Posted on 12/08/2011 5:51:32 AM PST by maggief
Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff hit Republican presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich for his claims that he did no lobbying on behalf of the mortgage and health care companies that paid him millions in consulting fees, calling the system of providing "strategic advice" corrupt.
"I don't want to say he's lying, he may believe what he's saying, but people have to understand that lobbying isn't just going to meet with members," Abramoff said.
Abramoff served more than three years in prison following a conviction for corruption and fraud stemming from gifts he provided in exchange for votes to benefit Native American tribes and casinos.
Gingrich has strongly denied lobbying on behalf of clients who paid him millions in consulting fees.
"I just want to emphasize this: I did no lobbying, I did not reach out to Capitol Hill. I was not directly engaged in that way. I gave them advice on what they could do. But I’m not in the business of lobbying, period," Gingrich said last month.
But Abramoff accused Gingrich of profiting from his public service.
"I think the point is that Newt and others like him, he's not alone at this, they call themselves strategic advisers, but they want to cash in on their public service," Abramoff said.
He also advocated eliminating the ability of members to join lobbying firms once leaving Congress, while taking a swipe at Gingrich.
"Close the revolving door between public service and cashing in entirely, not this delay, not this i'm going to be a strategic adviser, or a history professor, or whatever the euphemism of the day is going to be," Abramoff said.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
A “disgraced former lobbyist” said this?
“Lobbying” has a legal definition and Jack’s desire to expand that definition is self serving.
Nonsense. Gingrich was paid $30,000 per month by Fannie Mae for providing history lectures. This is standard fee for any historian. It had nothing to do with his position as a former well known GOP speaker.
Suggesting that this was paid to make Gingrich to defend Fannie Mae activities and to give it bipartisan support is outrageous.
>> A “disgraced former lobbyist” said this? >>
I don’t know what he said, because at that point I stopped reading. The last candidate to be obsessed with what Abramoff said, did, etc was McCain. We saw how that worked out.
“.....they call themselves strategic advisers, but they want to cash in on their public service,” Abramoff said.
Hmmm. What’s wrong with that? Funny, I heard Clinton was paid $50K a month as well for his advice at Corzine’s failed company.
- Suggesting that this was paid to make Gingrich to defend Fannie Mae activities and to give it bipartisan support is outrageous.
Gingrich was paid to give advice to Fannie Mae, which it turns out Fannie Mae did not follow.
Where do you get defend or support from?
Yeh I can’t get too worked up over what an ex-con has to say about crime. Abramhoff is just trying to sell his book and make some money. I wouldn’t pay much attention to anything he says.
It’s frigging amazing.
This Democrat POS felon says at the end of the story that he feels sorry for Blago, but he would have an orgasm if he could put Newt in prison. He can’t so he just bad mouths him.
Worse a paper like The Hill gives him ( A convicted, time-served felon) a voice.Like he never left.You would think he would be cooling it, but there he is right back in the public eye.
Some people cannot be embarrassed.
When Abramoff said he lobbied for dirty harry, he was ignored, now he is whacking Newt, he is the new oracle of DC.
Every one in the world, that sells their services, bases their ability to sell it on personal experiences, business or government.
Oh horsefeathers.
See also: jailhouse snitch.
Shame on Mitt Romney.
Abramoff was/is a Republican. He know Newt very, very well.
oh please! Nobody’s that naive!
Your reply to my post would be a perfect example of how wrong you are.
There are a great many highly paid consultants in the world.
A person has to lobby to be a lobbyist.
The MSM is leading you by the nose.
That's Gingrich's story, no one else supports it.
LOL!
wikipedia - In the 13 years after resigning from the House, Gingrich has became a highly paid political consultant.
You two really picked the wrong MSM talking point to hang your hat on. LoL!
BTW - you two only speak for yourselves. Don't forget that.
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