The Republican corruption scandal just got a lot, a lot bigger. It started with Tom DeLay, and then went into the Bush White House with Bush’s chief procurement officer, headed over to Ohio’s Bob Ney, took out California Republican Congressman Randy Cunningham, and made a detour through MZM, Inc. into Total Information Awareness plans to spy on law-abiding Americans, then said howdy to Republicans Virgil Goode and Katherine Harris, who took money from MZM just like Randy Cunningham.
Oh, I’m missing a couple of turns, I know it, but the point is that the scandal just got even bigger. Now, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson’s old buddy at the Christian Coalition, is being accused of breaking the law. It seems that Ralph Reed was a part of Jack Abramoff’s plan to use corrupt political dealings to drive the competition against Abramoff’s clients out of business. As part of Abramoff’s schemes, Ralph Reed acted as a paid lobbyist, contacting officials in the state government of Texas. The problem is that Reed never registered as a lobbyist in Texas. That’s against the law. The question we now have to ask is: What was Ralph Reed trying to hide by lobbying in secret, without obeying the rules?
There’s more, folks. Guess who one of those Texas state government officials that Ralph Reed contacted for Abramoff was. Republican John Cornyn. You probably know John Cornyn as Senator John Cornyn, a rabid right winger representing Texas in the United States Senate. But, back when Ralph Reed got in touch with John Cornyn, Cornyn was Attorney General of the state of Texas.
It seems that Jack Abramoff needed some kind of favor from John Cornyn back then, a favor that would enable all his corrupt schemes to work out in their typically greasy way. So, Abramoff sent Ralph Reed to do the job.
Senator John Cornyn’s office denies any contact ever took place. Cornyn’s spokesman said yesterday, “Reed didn’t lobby him.” Yet, the evidence is right there in Ralph Reed’s emails. Ralph Reed did contact John Cornyn’s office as a part of the attempt to get Jack Abramoff’s sleazy deal to go through. “We have talked to the AG’s office,” says one of Reed’s emails.
Now, what, oh what, did Ralph Reed talk with John Cornyn about? This corrupt deal is enough to bring criminal indictments against Congressman Tom DeLay, so the fact that Senator Cornyn now has his fingerprints on the scheme ought to have his lawyers scrambling. It’s time to hand over your emails and memos, Senator Cornyn.
