Another CBS news story that let some important facts escape their reporter.
In Profiling Abramoff, CBS Skips How
He Paid for Democrats Too [/url]
On the very day the Washington Post reported that "lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress...during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands," CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer set up a Wednesday "Inside Story" look at Abramoff by explaining that "many of the allegations against [House Majority Leader Tom] DeLay revolve around foreign trips he took that were paid for by" Abramoff, as indeed they do, but he and Gloria Borger ignored the fresh information about how Abramoff also paid for the Democratic members. Following Borger's review of Abramoff's dealings with Indian tribes, Schieffer prompted her: "Gloria, this is going beyond Tom DeLay now, isn't it?" But instead of raising the names of the two Democrats and tying them back to Abramoff, Borger just noted that Democrats are "beginning to discover that these rules that say that lobbyists cannot pay for travel are something that perhaps they didn't understand."
The two Democrats identified in the May 4 Post article: "James E. Clyburn (S.C.), now vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), now the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee."
Schieffer introduced the May 4 CBS Evening News story: "In Washington, the House Ethics Committee met tonight for the first time since Republicans overhauled rules that Democrats said were deliberately designed to protect the House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay. Many of the allegations against DeLay revolve around foreign trips he took that were paid for by a lobbyist named Jack Abramoff, a man well known in Washington but little known outside the Capitol. Well, tonight, we find out just who he is in Gloria Borger's 'Inside Story.'"
Borger ran through the allegations against Abramoff about taking money from different Indian tribes to lobby for and against the same policy on gambling rights and a lawsuit which charges he defrauded a tribe of $60 million.
After the taped piece ended, Schieffer turned to Borger on Capitol Hill: "Gloria, this is going beyond Tom DeLay now, isn't it?"
Borger replied: "Yeah, I think this story is spreading all over Capitol Hill. You have an awful lot of Democrats now who are amending their ethics filings with the Ethics Committee because they're beginning to discover that these rules that say that lobbyists cannot pay for travel are something that perhaps they didn't understand. Tonight the Ethics Committee is opening up an investigation into Tom DeLay, and we'll have to see where that leads."
An excerpt from the top of the May 4 front page Washington Post story, "Democrats' Travel Costs Linked to Lobbyist," by R. Jeffrey Smith:
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress and two staff members to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a former Abramoff secretary and travel records published on the Internet yesterday.
The payments represent two new instances in which lawmakers and staff members on overseas trips had their expenses initially covered by a registered lobbyist despite a blanket ban in congressional ethics rules on direct payments by lobbyists for travel-related expenses.
The two congressmen were James E. Clyburn (S.C.), now vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), now the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. The aides to DeLay were Edwin A. Buckham, now a lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group, and Tony Rudy, now a member of Buckham's lobbying firm.
In these instances, Abramoff was reimbursed by his law firm, Preston Gates Ellis. The island government, which had hired the law firm, eventually paid it back for the expenses incurred by Abramoff, according to a source close to the incidents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. House ethics rules contain no exemption for payments by lobbyists that are later reimbursed by others....
In Profiling Abramoff, CBS Skips How
He Paid for Democrats Too [/url]
On the very day the Washington Post reported that "lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress...during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands," CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer set up a Wednesday "Inside Story" look at Abramoff by explaining that "many of the allegations against [House Majority Leader Tom] DeLay revolve around foreign trips he took that were paid for by" Abramoff, as indeed they do, but he and Gloria Borger ignored the fresh information about how Abramoff also paid for the Democratic members. Following Borger's review of Abramoff's dealings with Indian tribes, Schieffer prompted her: "Gloria, this is going beyond Tom DeLay now, isn't it?" But instead of raising the names of the two Democrats and tying them back to Abramoff, Borger just noted that Democrats are "beginning to discover that these rules that say that lobbyists cannot pay for travel are something that perhaps they didn't understand."
The two Democrats identified in the May 4 Post article: "James E. Clyburn (S.C.), now vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), now the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee."
Schieffer introduced the May 4 CBS Evening News story: "In Washington, the House Ethics Committee met tonight for the first time since Republicans overhauled rules that Democrats said were deliberately designed to protect the House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay. Many of the allegations against DeLay revolve around foreign trips he took that were paid for by a lobbyist named Jack Abramoff, a man well known in Washington but little known outside the Capitol. Well, tonight, we find out just who he is in Gloria Borger's 'Inside Story.'"
Borger ran through the allegations against Abramoff about taking money from different Indian tribes to lobby for and against the same policy on gambling rights and a lawsuit which charges he defrauded a tribe of $60 million.
After the taped piece ended, Schieffer turned to Borger on Capitol Hill: "Gloria, this is going beyond Tom DeLay now, isn't it?" Borger replied: "Yeah, I think this story is spreading all over Capitol Hill. You have an awful lot of Democrats now who are amending their ethics filings with the Ethics Committee because they're beginning to discover that these rules that say that lobbyists cannot pay for travel are something that perhaps they didn't understand. Tonight the Ethics Committee is opening up an investigation into Tom DeLay, and we'll have to see where that leads."
An excerpt from the top of the May 4 front page Washington Post story, "Democrats' Travel Costs Linked to Lobbyist," by R. Jeffrey Smith:
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress and two staff members to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a former Abramoff secretary and travel records published on the Internet yesterday.
The payments represent two new instances in which lawmakers and staff members on overseas trips had their expenses initially covered by a registered lobbyist despite a blanket ban in congressional ethics rules on direct payments by lobbyists for travel-related expenses.
The two congressmen were James E. Clyburn (S.C.), now vice chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, and Bennie Thompson (Miss.), now the senior Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee. The aides to DeLay were Edwin A. Buckham, now a lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group, and Tony Rudy, now a member of Buckham's lobbying firm.
In these instances, Abramoff was reimbursed by his law firm, Preston Gates Ellis. The island government, which had hired the law firm, eventually paid it back for the expenses incurred by Abramoff, according to a source close to the incidents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. House ethics rules contain no exemption for payments by lobbyists that are later reimbursed by others....