Mr. "Gimmie Five" Goes to Jail

Yes folks it looks like the end of the line for Jack Abramoff. The New York Times is today reporting that the inimitable Mr Abramoff has been scheduled to plead guilty to three felony counts in a plea deal with federal prosecutors. As the blog speculation suggests, this should open the door for a whole lot of very high value prosecutions of GOP congressmen, staffers, and lobbyists.

For those of you who are out of the loop on this guy it might help to know that he is one of the K street regulars who have helped to put together the massive Republican funding machine. At one point in 2002 Abramoff along with his then partner Michael Scanlon devised a scheme which bilked millions of dollars from their Indian gambling clients that ultimately went directly to Mr's Abramoff and Scanlon. They called this scheme "Gimmie Five" as in five million dollars, the sum each of the men was said to have pocketed in the deal. It was ultimately this, and the complaints about this behavior by the Indian tribes involved with the partners that lead to the beginning of the investigation.

Abramoff is a household name in fundraising circles. The deal is expected to make waves in Official Washington as the federal net widens to encompass at least a dozen lawmakers, thier staff, and lobbyists. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is also heavily implicated.

The size and scope of the ongoing investigation is still not fully known but it may prove to be the largest corruption investigation in the US government in at least a half century. The sheer number of tainted and possibly briberous funds hasn't been seen in at least 65 years and might never have been equalled in the history of the US Congress. Many GOP lawmakers are very nervous about the outcome of this investigation. With Mr. Abramoff's co-operation it would appear that they have reason to be nervous. Keep a good watch on this story. It's going to be a barnburner. In a few weeks though I doubt there will be any other story on the news.