Jack's bribe ring rocks Washington

The Sunday Times - World

The Sunday Times January 08, 2006

Jack's bribe ring rocks Washington
Sarah Baxter, Washington

FOR a small evangelical Christian group the size of the cheque — a cool $1m — was astonishing. Something else was odd, too. It came from a London law firm that has since folded.

What conceivable interest could British lawyers or their clients have in a pro-family “grassroots” lobbying group? And why was money also pouring in from the Choctaw Indians, a native American tribe with casinos in Mississippi?

When Pastor Chris Geeslin, then a part-time board member of the US Family Network, heard that the London cheque had allegedly come from two Russian oil barons who hoped to influence an International Monetary Fund decision to bail out the Russian economy, he did not believe it.

“That’s the way Washington works,” the group’s founder told him cynically. But it still seemed far-fetched.

Only now, as the US Congress is convulsed by its biggest scandal in generations, has the penny dropped. “I began to think, ‘Man, maybe he was telling me the truth.’ It’s incredible. I feel very angry and used,” Geeslin said.

The scandal claimed its first high-level scalp yesterday when Tom DeLay, who had already stepped aside temporarily as Republican leader in the House of Representatives, bowed to party pressure and said he would not return to the post. “I have always acted in an ethical manner,” he insisted and vowed to clear his name.

DeLay is entangled in the affairs of Jack Abramoff, a Washington super-lobbyist whom he once called “one of my closest and dearest friends”. Last week Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion and promised to reveal details of alleged bribes to lawmakers as part of a deal with prosecutors.

Up to 20 members of Congress could be implicated. “It’s colossal,” said Alex Knott of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington. “If Abramoff discloses all of his quid pro quos, Americans will learn exactly how money has shaped their politics.”

Americans are used to lobbyists and big business oiling the wheels of their democracy, but not to “in-your-face” corruption. The fallout could be devastating for Republicans, even though Democrats also helped themselves to Abramoff’s money.

Abramoff, 47, a former Reaganite who worked his way up the corridors of power, befriending congressmen and party power brokers, was a Republican through and through. Suddenly and painfully obviously, he was also a crook.

He arrived at court wearing a trench coat and homburg hat looking for all the world like a pantomime villain. Some people remembered that when they shook his hand they felt dirty, but for years Abramoff was the man with the “moolah” — one of his favourite words — in a town that is always hungry for funds.

There was plenty of moolah to spread around. Abramoff was one of George W Bush’s vaunted “pioneers”, having raised more than $100,000 for the president’s re-election. American charities are experiencing a windfall as politicians, including Bush, rush to give away at least some of the tainted funds they received.

As for the sources of Abramoff’s money, he was not too fussy. In the 1980s he helped to lobby Congress on behalf of the Nicaraguan contras. He also took $1.5m from the white South African government and founded the International Freedom Foundation, which trained its guns on “left-wing” Oxfam for backing sanctions against apartheid.

Abramoff produced Red Scorpion, an anti-communist action film, but his true calling lay in wheeler-dealing. He launched a sushi restaurant called Signatures in Washington, a handy spot where lawmakers and their aides were often treated — in breach of congressional rules — as guests of the house.

Britain became one of the chief venues for his lobbying. In 1999 he went to St Andrews golf course in Scotland on a “tartan invitational” for lobbyists and immediately saw its potential to impress. Robert Ney, a Republican from Ohio, was one of several congressmen to visit St Andrews with Abramoff. He is regarded as the most likely lawmaker to be indicted.

In 2000 DeLay went on a week-long trip to Britain, ostensibly arranged by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a little-known conservative think tank. He met Baroness Thatcher — whose staff have been questioned by federal investigators — and stayed at the plush Four Seasons hotel. He also played golf with Abramoff at St Andrews.

DeLay’s office insists the trip was a legitimate political outing funded, as far as it knew, by a policy group. According to The Washington Post, however, DeLay’s air fares were charged to a credit card issued to Abramoff, in breach of congressional ethics. Some of his Scottish expenses were billed to a card in the name of Edwin Buckham, a lobbyist who used to be DeLay’s chief of staff.

What is more, on the day DeLay departed for Britain, the National Center for Public Policy Research received a $25,000 cheque from the Choctaw Indians — who also sponsored the US Family Network Christian group with $250,000.

The Abramoff scandal is bringing to light one of the dirtiest little secrets of US politics: the bilking of native Americans. Left to fend for themselves on barren reservations, they have embraced gambling as one of the few ways they can make big money. They have become easy prey for shady operators because they need congressional favours to maintain and expand their gaming licences.

Just how little regard Abramoff had for his native American clients can be seen from e-mails he sent to his disgraced ally Michael Scanlon — DeLay’s former press officer — who is also co-operating with investigators in the hope of a reduced sentence. “Can you smell money?!?!?” Abramoff wrote in one.

In others he called the Indians “monkeys” and “morons”. He pocketed $82m from two tribes fighting over gambling rights.

Geeslin is devastated by the revelations about some of the sources of funding for the US Family Network and feels sickened that money for a Christian group came from gambling interests. He used to be Buckham’s pastor.

“I trusted him completely,” he said. “We knew he was positioned in a place of prominence and thought he was involved in righteous work.”

Geeslin’s work as a director was unpaid, but the US Family Network paid a monthly fee of at least $10,000 to Buckham and his lobbying company, Alexander Strategy Group. DeLay’s wife Christine was on the payroll of Buckham’s firm, drawing a consulting fee of $3,000 a month for three of the years the US Family Network was in existence, according to The Washington Post.

The newspaper said last week the US Family Network had only a few donors and their interests seemed to coincide with DeLay’s work in Congress. DeLay has always denied the donations had any influence on his political activities.

James & Sarch, the London law firm that signed the $1m cheque in 1998 on behalf of its unidentified client, went out of business in 2000. Former members of the company were not available for comment. There is nothing to suggest this donation was unlawful.

Republicans are hoping the scandal will tar politicians of all stripes, not just their own.and the long-term victor may not be the Democrat favourite for president, Senator Hillary Clinton, whose husband experienced his own scandals. It could favour the emergence of a Mr Clean in politics, an outsider who has steered clear of the sleaze capital of America: Capitol Hill.

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