The anti-Abramoff lobbyists: Speaking up for the poor in Washington

Published: 2006-02-10

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The corruption investigation into lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with government officials has opened a window into just one way lobbying works in Washington. Another type of lobbying that goes on every day bears about as much resemblance to Abramoff's high-finance wheeling and dealing as his gourmet restaurant business lunches have to the quick sandwiches lobbyists for nonprofit organizations might grab in the Senate cafeteria. Abramoff came to the attention of federal investigators because of the multimillions of dollars he and a partner earned from dealings with Indian tribes, which he has admitted to defrauding. In January, Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a scandal that is still reverberating through Congress and various investigative agencies. But the kind of money that routinely changed hands among Abramoff, his clients and those from whom they tried to buy favors would finance decades worth of the more down-to-earth lobbying work done by nonprofit organizations such as Catholic Charities USA, the Washington Office on Latin America, and Network, the Catholic social justice lobby.

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