"PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES..."McCain and Renzi in Baghdad
Abramoff Aide Plays the Market (click here)
By Garrett M. Graff
Only four months after buying a $2.2-million house in Georgetown, former Jack Abramoff pal Michael Scanlon and his wife, Brandy McMahon, have put the house back on the market—with an asking price nearly $300,000 more than what they paid in February.
The couple indirectly brought about the entire Abramoff lobbying scandal when Scanlon broke off his engagement to another Hill aide and began dating McMahon—a 24-year-old waitress at the Big Fish Grill in Rehoboth Beach, where Scanlon was lifeguarding. The jilted fiancée teamed up with Scanlon’s ex-wife, Carrie Anne Messina, to raise suspicions about Scanlon’s lifestyle. During the height of his association with Abramoff, Scanlon rented a $17,000-a-month penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton in DC’s West End and a share of a Gulfstream jet....
McCain Received $100,000 From Firm Of Abramoff Notoriety (click here)
A review of campaign finance filings shows that the Arizona Republican has accepted more than $100,000 in donations from employees of Greenberg Traurig, the very firm where Abramoff once reigned.
Those donations include several thousand dollars from registered lobbyists who represent, or have represented, businesses such as NewsCorp, Rupert Murdoch's media empire; Spi Spirits, a Cyprus based company that has fought with the Russian government for the rights to the Stolichnaya vodka brand name; El Paso Corp, a major energy company; General Motors; and the Essential Worker Immigration Coalition, a group of businesses and trade associations "concerned" about the shortage of lesser skilled and unskilled labor.
All told, McCain has received more than $400,000 from lobbying firms, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And among his major fundraisers ("bundlers") 59 have been identified as lobbyists by the non-profit organization Public Citizen....
2nd McCain Official to Face Federal Charges (click here)
February 22, 2008 1:53 PM
...Obama has in the past enjoyed the generous financial support of indicted businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko, although the Chicago-area entrepreneur has reportedly given no money to Obama's presidential campaign. Obama has given back nearly $150,000 in earlier donations from Rezko and his associates.
For Congress-watchers, Renzi's indictment is a separate milestone: He is the fourth lawmaker since 2005 to be indicted or plead guilty. He was preceded by former Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif.; Bob Ney, R-Ohio; and William Jefferson, D-La.
