Say Anything Blog

The whole Congress takes money , all the time.
Some ways of taking money are illegal, others are business as usual.
An honest politician is defined as one who when bought, stays bought.

Money doesn’t talk, it swears.

[...] Re:Dorgan has to give back tainted money… - 2005/12/14 11:04 The facts are that Dorgan accepted money from Abramoff clients and, apparently, directly from Abramoff’s firm.Now tell me again why he should remain a part of this investigation? We object to a state-enforced equality. Then they say that we are against equality. And so on, and so on. It is as if the socialists were to accuse us of not wanting persons to eat because we do not want the state to raise grain. - BastiatSay Anything [...]

The AP article is wrong.  Dorgan accepted money from tribes that hired Abramoff as a consultant - not from Abramoff himself.

All the same names, popping up in the news over and over again.
This link leads to a Novak article which includes Dorgan and the recently resurected Barrett report stashed away somewhere in a lawyer’s file cabinet.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/05/05/investigating.irs/

Ryan, Dorgan admitted in his own words that he took money from employees at Abramoff’s firm

You expect me to believe that Dorgan had no idea Abramoff was involved with that money?

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

[...] Anyone willing to take a politician, be they Republican or Democrat, at their word when asked about corruption is a fool. Further, Dorgan would be a whole lot believable were his words on this subject not so carefully…nuanced. He tells us that he’s never knowingly supported the causes of Abramoff’s clients as a direct result of their contributions to him. He tells us that he’s never met Abramoff, yet he used Abramoff’s suite at the MCI Center. He tells us that he’s never taken donations from Abramoff, yet he has admitted in his own words that he has accepted donations from employees of Abramoff’s firm. [...]

[...] Judges with financial ties to mobsters are not allowed to preside in cases involving those mobsters. Senators with financial ties to corrupt lobbyists should not be allowed to preside over investigations into the dealings of those lobbyists. And all double-speak and misdirection from Dorgan and his allies in the media aside, he did (by his own admission) accept money directly from Abramoff’s firm. [...]

[...] What is especially sad is that one receipient of Abramoff money, my own Senator Byron Dorgan mentioned above, actually has the gall to remain on the comittee investigating these apparently illegal and unethical shenanigans even after receiving $67,000 in Abramoff money (some directly from Abramoff employees) and using Abramoff’s suite at the MCI Center. [...]

[...] Dorgan took $67,000 in campaign contributions from various Abramoff clients (some of it directly from Abramoff employees) and used Abramoff’s suite at the MCI Center for a fundraiser. His defense for his behavior is summed up by these two points: [...]

[...] Dorgan doesn’t want anyone to think that he was involved with anything Abramoff ever did, yet he has admitted to accepting donations from Abramoff employees and used Abarmoff’s suite at the MCI center for a fundraiser. He took $67,000 from those employees and from Abramoff clients and his “defense” for taking this money is that he has been accepting money from these Indian interests (and voting their way in Congress) long before Abramoff came along. [...]

[...] Well, I hate to burst Dean’s bubble but my Senator, Byron Dorgan, has admitted to accepting money from employees of Abramoff’s firm. Sure that’s not directly, but since when did one need to have received a personal check from Jack Abramoff to be connected to this nonsense? If Abramoff employees gave money to Democrats at the direction of Abramoff, is that not the exact same thing? [...]

[...] Dorgan has admitted, in his own statements, to taking money from employees of Jack Abramoff’s firm. And the Indian tribes themselves have admitted to making contributions to Dorgan (and other Democrats) at the behest of Abramoff. [...]

[...] But he also implies that calling attention to Democrat involvement in the scandals should stop. On that I couldn’t agree more. Corruption is corruption, and there is no denying that people like Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and Senator Byron Dorgan are just as involved in this scandal as any Republican outside of Abramoff himself. Both of these men took money from Abramoff and/or his clients and employees and both of these men also took favorable political action for these interests within the same timeframe. Not enough evidence for an outright charge of corruption, but certainly the same level of evidence many on the left are basing their aspersions cast at Republicans on. [...]

[...] Is anybody attacking McCain? I haven’t heard of it. In fact, the only time I’ve heard McCain’s name mentioned in connection to this scandal is in regard to his role in investigating the matter. Dorgan, however, is a much different matter. Sen. Dorgan accepted $67,000 (that we know of) from Abramoff employees and clients. Sen. Dorgan, by his own admission, took favorable political action for those clients. Sen. Dorgan once used Abramoff’s suite at the MCI Center for a fundraiser. His connections to Abramoff’s dirty politicking are many, and while that may not add up directly to criminal or ethical violations it does provide more than enough impetus for asking questions. [...]

[...] Oh sure.  Dorgan didn’t know Abramoff.  Of course, he did use Abramoff’s suite at the MCI Center for a fundraiser.  He did accept at least $67,000 in contribution’s from Abramoff’s clients.  He did accept some of that money from employees of Jack Abramoff.  He did meet with an Abramoff associate and representative of an Indian tribe in Massachusetts during a time when he was pushing for that tribe’s recognition in Congress. [...]