PRESS RELEASE: Democrats, Daschle and Johnson need to give back Abramoff money

This just out from the South Dakota GOP:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                            CONTACT: Max Wetz

January 4, 2006

                                                                       

Democrats, Daschle and Johnson need to give back Abramoff money

PIERRE– As indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to several charges, the South Dakota Republican Party is again calling on former Senator Tom Daschle, Senator Tim Johnson and the South Dakota Democrat Party to give back the thousands of dollars in contributions they received from Abramoff clients.

“Sen. Daschle, Sen. Johnson and the Democrat organization need to follow the lead of their counterparts in North Dakota, Montana and elsewhere in giving the funds back or donating them to charity,” said South Dakota Republican Party Chairman Randy Frederick

. “They received thousands of dollars in contributions from Abramoff clients and it is incumbent upon them to do the right thing and return the money.”

In June 2005, the Washington Post reported on the way Abramoff and his team of lobbyists would direct contributions. “According to documents and tribal officials familiar with the Abramoff team’s methods, the lobbyists devised lengthy lists of lawmakers to whom the tribes should donate and then delivered the lists to the tribes. The tribes, in turn, wrote checks to the recommended campaign committees and in the amounts the lobbyists prescribed. The money went to incumbents or selected candidates in open seats,” Post writers Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Derek Willis reported.

In December, the South Dakota Republican Party called on Daschle, Johnson and the state Democrat Party to examine their contributions and return those from Abramoff’s clients.

Frederick is again renewing that call. “Those contributions were funneled through Jack Abramoff and it is important for propriety’s sake that they be returned or given away,” Frederick said.

According to Washington Post reports, Daschle received more than $40,000 from five tribes that were part of Abramoff's network. Johnson accepted $7,250 in 2002 from three tribes that were Abramoff clients. And the South Dakota Democrat Party lists $8,500 in donations from Abramoff clients from 2000-2004.

Here is the Washington Post story: "Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations: Abramoff Issue's Fallout May Extend Beyond the GOP." 

Remember that the South Dakota Democratic Party sent press releases recently attacking Thune on the Abramoff front.