Why Didn’t McCain Call Ralph Reed To Testify During Abramoff Investigation?
Why Didn’t McCain Call Ralph Reed To Testify During Abramoff Investigation?
On the campaign trail, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) often touts his work fighting corruption, highlighting the Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation he led into the Jack Abramoff scandal. In May, he bragged:
I led the Abramoff investigation. I saved the American people — excuse me, not only American people, but native Americans, millions — hundreds of millions — millions and millions of dollars.
In particular, the committee put out a 357-page report on its findings. Mentioned on at least 38 pages is former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed, who assisted Abramoff in overbilling Indian tribal clients out of millions of dollars.
Yet on Monday, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) will be attending a fundraiser in Atlanta, which Reed is helping to organize. Reed “touted himself as a member of McCain’s ‘Victory 2008 Team’ in an e-mail that solicited donations on McCain’s behalf.” McCain has refused calls by ethics watchdog organizations to denounce Reed and cancel the fundraiser.
In a Democratic National Committee conference call today, House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) questioned why McCain would want to associate himself with someone who was “tied up in a gambling scandal.” He noted, however, that McCain has never been particularly tough on Reed — he never even called him to testify before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee during its investigation:
I give John McCain credit for having exposed Jack Abramoff, when he held hearings in the Senate Committee on Native Americans. But he never called Ralph Reed. And our committee did a further investigation of the Abramoff contacts with the White House, and we found Ralph Reed an active participant in trying to influence the White House for Abramoff’s clients.
Listen here:
In reality, McCain’s report on the Abramoff scandal was also far weaker than it should have been; it steered clear of any connections between Abramoff and McCain’s conservative Senate colleagues, even though many of them were complicit in the lobbyist’s schemes. Additionally, during McCain’s investigation, Abramoff’s old firm — Greenberg Traurig — hired McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann “for advice on handling the Senate investigation.” Scheunemann also advised McCain during the 2000 election.
Transcript:
WAXMAN: I give John McCain credit for having exposed Jack Abramoff, when he held hearings in the Senate Committee on Native Americans. But he never called Ralph Reed. And our committee did a further investigation of the Abramoff contacts with the White House, and we found Ralph Reed an active participant in trying to influence the White House for Abramoff’s clients.
And he wasn’t doing these things as a good friend of Jack Abramoff alone. He was doing it to make money for himself. These guys, Abramoff and Reed and Grover Norquist, were all buddies back to the right-wing College Republican days. When Ralph Reed decided to go into this public relations business, he sent an e-mail to his good buddy Jack Abramoff, saying, “I need to start humping in corporate accounts. I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.”
Which of course, Abramoff did, primarily with lucrative contracts involving Indian casinos, after which Reed and Abramoff left voluminous records. These actions of a corrupt lobbyist and a so-called pious former head of the Christian Coalition, tied up in a gambling scandal — that’s not the kind of people that John McCain ought to turn to, to raise money for his campaign efforts.
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36 Responses to “Why Didn’t McCain Call Ralph Reed To Testify During Abramoff Investigation?”
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I'm Native American, and I must say,
August 15th, 2008 at 12:37 pmI Have Reservations.
http://www.votenic.com
One of the Keating 5 did not want to dig deeply into this one, for obvious reasons.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:40 pmthe choice is so clear this year.
if everyone had a clue, mccain would have 1 vote in the election.... from himself.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:41 pmYou don't think the trollopy c**t would vote for him too?
August 15th, 2008 at 12:43 pmThat way Ralph could throw him a KKK style Republican fund-raising jubilee here in the red ol' state of Georgia.
Oddly though, to date, I've only seen ONE McCain bumpersticker.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:47 pmWord is that McCain got the goods on lots of his fellow republicans and that they have an "understanding" that if they play nice he wont spill thier dirty little secrets. sounds like reed is one of them. god help us if this senile, pandering exortionist gets elected. i hate to say it, but so far, the best anti-mccain ads have been on youtube...
August 15th, 2008 at 12:50 pmCJ; You have just described 'the good ole boy' club.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:51 pmChocolate Jesus Says: god help us if this senile, pandering exortionist gets elected.
He won't get elected. But we know that Republicans never play fair, and he too could steal it.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:51 pmGrampy McSame says - My friends back in the day we all covered up crimes for our friends with shells, it was what good friends do, when you want to have a cushy government job you need those shells to get elected, and Ralph can get me lots of shells, so what if he is corrupt and a criminal, he's one of us and as long as he is one of us then it's ok, as long as he keeps giving me shells, his name is sort of disturbing though, Ralph, makes me think of Cindy after she takes some of those pills she borrowed and down a fifth of gin then dances topless for my BBQ guests, yes, ralph would be the word to describe that....I like pot roast in my pants.
We all know repukes likes their criminal connections Grampy, I just wish the MSM would do their job and let the rest of the Low Information Voters know...
....but that will never happen.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pmIn a campaign that has sunk to the lowest depths; this stinks of needing Reeds numerous connections in the social conservative base.
It sounds like a case of I'll scratch your back if you will scratch mine. "Reed's political ties have allowed him to carve out a special niche among political influence merchants " says lobbyist Scott Reed. One way that Ralph can help McCain is by fundraising.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:53 pmOn Ralph Reed: few looks are as pathetic as a "boyish" face gone old.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:55 pmCan I just say that Ralph Reed could be 70 years old, and he's still going to look like a punk!
August 15th, 2008 at 12:55 pm"...former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed, who assisted Abramoff in overbilling Indian tribal clients out of millions of dollars."
Now that’s what I call a true American christian! Amen!
August 15th, 2008 at 12:56 pmAanya Says:
"Can I just say that Ralph Reed could be 70 years old, and he’s still going to look like a punk!"
He is a punk! A pencil-necked puck.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:58 pmBuckie - WELCOME BACK!!!!
August 15th, 2008 at 1:00 pmLividLib Says: Now that’s what I call a true American christian! Amen!
I think a lot of people believe that their words override their actions. So, say you're a chistian and suddenly you can break every code of ethics scott-free. Never mind that 92% of people in jail are Chistian despite America only being 68% professed chistian and 40% practicing christian.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:05 pmLook at that picture, folks. Now, look again.
This is the face of the Christian Hard Right / NeoClown, 2008.
Scamming Native Americans in the name of Jesus.
Jesus would be soooo proud.
The fact he made his money off of a business that creates it's revenue stream from gambling is just icing on the cake.
Ralph Reed should be getting poked in the butt in jail with Abramoff, Cunningham, Stevens, Foley, Libby, (insert name here)
August 15th, 2008 at 1:07 pmCongress Oversight Committee Chairman Henry Waxman criticised McCain for not calling Ralph Reed to testify...
August 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pmDid Waxman call Ralph Reed to testify?
I don't think Ralph Reed can claim Executive privilege..!!!
Zimzone Says:
"Ralph Reed should be getting poked in the butt in jail with Abramoff, Cunningham, Stevens, Foley, Libby, (insert name here)"
they'd consider that a perk.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:08 pmIs it just me or does Ralphie look a little, shall we say, of the 'wide stance' persuasion?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:09 pmThat is Ralph Reed? Looks more like a young John Edwards. Maybe the just use the same hairdresser? I guess I have had my head in the sand. I thought Ralph Reed was long gone into the sunset.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:10 pmwhat's he doing in that picture?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:12 pmwarming up?
That's a good point. I think the public has a right to know:
how much does Ralph Reed pay for his haircuts?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:14 pmThe NeoChristian 'Max Headroom'?
His hair looks glued on.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pmIf Ralph Reed were a little "light in his loafers," he would not be the only GOPuke poking around in the LogCabin closet...Miss Lindsey Graham? Charlie Crist just grew a beard, dinne?
Me? I always thought dark--ox-blood?--loafers looked better...classier, yaknow?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:17 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
"how much does Ralph Reed pay for his haircuts?"
not sure, but it's a safe bet he uses the same styling mousse Cameron Diaz used in the movie "There’s Something About Mary".
August 15th, 2008 at 1:26 pm'Cum on, LividLib! Does he milk cats, too?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:44 pmWell, I've been on vacation for two weeks and it's nice to know that some things will never change.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:54 pmRalp is so glad he didn't attend my high school. We had little tolerance for weird Stepford kids...
August 15th, 2008 at 2:03 pmAdditionally, during McCain’s investigation, Abramoff’s old firm — Greenberg Traurig — hired McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann “for advice on handling the Senate investigation.” Scheunemann also advised McCain during the 2000 election.
Is there anything NOT dirty that Scheunemann is involved in?
August 15th, 2008 at 2:05 pmCheck out the audio from the DNC-created ad here.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:08 pm>and he too could steal it.
Riiight. Thats my big worry. I hope I'm wrong, but I forsee Obama taking it, but probably not by "diebold proof" margins.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:17 pmI studied electronic voting fraud pretty extensively, wrote a 20 page paper on it for my intensive writing class in law school... It, like any other form of cheating, isnt an exact science. it can tilt elections about +/- 5 percentage points without any obvious trace. i find it interesting that about a half dozen 2006 senate races that dems won by less than 1 percent were projected to go dem by approx 5-7 percent. could be coincidence, or could be my +/- 5 percent theory has some merit to it..
In reality, McCain’s report on the Abramoff scandal was also far weaker than it should have been; it steered clear of any connections between Abramoff and McCain’s conservative Senate colleagues, even though many of them were complicit in the lobbyist’s schemes.
All just a part of the "good old boy" network where they appear to do something about a problem, all the while making sure that none of their buddies are actually held accountable.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 15th, 2008 at 2:18 pmThis guy is twisted. There is no telling what degree of perversion the skeletons in his closet possess.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:23 pmI saved the American people — excuse me, not only American people, but native Americans,
So native Americans aren't really Americans!?!?! How telling.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:53 pmlivelongandprosper Says:
I saved the American people — excuse me, not only American people, but native Americans,
So native Americans aren’t really Americans!?!?! How telling.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
That was my first thought when I read the quote, too. Jeez, he can't speak more than a couple of sentences without either lying or putting his foot in his mouth.
August 16th, 2008 at 1:39 am