Rohrabacher still a friend ( Jack Abramoff)

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Rohrabacher still a friend
By Lisa Friedman, From our Washington Bureau
http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_3381344


WASHINGTON — President Bush calls disgraced Capitol Hill super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff "outrageous."
Montana Sen. Conrad Burns calls him "a bad guy."

Thousand Oaks Rep. Elton Gallegly calls him a "scoundrel."

Orange County and Long Beach Rep. Dana Rohrabacher calls him "friend."

As politicians scramble to distance themselves from Abramoff who pleaded guilty last week to charges of conspiracy, tax evasion and wire fraud in a sweeping influence-peddling case Rohrabacher is remaining unwaveringly loyal to his pal of 25 years.

But that loyalty is raising eyebrows among his political detractors, who question Rohrabacher's relationship with Abramoff and plan to make it a campaign issue.


Still, it remains unclear whether any guilt-by-association concerns will stick in Rohrabacher's heavily Republican 46th Congressional District, which spans Huntington Beach and parts of Long Beach. Constituents re-elected Rohrabacher in 2004 with 62 percent of the vote.

And political analysts said they doubt voters will abandon Rohrabacher if fidelity to Abramoff is his only taint in the federal investigation into public corruption in Washington, D.C.