Think of it as the Abramoff Effect

The disgraced lobbyist's troubles influenced Tom DeLay's exit. Who's next?

By Richard Wolffe and Holly Bailey
Newsweek

April 17, 2006 issue - Conrad Burns was doing his best to win over the crowd, but he just wasn't feeling the love. The Republican senator was supposed to be home in Montana last Friday night, where he was to be the featured guest at a GOP fund-raiser. Instead, he was stuck in an airport on his way back from Washington, where the Senate had tried, and failed, to pass an immigration bill. So Burns awkwardly attempted to attend the dinner by cell phone. Over the buzz of the long-distance connection, amplified through a microphone, the three-term senator declared that he had never felt so much energy. "This is going to be a ground war," he said. "But this campaign isn't about me. It's about you and how much you're willing to work on the ground to win in November!" The audience, mostly elderly Republicans, applauded politely, then went back to their buffet plates.

Of course, the campaign is all about Burns—and his tight relationship with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the one-man political wrecking ball who helped bring down House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and who may destroy the careers of other prominent Republicans. Last week DeLay, besieged by corruption investigations in Washington and Texas, announced he was resigning from Congress. He said he didn't want his troubles to provide ammunition for Democrats, whose midterm campaign strategy is to use the Abramoff scandal to portray all Republicans as corrupt money-grubbers. DeLay had hoped to tough it out, but then two of his closest former aides agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy in the Abramoff probe. DeLay said his decision to quit was unrelated; still, he knew he was finished.

Now other Republicans who once happily accepted the lobbyist's cash and gifts are suffering from the same Abramoff Effect. Ohio Rep. Robert Ney is under investigation for allegedly doing Abramoff favors in return for free trips, gifts and campaign contributions, including an August 2002 trip to the St. Andrews golf course in Scotland. Ney has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, saying he was "duped" by Abramoff and misled about who paid for the trip. The congressman has vowed to stay in the race, "even if I'm indicted." That's a campaign slogan the GOP could live without.

Rep. Katherine Harris are all trying to explain how Abramoff's tainted cash wound up on their books.

But after DeLay, Burns may be the ripest target for Democrats, who dream of winning six seats and regaining the Senate. Burns took more money from Abramoff and his clients than any other member of Congress—nearly $150,000, according to Federal Election Commission records. A lawyer familiar with the investigation, who declined to be named discussing an ongoing case, confirms that Burns is under scrutiny for his connections to Abramoff—in particular, whether he and his staff promoted legislation to help Abramoff's clients in exchange for campaign contributions or gifts.

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