Not Like This Is Like Watergate Or Anything

This is President Nixon Bush now, not that other guy. But it sure is getting interesting, ain't it? AP (05.06.05), via Carpetbagger:

"In President Bush's first 10 months, GOP fundraiser Jack Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration as they pressed for friendly hires at federal agencies and sought to keep the Northern Mariana Islands exempt from the minimum wage and other laws, records show. The meetings between Abramoff's lobbying team and the administration ranged from Attorney General John Ashcroft to policy advisers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, according to his lobbying firm billing records." Lobbyist Had Close Contact With Bush Team

"The reception Abramoff's team received from the Bush administration was in stark contrast to the chilly relations of the Clinton years." Ha. Clinton's folks didn't want to have anything to do with Jack and his buddies. "'I hope you will keep my office informed on the progress of this initiative,' Bush wrote in a July 18, 1997, letter praising the islands' school plan and copying in an Abramoff deputy." "White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said Thursday that Bush didn't consider Abramoff a friend. 'They may have met on occasion, but the president does not know him,' she said." Yeah. Sure.