Top Lobbyist Makes A Deal

Abramoff Pleads Guilty In Fraud Case; Could Testify Against Lawmakers

(CBS/AP) 
Abramoff contradicted statements by Rep. Bob Ney, saying the Ohio Republican accepted a golfing trip to Scotland in 2002 with the knowledge that the lobbyist's Indian clients were paying for it. Ney is not mentioned by name, but his identity is clear from a description of his committee chairmanship. Ney issued a statement saying, "At the time I dealt with Jack Abramoff, I obviously did not know, and had no way of knowing, the self-serving and fraudulent nature" of his activities.

Abramoff also said he had made a $10,000 donation to the National Republican Campaign Committee at Ney's request, part of what the plea agreement refers to as the "corruption of public officials."

Court documents said Abramoff solicited $50,000 from a wireless telephone company and got Ney's agreement to push the company's application to install a wireless telephone infrastructure in the House of Representatives, a job Ney's committee would have overseen.

CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen says Abramoff "is going to be like a tour guide, leading federal prosecutors by the hand through the sordid details of these deals. The best the members of Congress can hope for is more political embarrassment. The worst is serious prison time."

At the Justice Department, Fisher said that in one instance, "Abramoff was so bold as to take fees to assist one client when he was actually working for another client to defeat the first client's interests." Those clients were Indian tribes were from Texas and Louisiana, and the issue involved casino gambling.

Apart from his lobbying in Congress, Abramoff raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's 2004 re-election effort, earning the honorary title "pioneer" from the campaign.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said he could not say whether Abramoff ever met Mr. Bush. McClellan said of Abramoff: "What he is reportedly acknowledging doing is unacceptable and outrageous."

"If laws were broken, he must be held to account for what he did," McClellan said.

Once a well-connected lobbyist able to command almost unimaginable fees -- a Louisiana tribe once paid Scanlon and him more than $30 million over 26 months -- Abramoff apologized after pleading guilty.

"Words will not ever be able to express my sorrow and my profound regret for all my actions and mistakes," he said. "I hope I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and those I've wronged or caused to suffer."