Roll Call newspaper notes this morning that the Senate Finance Committee’s got its hands on new documents relating to disgraced superlobbyist Jack Abramoff. It’s a part of the story worth keeping an eye on, for a couple reasons.
The committee is probing Jack’s ties to nonprofits, as well as the involvement and knowledge of Jack’s employers, lobby firms Greenberg Traurig and Preston Gates and Ellis, in his corruption. To date, those firms have largely dodged the bullet, pleading ignorance of Jack’s misdeeds. But scandal-watchers say that’s hard to swallow. We’ll be following up on that in the future (if the Finance Committee doesn’t beat us to it.)
Also worth noting: the Finance Committee is chaired by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), who’s in the habit of keeping talented investigators on his staff. If he sets them on the Abramoff case in earnest, there’s no telling what they will unearth.
That said, Grassley isn’t committing to public hearings, which means he may want to keep some of the good stuff under wraps. That’s understandable — all roads from Jack lead eventually to lawmakers’ offices. Who wants to be the guy whose committee hearings bring down a colleague, even if he’s tainted? Here’s to hoping they’ll let the sun shine in.
