Some speculate ties so close, Abramoff will implicate him; not so, Texan's counsel says

09:07 AM CST on Wednesday, January 4, 2006

By TODD J. GILLMAN / The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON – Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and lobbyist Jack Abramoff had been friends for years, trading easily on each other's success. One rose to the pinnacle of power in Congress. The other became the most sought-after lobbyist in town. They built a politically potent network of former aides, lobbyists and comrades-in-arms.

The question hanging over Washington on Tuesday: Could Mr. Abramoff's plummet and plea deal drag down his longtime ally?

"A lot of people, including Mr. DeLay's political enemies, are hoping that's the case. But I believe they'll be disappointed," said DeLay attorney Richard Cullen.

"DeLay has conducted himself consistently with the standards of conduct in the House and has violated no laws. So he's at peace in terms of where this investigation will end up, and it's premature to jump at the conclusion that Abramoff has information that's troubling to Mr. DeLay."

The Washington Post reported today that investigators have Mr. DeLay under scrutiny. The financial and political ties between the Sugar Land Republican and Mr. Abramoff are extensive, and their histories and causes are intertwined.

"There is no way this is good for him. How bad it will be will depend on what else we see happen," said Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which studies campaign finance.

In court Tuesday, Mr. Abramoff – facing up to 11 years in prison and $27 million in restitution – confessed to providing all sorts of favors to just one lawmaker, and it wasn't Mr. DeLay. He told the court he'd provided the lawmaker, understood to be Ohio Republican Bob Ney, a "lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous courses, tickets to sporting events and other entertainment," meals at Mr. Abramoff's upscale restaurant and generous campaign donations – largesse he also bestowed on Mr. DeLay.

Prosecutors cited several favors that Mr. Ney offered in return, including help with Mr. Abramoff's purchase of a fleet of casino ships. Justice Department and FBI officials have offered no such examples involving Mr. DeLay, and they wouldn't say whether they're digging or expect to learn of any in coming months.

Mr. Abramoff and Mr. DeLay worked closely on many projects, traveling together to the Mariana Islands, Russia and the United Kingdom, ostensibly under the auspices of a conservative Washington think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research. Mr. Abramoff sat on the group's board, and reports surfaced that two of his clients each donated $25,000 to the nonprofit a day before the Britain junket.

House rules prohibit travel paid for by lobbyists or their clients, though Mr. DeLay and other lawmakers on the trip say they had no idea where the group got the funds.

Mr. Abramoff and his partner, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon – who has also pleaded guilty and cooperated with federal prosecutors – routinely boasted of their connections with the majority leader when selling their services to Indian tribes and others.

The Marianas connection could also provide investigators an interesting trail. Mr. DeLay sought to protect the garment industry on the islands, an American commonwealth in the Pacific, from U.S. labor laws.

In 1999, during a power struggle in the local legislature, two former DeLay aides, Ed Buckham and Mr. Scanlon, went to Saipan to persuade two lawmakers to switch sides in a leadership vote, dangling promises of federal largesse for which Mr. DeLay reportedly paved the way later. The favored candidate won and later awarded Mr. Abramoff a contract worth $1.6 million.

During the Marianas visit, Mr. DeLay called Mr. Abramoff "one of my closest and dearest friends," though by early 2004, when a Senate committee had begun investigating the lobbyist, Mr. DeLay tried to distance himself, telling reporters that "if anybody is trading on my name to get clients or make money, that is wrong and they should stop it."

Mr. DeLay and Mr. Abramoff also collaborated closely on the K Street Project, an effort to pressure Washington's premier lobbying firms to shun Democrats and stock their staffs with GOP loyalists. At one point, the House ethics panel reprimanded Mr. DeLay for threatening retaliatory legislation against a trade group for hiring a Democrat as its top lobbyist.

Critics have raised questions about the $115,000 that the congressman's wife, Christine DeLay, was paid over four years by Alexander Strategy Group – a firm led by Mr. Buckham and other former DeLay aides that got client referrals from Mr. Abramoff – for researching the charitable preferences of lawmakers. The DeLays said the work was real and the pay justified.

Jan Baran, a Republican ethics lawyer who once represented Speaker Newt Gingrich, said the plea deal might carry no implications for Mr. DeLay.

"There's nothing in there that involves him or suggests his involvement. ... If the Justice Department has some information about other public officials, they presumably would have included it by now," he said.

He noted that courts are strict when it comes to enforcing bribery law. Prosecutors must prove quid pro quo – Latin for "something for something." Mr. DeLay got favors from Mr. Abramoff. But so did several hundred colleagues.

Bribery would require proving the legislators offered a specific legislative favor in exchange for the power lunches, golf outings, trips and campaign cash. Accepting such dining and activities without the promise of legislative action is routine and legal in Washington.

"Lawful lobbying does not include paying a public official a personal benefit with the understanding, explicit or implicit, that a certain official act will occur. That's not lobbying. That's a crime," said Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher, carefully sidestepping the issue of which lawmakers the Justice Department is targeting.

Investigating Mr. DeLay could take up to a year and require the cooperation of other witnesses before issues surrounding him are resolved, people familiar with the case told The Post.

As speculation bubbled about what Mr. Abramoff could offer federal authorities, there was activity involving Mr. DeLay in Austin.

Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle obtained subpoenas Tuesday for donations from two former Abramoff law firms – Greenberg Traurig and Preston Gates – to Mr. DeLay's state political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority.

The grand jury, which is investigating money-laundering allegations against Mr. DeLay and several lieutenants, also ordered records of campaign donations from Mr. Abramoff's biggest lobbying client, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Staff writers Michelle Mittelstadt and Allen Pusey in Washington, and Pete Slover in Austin, contributed to this report.

E-mail tgillman@dallasnews.com