Musings 96--DeLay and his Russian buddies...

It was not that many years ago that we were neck and neck in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Today, we are supposedly partners with the reformed communists that once had visions of world domination.

Tom DeLay, R, Texas, is now neck deep dealings with the powerbrokers that have put Putin in charge of the once "evil empire." Yes sir, old Tom, who advocates family values and is in love with the religious right, is firmly affixed with an organization called "The U.S. Family Network." It sounds just like the name of a group that DeLay would want to be affiliated with. The only problem is that "The U.S. Family Network" is a front company that Jack Abramoff uses as a lobbying front. (See Link)

Now it is all over the news that Jack Abramoff is a corrupt guy. He has taken millions of dollars of monies from the American Indians to aid them in their goal of not paying taxes on their casino earnings. "The U.S. Family Network" was funded mostly by shadow corporations set up by Abramoff. One of the main contributors to the these corporations and "The U.S. Family Network" was Russian oil and gas executives.

It seems that DeLay's former chief of staff, Edwin Buckham was the organizer for "The U.S. Family Network. It is from conversations with him that the Russian connection is made. According to the Washington Post's R. Jeffrey Smith: "The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that the Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay's vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy."

The Post article continues: "There is no evidence DeLay received a direct financial benefit, but Buckham's firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine, and paid her a salary of at least $3,200 each month for three of the years the group existed. Richard Cullen, DeLay's attorney, has said that the pay was compensation for lists Christine DeLay supplied to Buckham of lawmakers' favorite charities, and that it was appropriate under House rules and election law."

However, it should also be noted, DeLay met with Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky of the Russian oil firm Naftasib nine month before $1 million donation was made.

Also in the Post article is this tidbit of a paragraph: "A former Abramoff associate said the two executives 'wanted to contribute to DeLay' and clearly had the resources to do it. At one point, Koulakovsky asked during a dinner in Moscow 'what would happen if the DeLays woke up one morning' and found a luxury car in their front driveway, the former associate said. They were told the DeLays 'would go to jail and you would go to jail.'"

But, of course, if you can hid it deep enough--who would know? Er...that is until you get caught and people start to dig.

Stick a fork in Tom DeLay. He is just about done.