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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sandintoes who wrote (973)	4/21/2005 4:02:29 AM
From: American Spirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Rightwing corruption Inc. Lives. Need to Kill it. Bad for America and the World in General, plus Illegal: Former Abramoff client hosts DeLay fundraiser tonight By John Byrne \| RAW STORY Editor A former client of fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff will host a fundraiser for the political action committee of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) tonight at 7 p.m., RAW STORY has learned. Advertisement The client, an energy company named Fluor, employed Abramoff as their corporate lobbyist in 1998. The firm is hosting a $2,000-$5,000-a-plate fundraiser for DeLay's political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC), this evening at 403 East Capitol Street SE. In their most recent lobbying disclosures Fluor reported lobbying on H.R. 6, the Energy bill, through the end of 2004. Fluor maintains an office in Sugar Land, Texas, the district DeLay represents. In the House today, congressmembers are discussing the energy bill. DeLay has come under fire for two trips paid for by Abramoff. He has been rebuked three times over ethics violations—the most recent was by his own colleagues last year. Abramoff's then-firm, Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, was paid $140,000 to lobby for the company in 1998, and $40,000 in 1999. The office of Rep. DeLay did not return a RAW STORY call placed for comment this afternoon. Messages left at Fluor's corporate California offices went unanswered. Abramoff has represented many energy companies, some of which are being investigated in a Texas probe regarding alleged campaign finance violations in money funneled into ARMPAC. Fluor is not among them. Fluor is the eighteenth largest contributor to ARMPAC. Employees of the firm have given at least $62,000 to the leader's committee since 1998, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Melanie Sloan, director of the political watchdog group, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, said she believes the fundraiser is probably linked to the industry's push to stop legislation banning MTBE, a gasoline additive which has polluted drinking water in the United States. She added, however, that the fundraiser suggests more serious ties between Abramoff and DeLay than the congressman says. “It just shows they are more related than DeLay admits," Sloan said. "DeLay has been trying to distance himself from Abramoff and it’s clear that there is a strong relationship there." But, she added, "my guess is that this is more about MTBE than it is about Jack Abramoff. It’s clear that energy companies have good reason to host fundraisers for DeLay right now."