Senator Predicts More Congressional Busts
From The Tulsa World: WAGONER, OKLA — U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn said Friday that he expects six congressmen and a fellow senator to go to jail on corruption charges in the wake of investigations involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others. The Oklahoma Republican declined to name any of the seven, but said, “if you’ve been keeping up with things, you’ve got a pretty good idea.”
Coburn’s remarks came during a town hall meeting at the Wagoner Civic Center attended by about 30 people, and were made in relation to his attempts to curb “earmarking” — the practice of inserting appropriations for specific projects into unrelated bills.
“Earmarks are used for the gateway drug to overspending,” Coburn said. “Everywhere you see an earmark, you’ll see a connection to a campaign contribution.”
Some of those connections began coming to light in the last year. Abramoff was sentenced to more than five [years] in prison last month and may face additional charges related to his dealings with several Indian tribes. Coburn indicated after speaking Friday that his prediction was at least partly based on his service on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has been under scrutiny after taking more than $22,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that were clients of Abramoff. Former Rep. Randall “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., has already been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for taking bribes from defense contractors.
Coburn said members of both parties have been involved in questionable dealings and mentioned U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan, a West Virginia Democrat whose assets reportedly increased more than six-fold during a four-year period in which he was the senior member of the House Appropriations and Ethics committees.
Coburn said a “more aggressive press” would help expose connections between earmarks and campaign contributions but agreed such ties are often difficult to document, in part because the authorship of earmarks is not easily determined.
“The first step in campaign finance reform is the elimination of earmarks,” Coburn said.
By Randy Krehbiel
Copyright 2006 The Tulsa World
