On 13 October, Rep. Bob Ney, a Republican from Ohio, admitted he gave political favors in exchange for bribes, pleading guilty on several counts. He will now face sentencing and is expected to resign his seat in Congress, though he has not given a date. Ney is the latest political casualty of a massive corruption investigation involving convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, anti-tax hawk Grover Norquist, disgraced Texan congressman Tom DeLay, and dozens of other influential Washington figures.

According to the Washington Post, "The congressman said he took tens of thousands of dollars worth of trips, sports tickets, campaign contributions, meals and casino chips in exchange for legislation and public statements supporting Abramoff's clients and a foreign businessman".

The lobbyist Jack Abramoff was once a rising star in the Republican party, head of the national committee for College Republicans and founder of his own think tank, reportedly with funding from sources as improbable as the apartheid government of South Africa. Abramoff eventually moved full time into lobbying work, using connections he had built up from his college days to meet influential congressmen and to become an intermediary promising paid access to top lawmakers.

The picture of a complex web of corruption and pay-to-play politics began to emerge when Jack Abramoff was subjected to intense questioning before the Senate Committee for Indian Affairs, in September 2004, chaired by John McCain (R-AZ), in relation to alleged fraud involving some of his tribal clients. When the news began to break that Abramoff was facing charges of bribery and fraud, rumors began to stir that it could spell trouble for the Republican-led Congress, which was full of ties to Abramoff's all-expense-paid trips overseas and his fundraising machine.

Top Republicans immediately countered that Abramoff also worked with Democrats, but that was at best a nuanced version of the truth. In fact, Abramoff was linked to a false pro-family PAC run out of a townhouse near Capitol Hill which Tom DeLay's staff referred to as his "safehouse". It is believed that DeLay not only made calls which would have been illegal requests for money if made from his official office, but that the location was also key to alleged money-laundering, intended to make illegal corporate donations look legitimate.

DeLay and Abramoff reportedly worked together on a plan to create a "permanent" Republican majority, using political action committees, massive amounts of "soft" corporate money and a market of favors and influence peddling that punished people hiring anyone who contributed to the Democratic party or had worked for the Democrats.

According to investigative journalist Bill Moyers, "The scale of corruption still coming to light dwarfs anything since Watergate". The pretext for all of this was the professed belief that the Republican party would "restore morality" to the United States and then to the world as a whole. This plan itself was never as clearly developed as were the strategies for illicit fundraising, political intimidation of the opposition and paid-access politics.

When the House ethics committee undertook an investigation into whether the indicted Tom DeLay had been involved in any wrongdoing, the Speaker removed the committee chairman. Now, Bob Ney, who had attempted to distance himself from Abramoff and even DeLay and who had been discussed as a possible successor to DeLay as majority leader, has acknowledged he was intimately involved in the corruption scheme.

Ney is expected to officially announce his withdrawal from the House of Representatives when he faces federal District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle, who will decide on his sentencing. As that sentencing will not take place until 19 January 2007, House Republican leadership have said they would move to expel him if he does not resign by November.

The Justice Dept. is recommending 27 months in prison for Ney, who could face up to 10 years maximum. Observers have speculated he may try to use an eventual resignation, preferably before the judge, as a means of "taking responsibility" and reducing his sentence. The case is still open and other members of Congress may still be charged, as more testimony comes forth from Ney, Abramoff, Scanlon, DeLay and others involved. [s]

• BBC: "US Republican Ney admits bribery"
• Washington Post: "Ney to Plead Guilty in Abramoff Case"
• Washington Post: "Investigating Abramoff—Special Report" [2006 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Journalism]
• Moyers on America: "Capitol Crimes"
• Moyers on America: "Abramoff, Inc."

BACKGROUND:
A VAST LEFT-WING CONSPIRACY, SAYS DeLAY
3 October 2005

Under indictment for conspiracy in an alleged scheme to raise illegal campaign cash and conceal it through manipulation of his Political Action Committee, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX), stepped aside earlier this week as House Majority Leader. Congressional rules require that he leave his post while facing indictment. He has been reprimanded by Congress three times already for "objectionable behavior". Dissatisfied Republicans are looking for new leadership. [Full Story]

ALLEGED CORRUPTION ON HOUSE FLOOR
8 December 2003

Serious questions have arisen as to the methods used by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives to persuade members of their party to vote in favor of the Medicare prescription drug bill. Conservative columnist Robert Novak broke the story, in which Rep. Nick Smith of Michigan, a Republican who voted against the bill, charged that various colleagues and business interests offered large amounts of money to his son's congressional campaign in exchange for a yes vote. [Full Story]

Thomas Jefferson, letter to Edward Carrington
"If once they [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress, and Assemblies, judges and governors shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions..."