Scandal has GOP soul-searching

WASHINGTON — The corruption investigation surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff shows the significant political risk that Republican leaders took when they adopted what had once seemed like a brilliant strategy for dominating Washington: turning the K Street lobbying corridor into a cog of the GOP political machine.

Abramoff thrived in the political climate fostered by GOP leaders, including Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who have methodically tried to tighten links between the party in Congress and business lobbyists through what became known as the "K Street Project."

GOP leaders, seeking to harness the financial and political support of K Street, urged lobbyists to support their conservative agenda, give heavily to Republican politicians and hire Republicans for top trade-association jobs. Abramoff obliged on every front, and his influence reached deep into the upper echelons of Congress and the Bush administration.

Abramoff pleaded guilty Tuesday to corruption charges in connection with allegations that he bilked his Indian tribe clients and conspired to bribe a member of Congress. He also will plead guilty to charges in a separate case in Miami, in connection with a deal to buy a floating casino fleet, SunCruz Casinos.

Larger than life

But although Abramoff admitted Tuesday to illegal conduct in some of his dealings, much of what he did to influence Congress amounted to larger-than-life versions of legal practices common among lobbyists. Abramoff did not just ply lawmakers with meals; he opened a restaurant and plied them with his meals. He did not simply hand out tickets to sporting events; he offered access to several luxury skyboxes. He did not arrange garden-variety golf outings; he brought golfers to the world's most exclusive courses.

The question of whether those and other lobbying efforts constituted illegal activity has yet to be determined. But in the wake of a plea agreement in which Abramoff will cooperate in an influence-peddling investigation that might target a number of lawmakers, some Republicans are saying the party will need to take action to avoid being tarnished.

"This is going to be a huge black eye for our party," said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., a senior member close to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. "Denny's going to have to be very tough and really speak out against people who are indicted."

Hastert moved Tuesday to inoculate himself by announcing that he would give to charity some $60,000 he received from Abramoff and his clients. He is the latest of several lawmakers who have returned or redirected money from Abramoff-related sources.

One senior Senate Republican aide said that Republicans soon will unveil ethics-reform legislation in an effort to blunt criticism from Democrats that they have fostered a "culture of corruption" in Washington.

"In the short run, members of Congress will get allergic to lobbyists," said former representative Vin Weber, R-Minn., now a lobbyist for Clark & Weinstock. "They'll be nervous about taking calls and holding meetings. ... For a period of time now, members of Congress will be concerned about even legitimate contact with the lobbying world."

In the longer term, said many lobbyists and others, Congress will be pressured to revisit and toughen rules on gifts and travel that lawmakers and their staffs may accept.

Gingrich steps up

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., who with Weber's help effectively used issues of corruption to wrest control of the House from Democrats in 1994, said the Abramoff scandal should trigger a broader review in Congress of the way politicians finance campaigns and deal with lobbyists.

"I'm going to talk at length about the need for us to rethink not just lobbying but the whole process of elections, incumbency protection and the way in which the system has evolved," he said. "I think Abramoff is just part of a large pattern that has got to be rethought."

The controversy may also increase the prospects for Republicans' shaking up their leadership after Congress reconvenes at the end of January. House Republican moderates are calling for new leadership elections to permanently replace DeLay, who stepped down temporarily as majority leader after he was indicted in an unrelated case.

Gingrich also called for a new majority leader Tuesday, hours after Abramoff's plea.

Republicans also have sought to limit the damage to themselves by portraying the scandal as bipartisan, describing Abramoff as an equal-opportunity dispenser of campaign cash and largess.

So far, the public has not identified corruption as solely a Republican problem. A November Washington Post-ABC News poll asked Americans whether they thought Democrats or Republicans were better on ethical matters; 16 percent said Democrats, 12 percent said Republicans and 71 percent said there was not much difference between the two parties.

Critics of the current campaign-finance system say it would be a kind of rough justice if Republicans were hobbled by their relationships with a powerful lobbyist, because they worked so hard to increase coordination between their party and K Street.

Republicans said their efforts were no different from what Democrats did for years to raise money and organize support from their constituencies, including labor unions and civil-rights advocates. But Democratic critics said that the GOP went much further in linking political money to policy outcomes and that Abramoff was a master at maneuvering in a system that required lobbyists to "pay to play" on Capitol Hill.

According to a study by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics, 296 members of Congress since 1999 have received contributions from Abramoff, his Indian tribal clients or SunCruz Casinos. Abramoff and his wife personally contributed $204,253 — all of it to Republicans.

What is more, Abramoff also leaned on his Indian clients to give to key lawmakers.

Quid pro quo?

His most famous golf outings took members, including DeLay and Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, to a posh course in Scotland. Such trips are against House rules if they are paid for by a lobbyist. DeLay and Ney said they believed the trips were properly paid for by a nonprofit group, but prosecutors are reportedly looking at whether Abramoff initially picked up some of the expenses.

Favors done for DeLay and Ney have drawn particular scrutiny because they both took aggressive steps to help Abramoff or his clients on issues that seemed remote from their own constituents' interest. When Abramoff was trying to buy the Florida floating casino fleet, Ney inserted a statement in the Congressional Record critical of Abramoff's rival.

Abramoff had been hired to stall legislation raising the minimum wage for the Northern Marianas, and DeLay was credited with helping him do so. DeLay also was an ally in Abramoff's effort to fight legislation to allow the taxation of Indian tribe gaming revenue.

DeLay and Ney, like other lawmakers who helped Abramoff, said they took action on the merits, not because they received favors from him.

Additional information on the prospects for lobbying reforms was reported by The Washington Post.