User:Kwh/JAFixRefs
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{{Jack Abramoff}} {{Current}}
Jack A. Abramoff (born February 28, 1959) is a United States political lobbyist, Republican activist, and businessman who is a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He pled guilty on January 3, 2006 to three criminal felony counts in federal court related to the defrauding of Native American tribes.[1] On January 4th, Abramoff pled guilty to two criminal felony counts in a different federal court related to fraudulent dealings with SunCruz Casinos.[2] In his Indian lobbying plea bargain, Abramoff agreed to testify in related investigations, which are still ongoing.
Abramoff was Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Greenberg Traurig legal and lobbying firm (see Team Abramoff) and was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981-85. He was also a director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank. He was the founding member of the International Freedom Foundation, an apartheid South Africaāfinanced anti-communist think-tank that operated from 1986 to 1992.
The monetary influence of Jack Abramoff runs far and wide. Abramoff was deeply associated with Tom DeLay's K Street Project to bring Republican dominance to Washington lobbying.[3] From 2000 to 2006, he personally donated money to campaign funds and Leadership PACs of numerous Republican candidates for Congress.[4] Under his guidance, his Indian tribe clients loosened their traditional ties to the Democratic Party, giving Republicans two-thirds of the $2.9 million they donated to federal candidates since 2001.[5] He raised $100,000 for the reelection of George W. Bush, making him a Bush Pioneer. Abramoff and his wife gave $10,000 to the Bush-Cheney Recount Fund, shortly before Abramoff joined Greenberg Traurig, which forgave over $314,000 in legal fees incurred by the Bush Campaign in the 2000 Florida election recount.[6] Because of Abramoff's criminal behavior, prominent Republican politicians with close ties to Abramoff as well as hundreds of Congressional politicians who have received money from his clients (see the monetary influence of Jack Abramoff) have come under media scrutiny, with lobbying reform proposals presented by both parties. The Democratic proposal would make initiatives like the K Street Project illegal.