Abramoff Returns

Abramoff Returns

Jack Abramoff lives! When’s the last time you heard his name? Washington had almost forgotten the disgraced lobbyist.

Luckily the Secret Service hadn’t. New logs released over the weekend show that Abramoff visited the White House a half-dozen times in the early days of the Bush Administration. Previously the White House claimed Abramoff had only been there twice. But the Justice Department explained that the Secret Service had quote “unexpectedly discovered” Abramoff’s other appointments.

Still, something is missing from this picture: the Congressmen Abramoff bought and used.

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Jack Abramoff lives! When’s the last time you heard his name? Washington had almost forgotten the disgraced lobbyist.

Luckily the Secret Service hadn’t. New logs released over the weekend show that Abramoff visited the White House a half-dozen times in the early days of the Bush Administration. Previously the White House claimed Abramoff had only been there twice. But the Justice Department explained that the Secret Service had quote “unexpectedly discovered” Abramoff’s other appointments.

Still, something is missing from this picture: the Congressmen Abramoff bought and used.

When Abramoff plead guilty to bribery charges last January, press reports indicated that over a dozen Congressmen might be implicated. The Wall Street Journal put the number at sixty. Since then, not one has been charged. Aides have copped deals. A top Bush Administration official, David Safavian, was recently convicted for lying to investigators.

But I’m still waiting for the top guns to fall on Capitol Hill.

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On September 15, Vice President JD Vance attacked The Nation while hosting The Charlie Kirk Show.

In a clip seen millions of times, Vance singled out The Nation in a dog whistle to his far-right followers. Predictably, a torrent of abuse followed.

Throughout our 160 years of publishing fierce, independent journalism, we’ve operated with the belief that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. We’ve been criticized by both Democratic and Republican officeholders—and we’re pleased that the White House is reading The Nation. As long as Vance is free to criticize us and we are free to criticize him, the American experiment will continue as it should.

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Vance and Trump administration officials also laid out their plans for widespread repression against progressive groups. Instead of calling for national healing, the administration is using Kirk’s death as pretext for a concerted attack on Trump’s enemies on the left.

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Bhaskar Sunkara
President, The Nation

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