Friday, March 03, 2006

Culture of Corruption: Lobbyist's Credit Card Bill Outs DeLay Trip

ABC News

March 2, 2006 — The paper trail seems so obvious, it makes you wonder whether anyone ever worried about getting caught. When Congressman Tom Delay and his wife flew from Houston to a golf resort in Scotland, in June, 2000, the first class air fare cost $14,001. A big ticket item for a public servant. But someone else was paying.

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One aspect of Abramoff's corruption scheme was the free trips he provided to politicians to the Super Bowl, a golf resort in Scotland and the northern Mariana Islands in the South Pacific.

An ABC News hidden camera recorded Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, as he arrived in the northern Marianas and was greeted and hugged by Abramoff.

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"There are many members of Congress who will not sleep well tonight," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that monitors government decisions to ensure their fairness. "This is a blockbuster of an investigation that will reach deep inside the power structure.

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