pimp Jack Abramoff's ride
Jack Abramoff likes his custom cars. An article in today's N.Y. Times by Glen Justice describes Abramoff's 2002 BMW 745il with $48,000 worth of custom work—including $20,000 for a custom-built flip-down video monitor. (Doesn't sound very fiscally conservative, if you ask me.) The law-and-order Republican also paid a fortune for a state-of-the-art radar detector that was etched into the rearview mirror.
Too bad a radar detector won't be enough to protect him from his current legal hurdles.
Philip Shehon writes for today's N.Y. Times that there's new evidence that Abramoff arranged a meeting between one of his clients and the President in exchange for a $25,000 donation to a conservative lobbying group. There's even a photo of Bush greeting Abramoff's client—with Abramoff standing in the background.
It wasn't a private meeting, and Bush's people claim that there was no lobbying at the meeting (needless to say, that's a tough statement to prove). Regardless, it makes it impossible for the President to credibly say he's never met Abramoff, and more than tangentially ties Bush's good name to this scandal.
Abramoff, meanwhile, isn't exactly ducking from the spotlight. He inexplicably gave an interview to Vanity Fair in which he—somehow—tries to spin himself as a victim here.
From a Reuters article quoting upcoming Vanity Fair article:
Later in the article:
Abramoff said he already agreed with Tom DeLay about politics, so when they would meet they'd talk about other stuff.
One hopes that Abramoff learned something here: you never know who your real friends are. All it takes is a little thing like a wide-ranging corruption scandal reaches the Oval Office, and suddenly no one wants to hang out and talk about the burning issues of the day—like the Bible or hot new opera records or the latest in custom car work.
Too bad a radar detector won't be enough to protect him from his current legal hurdles.
Philip Shehon writes for today's N.Y. Times that there's new evidence that Abramoff arranged a meeting between one of his clients and the President in exchange for a $25,000 donation to a conservative lobbying group. There's even a photo of Bush greeting Abramoff's client—with Abramoff standing in the background.
It wasn't a private meeting, and Bush's people claim that there was no lobbying at the meeting (needless to say, that's a tough statement to prove). Regardless, it makes it impossible for the President to credibly say he's never met Abramoff, and more than tangentially ties Bush's good name to this scandal.
Abramoff, meanwhile, isn't exactly ducking from the spotlight. He inexplicably gave an interview to Vanity Fair in which he—somehow—tries to spin himself as a victim here.
From a Reuters article quoting upcoming Vanity Fair article:
"Any important Republican who comes out and says they didn't know me is almost certainly lying." E-mail messages and other subpoenaed records will eventually prove that he worked closely with them, he said.
The magazine features photographs of Mr. Abramoff with Representative Tom DeLay, former Representative Newt Gingrich and President Ronald Reagan.
Later in the article:
"You're really no one in this town until you haven't met me," he said.
Abramoff said he already agreed with Tom DeLay about politics, so when they would meet they'd talk about other stuff.
"We would sit and talk about the Bible," he said. "We would sit and talk about opera."
One hopes that Abramoff learned something here: you never know who your real friends are. All it takes is a little thing like a wide-ranging corruption scandal reaches the Oval Office, and suddenly no one wants to hang out and talk about the burning issues of the day—like the Bible or hot new opera records or the latest in custom car work.
posted by Zackattack at 9:42 AM
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