The Daily Background

Two items on Republican House Representative Bob Ney who may be facing upcoming indictments due to his close relationship with now confessed Republican mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff. LA Times:

But there was nothing unusual about his cozy ties with the Washington lobbyist who helped arrange his tee time. The Ohio Republican has a history of close relations with lobbyists and special interests that predate golf partner Jack Abramoff.

In his quarter-century as a state legislator and U.S. representative, Ney, 51, has demonstrated a talent for turning such political connections into opportunities for gifts, travel and other forms of personal gain, records and interviews show.

So far, Ney is the only member of Congress directly linked to allegations that Abramoff traded such gifts as the golf outing for legislative favors. He is identified simply as “Representative #1″ in a Jan. 3 plea agreement between Abramoff and federal prosecutors.

Years before Ney came to Washington, however, he began accepting honorariums, in the form of personal checks, and travel from lobbyists and business interests when he served in the Ohio Legislature in the 1980s and ’90s.

More on that here. Further, TPM Cafe has this to say about Ney’s past:

If only everybody had listened to Bob Ney, none of this would have ever happened. “I pushed about nine months ago to have lobby reform, but nobody really would listen to me…I wanted to do it then because that way it’s made much more clear so members don’t get into positions like I have.” A would-be reformer, now Rep. Ney (R-Ohio) is reportedly close to being indicted for accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff. The irony.

Full post here. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more on the Ney angle soon.

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In the meantime, check out our Bob Ney Archives.

Filed under: Bob Ney, Abramoff Scandal, Z-TDB Blog