Too many GOP corruption stories

There are too many GOP corruption stories today. I hope that other people are just as shocked by all these trials, investigations, and indictments. It is so difficult to keep informed on all these republican scandals:
(1) Senate Republican fundraising committee: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050923/NEWS02/509230507
Bradley R. Hiller won't be idle while serving his prison term. In sentencing the former Republican insider, a Marion Superior Court judge ordered Hiller to help clean up the books of the Indiana Senate Republicans' fundraising committee, from which he stole money.

Judge Mark Stoner told Hiller, 33, he would facilitate Hiller's movement to and from prison to the Marion County Jail so he can help the caucus account for $146,775 in spending Hiller oversaw without getting receipts.

Stoner said the caucus must file amended tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service.

Hiller pleaded guilty Wednesday to two felonies in connection with spending he could not account for while running the Senate Republicans' fundraising committee. Stoner sentenced him to one year in prison.

"You can't steal this amount of money and not go to prison," said Stoner, who mostly hears cases involving felony thefts of $300 or less.....

(2) Indicted Lobbyist Bragged of Rove contact:
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=119614&n_date=20050923&cat=World
A lobbyist indicted for fraud and conspiracy claimed he could reach White House adviser Karl Rove regarding a tax legislation and federal contracts.
Jack Abramoff, who is a the target of a federal investigation based on his dealings with American Indian tribes, told Tyco International Ltd. he could help on a tax issue because of his high-profile contacts in the Republican Party.

The boasts came out in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee by former Tyco General Counsel Timothy Flanigan, who was being vetted for a deputy attorney general's position, The Washington Post reported.
Flanigan said Abramoff two years ago said he could help Tyco because he had good relationships with members of Congress, including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. He also used Rove's name when boasting of White House access
The White House told the Post Rove did not recall being contacted by Abramoff regarding Tyco.

(Mr. Rove is suffering from Amnesia again.)

(3) David Safavin, White House Staff member, was arrested:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19597

Last Monday, David Hossein Safavian, a high-ranking White House official and

pal of GOP powerbroker Grover Norquist, was arrested in a federal corruption case involving lobbying bad boy Jack Abramoff. According to the FBI, Safavian repeatedly lied to federal investigators in order to cover up Abramoff’s shady dealings. He not only bent ethics rules to accompany Abramoff on a 2002 golf junket to Scotland; he also used his position as chief of staff at the General Services Administration to deliver GSA-managed land into the lobbyist’s hands.
But Safavian's not just tied to a dirty lobbyist. He's also tied to a convicted terrorist and a suspected terrorist supporter. Lobbying disclosure forms revealed last year that he has been in the employ of Abdurahman Alamoudi, an avowed supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah. Prosecutors have discovered evidence that he has links to al-Qaeda. At the time, Safavian waved aside any affiliation to Alamoudi. He insisted that he was really lobbying for a client named Jamal al Barzinji. That revelation did little to clear Safavian’s name: A federal affidavit identifies Barzinji as the ringleader of a group suspected of aiding terrorists.

and......http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/09/23/arrest_opens_new_phase_of_lobbyist_probe/

WASHINGTON -- The arrest of a former White House official marks a new phase in the investigation of Jack Abramoff in which authorities are seeking to extract information about the high-powered Republican lobbyist.
David Safavian was arrested Monday and charged with making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation relating to a 2002 golf outing to Scotland with Abramoff; former Christian Coalition executive Ralph Reed; US Representative Bob Ney, Republican of Ohio; and others.

Safavian is the first person to face charges arising out of the investigation of Abramoff, a major Republican fund-raiser with close ties to GOP leaders in Congress.
Investigators frequently seek to pressure minor players in complex federal probes as they build a case against their principal target. ''You squeeze that person and hope he flips as you work your way up to the top," said Kirby Behre, a former prosecutor now in private practice.
Abramoff is under investigation for his lobbying activities on behalf of Indian tribes and his role in paying for overseas trips for House majority leader Tom DeLay. The Texas Republican has denied knowing that Abramoff paid the expenses.

"Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty."~Plato