More Abramoff Friends in the Spotlight - Against Their Wishes

It must be rough being a friend / acquaintance / bribery client or even neighbor of Jack Abramoff. Just waiting around for that other shoe to drop when the press notices you seem to have a connection to the future convict that you haven't acknowledged.

So you sit, quietly, and wait, hoping that nobody notices the signature on the back of a check, or the name or number of an account, or even your name on an Abramoff email, that you can make it through the next election without being pulled into "Abramoff World."

Well, unfortunately for Republican Representatives Steve LaTourette (Ohio), Don Young (Alaska) and Shelly Moore Capito (W. Virg.), their time has come. They've all been named in recent filings related to the Abramoff case. LaTourette & Young wrote to the General Services Agency (GSA) in September 2002 asking them to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office Pavillion in DC. Capito tried to help Abramoff get a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school.

Capito immediately blamed her chief of staff (that's what underlings are for), the other two have remained mum.