Courtesy of the Associated Press:

WASHINGTON (AP) – Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations that benefited both men’s causes.

When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money, according to campaign documents reviewed by The Associated Press.

According to the AP, Jack Abramoff was also in the picture. Lawrence Noble, the Federal Election Commission’s chief lawyer for 13 years, says these transactions are similar to those involved in the DeLay/TRMPAC case in Texas in that those who donated money may not have ultimately known where that donation would end up.

“These people clearly like using middlemen for their transactions,” said Lawrence Noble. “It seems to be a pattern with DeLay funneling money to different groups, at least to obscure, if not cover, the original source,”

The house of criminal cards is crumbling quickly.

more…

DeLay, his lawyer and Blunt’s aide don’t appear to be very concerned about where donor money ended up. Obviously, the AP is just part of the vast left-wing conspiracy:

Blunt and DeLay planned all along to raise more money than was needed for the convention parties and then route some of that to other causes, such as supporting state candidates, said longtime Blunt aide Gregg Hartley.

“We put together a budget for what we thought we would raise and spend on the convention and whatever was left over we were going to use to support candidates,” said Hartley, Blunt’s former chief of staff who answered AP’s questions on behalf of Blunt.

Hartley said he saw no similarity to the Texas case. The fact that DeLay’s charity, Christine DeLay’s consulting firm and Blunt’s son were beneficiaries was a coincidence, Hartley said.

A coincidence? I’m sorry – a coincidence?? The arrogance is astounding.

Here’s the Abramoff connection: in the spring of 2000, Roy Blunt received a contribution from one of Abramoff’s clients who is accused of running a sweatshop in the North Mariana Islands. That was during the same period the DeLay went on his golf trip to the UK and scored a skybox for his donors. “Prosecutors are investigating whether the source of some of the money was disguised, and whether some of DeLay’s expenses were originally put on the lobbyist’s credit card in violation of House rules.”

Here’s the “aha!” moment:

Both DeLay and Blunt and their aides also met with Abramoff’s lobbying team several times in 2000 and 2001 on the Marianas issues, according to law firm billing records obtained by AP under an open records request. DeLay was instrumental in blocking legislation opposed by some of Abramoff’s clients.

Noble said investigators should examine whether the pattern of disguising the original source of money might have been an effort to hide the leaders’ simultaneous financial and legislative dealings with Abramoff and his clients.

Oh, this is all so incestuous. The AP article outlines the movement of the various donations amongst the involved organizations and politicians. It is a must-read.

AP also provides this link to the documents it has received about these transactions.

I don’t think today is a very good day to be a Republican. How about you?

Update [2005-10-5 18:30:18 by catnip]:: Another cast member has now been added to the new hit film, “Look Who’s Indicted!”:

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration’s former chief procurement official was indicted Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges of making false statements and obstructing investigations into high-powered Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The five felony counts in the indictment charge David H. Safavian with obstructing Senate and executive branch investigations into whether he aided Abramoff in efforts to acquire property controlled by the General Services Administration around the nation’s capital.

…
The indictment said Safavian falsely told a GSA ethics officer, a GSA inspector general’s agent and the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that Abramoff had no business with GSA at the time the Scotland trip was being planned. It said Safavian concealed that Abramoff did have business with GSA before the trip and that Safavian was aiding him in dealing with GSA.