Congress For Sale: Who Else Was Bribed With Limos, Cash and Prostitutes?

quote[# Representative Bob Ney, R-OH: Representative Ney is at the center of the Abramoff corruption scandal. Rep. Ney and his staff reportedly took numerous gifts and trips, including golfing at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. In addition, they had regular meals and drinks at Abramoff's Washington restaurant and used Abramoff's luxury box suites at Camden Yards baseball stadium in Baltimore for campaign fund-raisers. A former aide to Rep. Ney, Neil Volz, has just pleaded guilty to conspiring with Abramoff to corrupt Ney and other members of his staff by peddling trips, free tickets and meals.

# Senator Conrad Burns, R-MT: Senator Burns received close to $150,000 in campaign funds from Indian tribes through Jack Abramoff and his associates. Originally, Sen. Burns pledged to return the money after the Abramoff story made headlines -- but in late April, it was reported that Rep. Burns will now use the money to pay for his defense against corruption charges.

# Representative William Jefferson, D-LA: A Louisville businessman recently pled guilty in federal court to paying more than $400,000 in bribes to Jefferson; he has also been accused of misusing federal resources in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The nonpartisan ethics watchdog group CREW has called for an investigation; recently, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agreed.

# Representative John Doolittle, R-CA: Representative Doolittle has been paying 15% commissions on all his fundraising to a company, Sierra Dominion, that is owned by his wife (and also on retainer from Jack Abramoff’s company). This resulted in Rep. Doolittle, in effect, enriching himself by skimming off campaign funds into his own household budget.]