"LIKE A NUKE (HITTING) REPUBLICAN WASHINGTON"
Lobbyist's Role in Hiring Aides Is Investigated

Quote above and link below courtesy of Atrios over at Eschaton. From the New York Times:

The hiring pattern is "very much a part of" what prosecutors are focusing on, a person involved in the case said. Another participant confirmed that investigators were trying to determine whether aides conducted "job negotiations with Jack Abramoff" while they were in a position to help him on Capitol Hill.

Prosecutors are trying to establish that "it's not just a ticket to a ballgame, it's major jobs" that exchanged hands, the participant in the case said. Also under examination are payments to lobbyists and lawmakers' wives, including Mr. Rudy's wife, Lisa Rudy, whose firm, Liberty Consulting, worked in consultation with Mr. Abramoff, people involved in case said.

What began as an inquiry into Mr. Scanlon and Mr. Abramoff's lobbying has widened to a corruption investigation centering mainly on Republican lawmakers who came to power as part of the conservative revolution of the 1990's. At least six members of Congress are in the scope of the inquiry, with an additional 12 or so former aides being examined to determine whether they gave Mr. Abramoff legislative help in exchange for campaign donations, lavish trips and gifts.

It may be difficult for prosecutors to translate certain elements of the case into indictments. Bribery, corruption and conspiracy cases are notoriously difficult to prove. But the potential dimensions are enormous, and the investigation, at a time of turmoil for the Bush administration, threatens to add a new knot of problems for the party heading into the elections next year.

Click here for the rest.

So what's apparently going on here is that ace Republican lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, currently under indictment for bilking Indian tribes of millions of dollars, is being squeezed by prosecutors for a plea bargain that would require him to testify against bigtime GOP lawmakers like Tom DeLay and others. I don't think Atrios' metaphor is much of an exaggeration: this stands to utterly destroy the Republican Party at the national level. It's a fair guess that scores of these guys in both houses have touched dirty lobbying money, and Abramoff would have been right smack dab in the middle of it all. If he turns against them in order to save his own ass, they're fucked. And that's something that makes me quite happy.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$