Tom's Turn

Tom hits the Trifecta - Russkis, North Mariana Islands and Indian Gaming. Tom's so done you won't even have to stick the fork in. Washington Post (12.31.05):

"The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group. During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret." The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail

"The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins." Jeepers. Wonder why that would be? "Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay." "The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy." It was a grass-roots organiztion? Pretty green grass there. "Despite the [the U.S. Family Network's] avowed purpose, records show it did little to promote conservative ideas through grass-roots advocacy. The money it raised came from businesses with no demonstrated interest in the conservative 'moral fitness' agenda that was the group's professed aim." "In addition to the million-dollar payment involving the London law firm, for example, half a million dollars was donated to the U.S. Family Network by the owners of textile companies in the Mariana Islands in the Pacific, according to the tax records. The textile owners -- with Abramoff's help -- solicited and received DeLay's public commitment to block legislation that would boost their labor costs, according to Abramoff associates, one of the owners and a DeLay speech in 1997. That would be the North Mariana Islands, to be exact. The governor-elect there has also been helping Federal investigators. "A quarter of a million dollars was donated over two years by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Abramoff's largest lobbying client, which counted DeLay as an ally in fighting legislation allowing the taxation of its gambling revenue." Josh Marshall has much more on the Ed Buckham, U.S. Family Network, and the "SafeHouse":

"It's like we've been telling you for months. This is a slush fund. Lots of secret money, often from overseas, that can get spread around off the books in DC. That's how this sort of political machine works."

Tom's representative, Kevin Madden, takes issue with the insinuations. AP (12.31.05):

"A spokesman for embattled Rep. Tom DeLay on Saturday disputed any assertion that donations to a nonprofit group linked to the congressman influenced his legislative agenda. In an e-mail, DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said the donations were not a factor in the congressional activities of the Texas Republican and former House majority leader." DeLay Rep Says Boss Not Swayed by Donors

If you're keeping score at home, Kevin has, at times, been less than precise with his previous statements.