Jack Abramoff Scandal

Jack Abramoff Scandal Overview

• Jack Abramoff, a Republican lobbyist, was at the center of a massive corruption and influence-peddling scandal.
• Starting in the mid-1990s, Abramoff showered gifts on lawmakers in exchange for favorable votes on legislation and tax breaks for his clients.
• Abramoff made $20 million a year through his lobbying activities.
• Abramoff pleaded guilty to corrupting public officials, tax evasion, and fraud and served three and a half years in prison.
• Abramoff is now a symbol of how money corrupts Washington.

Abramoff's Methods

• Abramoff got his clients, such as Indian tribes, to make substantial campaign contributions to select members of Congress.
• Abramoff provided freebies and gifts in exchange for favors for his clients.
• He lavished certain congressmen and senators with access to private jets and trips to golf destinations like St. Andrews in Scotland.
• Abramoff also provided free meals at his upscale Washington restaurant and access to the best tickets to sporting events, including two skyboxes at Washington Redskins games.
• He spent over $1 million a year on tickets to sporting events and concerts.
• Abramoff had two people on his staff whose full-time job was booking tickets for congressmen and senators.
• He offered congressional staffers jobs that could triple their salaries.
• Once a staffer was offered a job, Abramoff believed he owned them.

Neil Volz and Bob Ney

• Neil Volz was a Chief of Staff to Congressman Bob Ney.
• Abramoff targeted Volz and offered him a job.
• Ney was the chairman of the House Administration Committee and had considerable power to dispense favors.
• Volz negotiated his potential salary with Abramoff at a hockey game while also discussing Abramoff's clients.
• Volz viewed this as a corrupt relationship
• Bob Ney wanted to be Speaker of the House and saw Abramoff as a way to build alliances with the White House and the majority leader, Tom DeLay.
• Abramoff invited Ney on golf trips, including one to Scotland, and to his restaurant, Signatures, where Ney was given food and drinks on the house, violating Congressional gift limit laws.
• Neil Volz, then a lobbyist for Abramoff, asked Ney to insert language into a reform bill that would give a backdoor license to an Indian casino owned by one of Abramoff's clients.
• Ney would eventually serve 17 months in federal prison, the only congressman charged in the scandal.

Abramoff's Views on Corruption

• Abramoff believes the whole system is bribery.
• Considers giving a gift to someone who makes a decision on behalf of the public bribery.
• Few members didn't participate in corruption.
• Abramoff gave away 80% of his earnings to communal or charitable causes.
• He was brought up on federal charges of tax evasion and ripping off Indian tribes.
• Abramoff was sentenced to four years in prison.

Post-Scandal

• After his release, Abramoff began working as an accountant at a kosher pizza parlor.
• He is paying off nearly $24 million in restitution to the Indian tribes.
• Congress instituted reforms making plying members of Congress with free expensive meals illegal.
• Abramoff doesn't see the new reforms as being very effective.
• Thinks the system hasn't been cleaned up at all.

Abramoff's Proposed Solution

• Prohibit members of Congress and their staff from ever becoming lobbyists in Washington.
• Washington is a dangerous place, and they should not hang around after serving the public.

Current Status of Key Figures

• Bob Ney now works part-time as a radio host.
• Neil Volz is working as a night janitor at a Florida restaurant.
• Jack Abramoff has written a memoir called "Capital Punishment."