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Bush, others dump Abramoff donations
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-05 09:11
US President Bush and numerous House Republicans hastily jettisoned campaign donations from Jack Abramoff on Wednesday as party officials pondered the impact of a spreading scandal on their 2006 election prospects.
"I wish it hadn't happened because it's not going to help us keep our majority," conceded Republican Ralph Regula.
As Abramoff pleaded guilty to a second set of felony charges in as many days, this time in Florida, officials said Bush's 2004 re-election campaign intended to give up $6,000 in donations from the lobbyist, his wife and a client.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas — facing legal problems of his own — took similar steps. So, too, his leadership successor, Republican Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Republican Eric Cantor of Virginia, another member of the GOP leadership.
Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff arrives at the Miami Courthouse in Miami, January 4, 2006. [Reuters] |
"While we firmly believe the contributions were legal at the time of receipt, the plea indicates that such contributions may not have been given in the spirit in which they were received," said Burson Taylor, a spokeswoman for Blunt.
Others announcing plans to give up Abramoff-related donations included Bud Shuster and Melissa Hart, both Pennsylvania Republicans.
There were Democrats, too. In Illinois, Senator Richard Durbin and Lane Evans, both Democrats, and Donald Manzullo, a Republican, said they had received past contributions from Indian groups associated with Abramoff and planned to donate the money to charity.
A political action committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said it planned to return $2,000 it received from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, one of the tribes Abramoff represented.
The Republican rush to shed cash that once was eagerly sought underscored the potential political problem the party faces at the dawn of an election year.
"You can't have a corrupt lobbyist unless you have a corrupt member (of Congress) or a corrupt staff," former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich said in a lunchtime speech. "This was a team effort."
Regula, who came to Congress in 1973 and survived post-Watergate elections that crippled his party, said the implications of the Abramoff plea deals could be devastating for the GOP. "I was in the minority for 22 years and the majority for 11, and having tried it both ways, I definitely prefer the majority."
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