Posted on 01/06/2006 8:52:35 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Fallout from the Jack Abramoff scandal continued Friday as more lawmakers said they will donate to charity campaign contributions related to the disgraced lobbyist.
Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said they plan to donate to charity a total of nearly $30,000 in campaign contributions they received from tribes connected to Abramoff, who pleaded guilty this week to felony charges in a wide-ranging political corruption investigation. Cantwell will be donating nearly $18,000, and Santorum, about $11,000.
Sen. Mark Pryor (news, bio, voting record), D-Ark., meanwhile, said he is returning $3,800 in contributions he received from former Abramoff associates, and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said he will donate $2,750 to an antigambling hot line.
A spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said Friday that Hastert will donate about $77,000 in Abramoff-related funds to charity. The speaker said earlier this week that he would return funds connected to Abramoff, but he had not said how much.
The bulk of campaign funds collected from Abramoff and his clients will be donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, among several other charities yet to be announced, said Hastert spokeswoman Lisa Miller.
Even as some lawmakers were returning money or donating it to charity, others were standing by their decisions to keep it.
Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., said he was keeping $22,000 in Abramoff-related funds. Lott "has never received any contributions from Jack Abramoff, never taken a Jack Abramoff sponsored trip, nor has he or any member of his staff been lobbied by Jack Abramoff," said spokeswoman Susan Irby.
Irby said Lott has had a longtime relationship with Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Chief Philip Martin, who helped pull the tribe out of poverty with gambling and other enterprises. The Choctaws were among Abramoff's clients.
Sen. Conrad Burns (news, bio, voting record), R-Mont., said Friday that he has a "thick hide and a clear conscience" about his dealings with Abramoff and his associates.
"I have done nothing wrong and I feel pretty good about this whole thing," Burns said in a telephone interview from Montana. Burns, 70, is up for re-election this year, and recent polls have shown his popularity dipping as his name has been increasingly associated with Abramoff. Burns recently returned or donated to charity about $150,000 in donations from Abramoff and his associates after originally saying he would keep the money.
An Associated Press review found that in 2001, Burns and his staff met with Abramoff's lobbying team and collected thousands of dollars in donations around the time that Burns took legislative action favorable to Abramoff's clients in the Northern Mariana Islands. Burns also helped arrange congressional funding for an Indian school building program sought by Abramoff's tribal clients.
Cantwell, a Democrat who also is seeking re-election this year, said Wednesday she would not return contributions from out-of-state Indian tribes represented by Abramoff. But on Friday, her campaign said she had decided to give the money to the National Congress of American Indians Education Fund.
The senator "has never taken a penny from confessed criminal Jack Abramoff," but wanted "to err on the side of caution, so there would not even be a whiff of a connection between his illegal, confessed activities and our campaign," said spokesman Michael Meehan.
The amount being returned, $17,865, includes any funds from organizations or individuals that have ever been connected to Abramoff based on media reports, Meehan said.
Santorum, who also is seeking re-election, said he plans to donate to charity $11,000 in campaign contributions from tribes connected to Abramoff. Earlier in the week, Santorum said he would give to charity $2,000 from a tribe mentioned in Abramoff's indictment, and was reviewing other donations given to him by tribes connected to Abramoff.
Records show he received $11,000 from tribes connected to Abramoff.
"He's taking a lead on the ethics reform initiative in the Senate right now, and wanted to set an example by donating all the contributions to charity," said Virginia Davis, a spokeswoman for Santorum's campaign.
Pryor and DeMint said they had no connection to Abramoff and were returning the money to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
well.. at least charities may benefit out of this mess,, all to avoid even the appearance of impropriety.
nothing like politicians that have been humbled.. or are running scared.. or facing stiff re-election battles.
Look at the roaches scatter.
They're all vermin.
Can't expect anything else as long as lobbying is allowed and lobbyists have money and perks to give.
Make lobbying illegal, enforce it, and much of the problem goes away. Amazing.
Just like the illegal immigration problem. Enforce the laws, and the problem will basically be ended. Amazing.
If they are crooks then they should be prosecuted.
BUT so far I haven't seen any report that anyone actually took a bribe.
Where can I find a definitive list of actual crooked Congress critters?
Why? Lobbyists educate congressmen and their staffs about their sides of issues.
Besides, as long as individuals and groups and "interests" can give money to candidates and political parties, there will always be "lobbying", even if you call it by another name.
And, I'll bet, you won't. This Abramoff thing is likely to end up affecting one or two congressmen who performed a "quo" for Abramoff's "quid."
If only we could distinguish between money given to support politicians whose views the lobbyists share, versus money given to change views, or the level of their salience. Of course, that is impossible. That is why I favor a plan where after some politician spends over a certain amount, the opponent gets goverment checks to match it. There is no other way out of the box.
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