Q&A | What's next? Who is involved?

WASHINGTON — Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is talking to prosecutors, and many in Washington have reason to worry about what he will say.

Abramoff, a GOP donor and $100,000 fundraiser for President Bush, pleaded guilty to conspiracy, tax evasion and mail fraud. He also agreed to help investigators trying to piece together the scope of his lobbying and fundraising activities.

Here is a look at the Abramoff case:

Q: Where does it go next?

A: Prosecutors want to know what Abramoff gave and what he got in return. The big question is whether members of Congress or the Bush administration knowingly took official action that benefited Abramoff's clients in exchange for campaign contributions and gifts such as golf outings, trips abroad and use of Abramoff's luxury skyboxes. If so, they could face federal corruption charges.

Q: Any reason to think they did?

A: Although many lawmakers and Bush administration officials deny knowing Abramoff, lobbying invoices for 2001 alone show more than 1,000 contacts between his lobbying team and members of Congress and at least 200 with the Bush administration in Bush's first 10 months in office. Campaign reports show hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing from Abramoff, his associates and clients to politicians' campaigns and political-action committees, often around the time lawmakers took action on behalf of Abramoff's clients.

A former Bush administration official already has been charged in the case. David Safavian, the government's former chief procurement official, a former Abramoff lobbying colleague and a former aide to Utah Republican Rep. Chris Cannon, is accused of hiding from investigators the fact that Abramoff was trying to get government business when Safavian, then a General Services Administration official, went on a golf trip with him to Scotland in 2002.

Q: How many politicians are involved?

A: The corruption investigation is believed to be focusing on as many as 20 members of Congress and aides, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and House Administration Committee Chairman Bob Ney, R-Ohio.

The scandal has prompted many politicians to get rid of Abramoff-related campaign donations.

Q: What did Abramoff's clients get?

A: In the view of some, not much.

Several Indian tribes that hired Abramoff accuse him and a lobbying partner of overbilling them by tens of millions of dollars and achieving little in Washington. But congressional records and Abramoff billing invoices show Abramoff won federal money for one client, the Northern Mariana Islands, and lined up lawmakers — including DeLay — to fight off attempts to impose the minimum wage and other U.S. labor laws on the territory's clothing factories. Abramoff and his lobbying colleagues also recruited members of Congress to help tribal clients get federal funding and try to block rival tribes from opening casinos, among other things.

Q: Would Abramoff's clients have gotten help from lawmakers without the campaign contributions, skybox visits, trips and other largess?

A: Lawmakers say yes, and that the timing of political donations and official actions many of them took was just coincidence. Investigators will question Abramoff, his former lobbying colleagues, congressional aides and members of Congress and look for any incriminating e-mails and other documents to see whether that's true.

Q: Is there any reason the average American should care about any of this?

A: The Abramoff scandal is shaping up to be one of the biggest corruption cases ever in Washington, sweeping in Republicans and Democrats alike. Some lawmakers are already calling for tougher ethics rules, including having privately sponsored trips vetted by ethics committees before lawmakers take them.