Dorgan Took Money Directly From Abramoff?
Here's an interesting tid-bit from an AP article re-hashing yesterday's story about ND Senator Byron Dorgan returning $67,000 in campaign contributions to Abramoff clients.
$20,000...from Abramoff's firm?
In yesterday's article Byron Dorgan was quoted as saying this:
In an official statement Dorgan said this:
How can these statements be true if Dorgan was collecting contributions from Abramoff's firm? And how in the world can the Senator, in good faith, remain on the Congressional panel which is investigating the Abramoff fiasco if he took money from Abramoff's firm?
Dorgan is claiming that he never met Abramoff and never knowingly took contributions from him, yet if he really collected money from Abramoff's firm the Senator is lying.
I've emailed to get in touch with the AP reporter responsible for this story (John Solomon) for some clarification. I'll post what I find out.
Update:
Here's Dorgan as quoted in the Washington Post today:
I'd read this quote from Dorgan before, but the significance of the bolded statement didn't dawn on me until today. Dorgan was, by his own admission, receiving contributions from employees of Abramoff's firm. Yet we're supposed to believe that Dorgan didn't know that Abramoff had a hand in those donations?
Just like we're supposed to believe that Dorgan didn't know Abramoff owned that suite at the MCI Center?
The AP reported in three stories over the last month that Dorgan did not disclose during the probe that he took actions favorable to Abramoff's tribal clients, often around the time he collected donations from Abramoff's firm or clients. For instance, Dorgan:
* Used Abramoff's arena skybox in March 2001 to raise money, letting one of Abramoff's tribes foot the bill for using the box. The senator says he didn't know at the time that Abramoff leased the box. He's recently reimbursed that money.
* Got Congress in the fall 2003 to press government regulators to decide, after decades of delay, whether the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts deserved federal recognition. Dorgan met with the tribe's representatives and collected at least $11,500 in political donations from the Abramoff partner representing the Mashpee around the time of the help.
* Collected $20,000 from Abramoff's firm and tribes in the period around when he wrote a letter in 2002 urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund a school construction program that Abramoff's clients and other tribes wanted. The letter mentioned one of Abramoff's tribes.
$20,000...from Abramoff's firm?
In yesterday's article Byron Dorgan was quoted as saying this:
I will not knowingly keep even one dollar in contributions if there is even a remote possibility that they could have been the result of any action Mr. Abramoff might have taken.
In an official statement Dorgan said this:
The fact is I have never met Abramoff and have never received a campaign contribution from him. If he was directing any of his clients to make a political contribution to me, it was done without my knowledge.
How can these statements be true if Dorgan was collecting contributions from Abramoff's firm? And how in the world can the Senator, in good faith, remain on the Congressional panel which is investigating the Abramoff fiasco if he took money from Abramoff's firm?
Dorgan is claiming that he never met Abramoff and never knowingly took contributions from him, yet if he really collected money from Abramoff's firm the Senator is lying.
I've emailed to get in touch with the AP reporter responsible for this story (John Solomon) for some clarification. I'll post what I find out.
Update:
Here's Dorgan as quoted in the Washington Post today:
"I have returned all contributions to my campaign committee and my leadership political action committee from tribes represented by Mr. Abramoff's law firm and from individuals employed by his law firm during the time he was at the firm," Dorgan said in a statement. "Even though those contributions were legal and fully reported as required by law, I will not knowingly keep even one dollar in contributions if there is even a remote possibility that they could have been the result of any action Mr. Abramoff might have taken."
I'd read this quote from Dorgan before, but the significance of the bolded statement didn't dawn on me until today. Dorgan was, by his own admission, receiving contributions from employees of Abramoff's firm. Yet we're supposed to believe that Dorgan didn't know that Abramoff had a hand in those donations?
Just like we're supposed to believe that Dorgan didn't know Abramoff owned that suite at the MCI Center?
