on the Pacific islands commonwealth.

At the apparent urging of a lobbying team hired by the Northern Marianas' government and headed by a lobbyist now under federal criminal investigation, Hastings spoke out against the proposal, saying any changes in the labor laws could "crush" the islands' "fragile" economy.

Now, as chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Hastings' interest in the Northern Mariana Islands and his relationship with its lobbying team -- led by controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff -- has come back to haunt him. It also has provided fodder for critics who say Hastings should resign from the committee or, at a minimum, recuse himself from any deliberations involving Texas Republican U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, the powerful House majority leader whose ties to Abramoff could leave him facing new ethics charges.

Doc Hastings has the stench of Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay all over him. Lying about your relationship with Jack Abramoff only brings on more scrutiny, Doc.

Hastings, through his chief of staff Ed Cassidy, denied ever talking with Abramoff or having been pressured by lobbyists in supporting the Mariana Islands labor policies.

"Neither Chairman Hastings nor I -- or to our knowledge any member of our staff -- has ever met, spoken to or traveled with Abramoff, or taken any action at his request," said Cassidy, whose appointment to the Ethics Committee staff has itself incited controversy.

Billing records, however, show Abramoff's team did have contact with Cassidy and other Hastings aides in the weeks leading up to a subcommittee hearing on the Northern Mariana Islands in the summer of 1996.

During the mid- to late 1990s, Abramoff was a government affairs counselor in the Washington, D.C., office of the Seattle law firm Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvellas Meeds.

While at Preston Gates, Abramoff oversaw the Northern Marianas account and maintained close relations with Republican congressional leaders. Abramoff's ties to DeLay are at the center of the Republican leader's latest ethics problems.

As the subcommittee hearing approached, Abramoff's team talked not only with Cassidy, but with Chuck Berwick, who handled House Resource Committee issues for Hastings, according to Preston Gates billing records obtained by McClatchy Newspapers.

Telephone calls with Cassidy and Berwick on June 1, 1996, centered on the "statements and questions" Hastings would offer at the subcommittee hearing, according to the records.

The records also show additional contacts between the Northern Marianas lobbying team and other Hastings aides, including Doug Riggs, who was the congressman's legislative director.

The billing records Preston Gates sent the government of the Northern Mariana Islands did not indicate whether Abramoff directly participated in any of the conversations. Abramoff's name appears on the invoices, and the Northern Marianas were his account. There are no indications Abramoff spoke directly with Hastings.

Hastings' name also appears in other correspondence between Abramoff and the government of the Northern Mariana Islands.

As part of the sales pitch to convince the commonwealth's government to hire Preston Gates, Abramoff wrote to the Northern Marianas' lieutenant governor in early 1995. In the letter, Abramoff bragged that one of the firm's senior partners, Lloyd Meeds, had an "excellent relationship" with Hastings. Abramoff also cited his own credentials, saying he had "extensive relations" with Republican members of the House Resources Committee.

Two weeks later, in a similar letter to the commonwealth's governor, Abramoff again mentioned Meeds had an "excellent relationship" with Hastings.

Over the years, Preston Gates' political action committee contributed $14,000 to Hastings' campaigns, including $1,000 from Abramoff. One of those contributions, for $500, came in conjunction with a Hastings fundraiser on June 26, 1996 -- the same day as the subcommittee hearing on the Northern Mariana Islands.