by Jim Kouri - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said on Fox News Sunday that Democrats who took money from Indian tribes represented by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and who did something on behalf of those tribes have "a big problem." Dean made the statement probably before reading the Sunday edition of the Washington Post, which reports that Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid has done exactly that.
During the interview by Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace, Dean continued his claim that Democrats who received money from Abramoff's Indian clients did no favors for those Indian tribes, according to NewsMax.
"Nobody got anything out of the Democrats from Jack Abramoff," the top Democrat insisted. "No Democrat delivered anything and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered anything to Jack Abramoff. And that's not true of the Republicans."
But Wallace wasn't buying it. He continued his questioning of Dean: "So if we find that there were some Democrats who wrote letters on behalf of some of the Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, then what do you say, sir?"Dean's response: "That's a big problem. And those Democrats are in trouble. And they should be in trouble."
Today's Washington Post reports that Senate Minority Leader Reid had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client, the Coushatta Indian tribe, after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe.
Reid "sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002," the Post said. "The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."
Questioned about the donations in December by "Fox News Sunday's" Wallace, Senator Reid immediately turned testy. "Don't try to say I received money from Abramoff. I've never met the man, don't know anything," he claimed.
The Democrats are using the lack of face-to-face contact with Abramoff as a means of justifying their acceptance of Abramoff clients' money.
The full exchange between Dean and Wallace went like this (as documented by NewsMax):
DEAN: It is possible that some of Jack Abramoff's clients may have decided on their own to give Democrats some money. The key is . . .
WALLACE: I'm sorry. Did you say that you're sure that Abramoff didn't direct them to give that money?
DEAN: No, what I said was that it is possible that some Democrats got money from someone he [represented]. What I'm saying is that Abramoff may not have directed some of this money to Democrats.
WALLACE: In fact, he did. We have evidence of that.
DEAN: But the point is not one Democrat either knew it or acted on it. Nobody got anything out of the Democrats from Jack Abramoff. No Democrat delivered anything and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered anything to Jack Abramoff. And that's not true of the Republicans.
WALLACE: So if we find - and we have to wrap this up - so if we find that there were some Democrats who wrote letters on behalf of some of the Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, then what do you say, sir?
DEAN: That's a big problem. And those Democrats are in trouble. And they should be in trouble.