Wampum

I vaguely remember hearing of this angle of the story months ago (during a chat with Dwight, if I recall correctly.) The Wall Street Journal has all the sordid details. Bottom line, "hell hath no fury...."

A couple of things stood out for me and my CREA OCDing: I didn't realize the close connection between former Delay CoS Tony Rudy and former Delay press secretary/communications director Michael Scanlon. Why is this significant? Rudy, in a late December 2000 email (after having just returned from the Florida recount) suggested to Abramoff (also just returned from the recount) that he get in contact with Italia Federici and CREA. This was immediately after Norton (CREA's founder) was named by Bush as his DoI nominee.

A second, less signifcant but interesting detail: Scanlon's ex-fiance, and former Delay staffer, Emily Miller, went to work for Delay after employment at ABC News and in Rick Lazio's office. My current subject of interest, Julie Finley, was also employed by ABC News and was a big financial backer of Lazio. Purely coincidential, I suspect (really.)

(HT to Indianz)

Update: Via Duncan, we learn that Tony Rudy is reportedly going to plead guilty to some voilations of lobbying fraud. Details are not yet available.

Update2: Here's the details of the emails as reported by AP back in November, 2005:

E-mails detail effort inside DeLay office to help Abramoff


WASHINGTON (AP) — Investigators have unearthed e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay's office tried to help lobbyist Jack Abramoff get a high-level Bush administration meeting for Indian clients, an effort that succeeded after the tribes began making a quarter-million dollars in donations.

Tribal money went both to a group founded by Interior Secretary Gale Norton, the Cabinet secretary Abramoff was trying to meet, as well as to DeLay's personal charity.

"Do you think you could call that friend and set up a meeting," then-DeLay staffer Tony Rudy wrote to fellow House aide Thomas Pyle in a Dec. 29, 2000, e-mail titled "Gale Norton-Interior Secretary." President Bush had nominated Norton to the post the day before.

Rudy wrote Abramoff that same day promising he had "good news" about securing a meeting with Norton, forwarding information about the environmental group Norton had founded, according to e-mails obtained by investigators and reviewed by The Associated Press. Rudy's message to Abramoff was sent from Congress' official e-mail system.

Within months, Abramoff clients donated heavily to the Norton-founded group and to DeLay's personal charity. The Coushatta Indian tribe, for instance, wrote checks in March 2001 for $50,000 to the Norton group and $10,000 to the DeLay Foundation, tribal records show.

Update3: TPM Muckraker has background on Rudy