Ney pleads guilty

The first really big domino of the Abramof scandal has fallen.

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, pleaded guilty today to making false statements and conspiracy to commit fraud and violating post-employment restrictions for former congressional aides.

The charges are related to his dealings with the corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

A guilty plea makes Ney, a six-term congressman, the first member of Congress to confess to criminal charges in the Abramoff investigation, which has focused on the actions of several current and former Republican lawmakers, including former Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land.

Lawyers and others, who would speak only anonymously because of concern they would anger prosecutors, said the agreement with the Justice Department would probably require Ney to serve at least some time in prison.

[...]

Ney has been under scrutiny by the Justice Department for more than a year over gifts he received from Abramoff that included a lavish golf trip to Scotland in 2002.

The congressman has said in the past that the gifts had nothing to do with a series of official actions he took in support of Abramoff and his clients.

Ney announced in August that he would not seek re-election, citing stress on his family because of what he called the "ordeal" of the scrutiny over his ties to Abramoff.

Ney made multiple public denials of any wrongdoing in L'Affaire Abramoff over the past few months. Obviously, none of that is operational any more. No surprises here, right?

The Justice Department is about to hold a press conference on the Ney plea, so we will know a lot more soon. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: Swing State Project compares OH-18 to CA-50, the home of the previous Republican Congressional felon, Duke Cunningham.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 15, 2006 to Scandalized! | TrackBack