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Tuesday, November 22, 2005 12:00 AM

With friends like these ...

Tom DeLay's former aide -- and Jack Abramoff's former partner -- is cooperating with prosecutors now, and he seems to be enjoying it.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2005 09:54 AM

Don't get your hopes up

Scanlon may or may not be singing a tune that will implicate Republican members of Congress, but I think one possible outcome will be that the "Ney" defense, "I was played for a fool," will keep them out of trouble. At the news conference yesterday, Scanlon was smiling and relaxed, which could indicate that, even after paying nearly $20 million in restitution to the tribes, he still has plenty of ill-gotten wealth to keep him in the black once he does his time. If that's so, it would make sense for him to give the prosecutor info on folks like Abramhoff but not members of Congress. Doing that might make it possible that when Scanlon gets out of prison, members of Congress will perceive him as loyal and will continue to work with him.

I think the real question is, "What leverage does the prosecutor have over Scanlon to get him to reveal everything he knows rather than just enough to minimize his prison time but come out able to pick up where he left off?" I would be interested to hear some informed speculation along that line.

Wednesday, November 23, 2005 08:42 AM

phone equipment

"...including a contract to install phone equipment in the Capitol...". I certainly hope this phone equipment is more trustworthy than the electronic voting machines!

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