Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006
The Delay-Abramoff Affair
If Tom DeLay became a Congressional giant during his tenure as a Texas representative, Jack Abramoff proved to be his Achilles' Heel. In this tangled web, Abramoff and several others, including two aides of the Congressman, wound up implicated in defrauding an Indian tribe then lining their pockets. It later caused DeLay's resignation amidst the indictment (and subsequent guilty plea) of Abramoff, the former power-wielding lobbyist, and set an early stage for a yearlong slippery slope for the G.O.P. The ironic part of it all is that after all the trouble DeLay has suffered because of lobbyists, what does he plan to become after his resignation? A lobbyist.