|
Abramoff's clients hired him as a lobbyist. Being a lobbyist is not necessarily limited to lobbying congress on behalf of your clients. Most lobbyists also advise their clients on where to put their money. It's highly unlikely that any Abramoff client would make large donations without his knowledge and approval (and quite possibly at his direction.) Abramoff says "You vote Yes on this thing for me and my client gives you a chunk of money.) Abramoff himself is limited by personal campaign finance laws. The important money wasn't the money directly from Abramoff. Those contributions were small. The important money is the large contributions from Abramoff clients. I honestly don't think highly of this distinction that's being made between personal donations from Abramoff and PAC contributions from his clients. To me, considering the Abramoff money "more evil" seems backwards. As far as I can tell, the only reason it's being done is for a convenient talking point that says "No Democrat ever took money from Abramoff" which, while true, misses the point by a mile.
So yes, an Abramoff client giving money to a politician could indicate that Abramoff had interest in that politician. Or it could mean nothing. It doesn't *prove wrongdoing* by any stretch of the imagination, nor does it prove that the contributions were illegal. However, it does make them suspect and demands close investigation of Abramoff's ties with that particular politician. If the Democratic pols who've Abramoff client money had no close relationship with Abramoff, then I doubt there will be any wrongdoing found. I'm sure that not every person who accepted Abramoff money was a shill. Probably not every Republican recipient was a shill. Were any of the Democrats? It's difficult to say, but even if they are it's at the periphery of the bigger issue, which was the nexus of evil bullshit existing between the lobbyists and the Republican leadership in both the executive and legislative branches. And quite frankly, any Democrat stupid enough to get himself mixed up with Abramoff to the point of commiting a crime deserves whatever he gets. If we learned nothing else from the Republican takeover of Congress in the 90s, we should have at least learned that this tactic is always doomed to failure.
|