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DeLay's Lavish Island Getaway
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Candidate
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Apr 07, 2005 12:07pm |
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| Category | News |
| News Date | Thursday, April 7, 2005 06:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Embattled Lobbyist Arranged DeLay Trip
By BRIAN ROSS
April 6, 2005 — A Washington lobbyist under federal investigation for his lobbying activities arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year's holiday in 1997.
DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.
The DeLay trip to the South Pacific island, originally reported by a "20/20" investigation, was part of an effort by former aide Jack Abramoff to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Abramoff, who was working for the law firm Preston Gates Ellis and Rouvelas Meeds LLP at the time, was paid $1.36 million by Saipan officials and wrote in a memo obtained by ABC News that such congressional trips were "one of the most effective ways to build permanent friends on the Hill."
Abramoff is now under federal investigation for his lobbying activities, including Saipan, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Andrew Blum, a spokesman for Abramoff's attorney, said on behalf of Abramoff that they did not comment on pending grand jury investigations. |
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