TRMPAC may be the least of Delay's worries

Tom Delay has been doing everything within his power to hurry the TRMPAC case in Texas so that he can reclaim his position as leader of the House. Hastert and Blunt have even delayed reopening congress for two weeks, until Jan 31, to try to help him out. But it looks like he may soon view the TRMPAC case as a fond memory.

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff......

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money's origins. ....

the congressman's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda,....

The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy.

And this is without Abramoff's testimony from the plea deal expected to be announced early next week. There is also mention of the sweatshop, (I'm sorry) textile companies paying a half million for Delay to block a vote.

It's a big article, I don't have the time to go through it all right now, but it looks like the WaPo has uncovered one of the slush funds in the pay for legislation scandal that is/was Abramoff.

But I will say again that compared to Plame, the Abramoff scandal is going to be great TV. Luxury items, big cash payouts, lavish trips and maybe dozens of lawmaker defendants all leaking to try to help their own cause. The interesting thing to me will be to what degree the disgust is attached to Republicans and to what degree it is attached to Congress as a whole.