The lobbyist's playbook: Jack Abramoff - 'How he asserted his influence in Congress for years'

Jack Abramoff: The lobbyist's playbook
(CBS News)

Jack Abramoff, the notorious former lobbyist at the center of Washington's biggest corruption scandal in decades, spent more than three years in prison for his crimes. Now a free man, he reveals how he was able to influence politicians and their staffers through generous gifts and job offers. He tells Lesley Stahl the reforms instituted in the wake of his scandal have had little effect.

The following is a script of "The Lobbyist's Playbook" which aired on Nov. 6, 2011.

Jack Abramoff may be the most notorious and crooked lobbyist of our time. He was at the center of a massive scandal of brazen corruption and influence peddling.

As a Republican lobbyist starting in the mid 1990s, he became a master at showering gifts on lawmakers in return for their votes on legislation and tax breaks favorable to his clients. He was so good at it, he took home $20 million a year.

Jack Abramoff: Inside Capitol corruption
How corrupt is lobbying in Washington, DC? Enough to get "60 Minutes" correspondent Lesley Stahl angry when she hears how Jack Abramoff bribed and influenced legislators.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57319075/jack-abramoff-the-lobbyists-pl...
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Abramoff: Lobbying reforms haven't fixed 'flawed' system
By the CNN Wire Staff
November 7, 2011 -- Updated 0151 GMT (0951 HKT)
(CNN) -- Ethics reforms put in place since the influence-peddling scandal surrounding high-rolling lobbyist Jack Abramoff haven't cleaned up the system "at all," a now-free Abramoff says.

Abramoff served three and a half years in prison for conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion before his release last December. In an interview that aired Sunday on CBS News' "60 Minutes," he said the reforms imposed after his guilty plea have little effect while campaign finance remains untouched.

"You can't take a congressman to lunch for $25 and buy him a hamburger or a steak or something like that," he said. "But you can take him to a fund-raising lunch and not only buy him that steak, but give him $25,000 extra and call it a fund-raiser -- and have all the same access and all the same interactions with that congressman."
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/06/politics/abramoff-ethics/?hpt=us_c2
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Jack Abramoff and corruption, American-style

by Elias Isquith on November 7, 2011
There was a pretty good piece with Jack Abramoff on "60 Minutes" last night, one that highlighted a few salient features of American democracy in the early 21st century that can be forgotten when you're not looking at this stuff from 50,000 feet.

One: just as most forms of social oppression have transformed into more subtle but no less damaging modern incarnations — colorblind racism, for example — corruption in the highest levels of the federal government is rampant but significantly different from earlier and more easily recognized forms.

http://ordinary-gentlemen.com/eliasisquith/2011/11/07/jack-abramoff-and-corru...
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Original Upload From: CBSNewsOnline on Nov 6, 2011
http://youtu.be/CHiicN0Kg10
Crooked lobbyist Jack Abramoff explains how he asserted his influence in Congress for years, and how such corruption continues today despite ethics reform. Lesley Stahl reports.

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[dantheman167]

dont be mad at jack abramoff. be glad he had enough balls to tell on everyone. theres many more like him that will never be caught. there are many congressman that work for money not for the people. god bless you jack.

[mard420]

You don't see the 99% with any lobbyists, dumbies

[lumeriam]

Give Jack the Job of being head Government watchdog for the people!! He was betrayed by those who benefited from his expertise, they got promoted instead of being arrested.

[lumeriam]

WHY AREN'T THE MEMBERS OF OUR GOVERNMENT WHO ALSO BENEFITED FROM HIS 'DEALS' ALSO IN PRISON AND PAYING THE PEOPLE RESTITUTION?

[StunnedByStupidity]

Great interview Thom especially the 'yeah, welcome to the club' line - made me smile...

[jarmst6669]

Frightning



[Nevawake]

3 and a half years prison lol. Muct be people in prison who are doing 50 years for j walking

[stonethugmusic]

I THINK THE GUY STATEMENT RIGHT UNDER THIS ONE IS SO DAMN RIGHT ON " PLEASE GIVE THIS MAN A JOB FIXING DC " NOW MAYBE NOW HE CAN HELP US ALL "

[jaimerigada]

he should be the czar of the lobbyist enforcement agency