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The Hardball Briefing On MSNBC
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They made him an Abramoff-er he couldn't refuse. Ex-superlobbyist Jack Abramoff
pleaded guilty today to charges by the federal government of conspiracy, tax
evasion and mail fraud. He could face up to 30 years in prison if convicted of
all charges. In short, many Washington power players are nervous. Here is NBC
News' report on the plea deal: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10692635/.
Read the charges here:
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/060103-abramoff-information.pdf.
And don't forget about this useful guide to some of the people involved so far:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10562787/.
On Hardball tonight, Chris will have all the latest on the deal, the fallout,
and what's next for Abramoff. Hardball's David Shuster will map out what
happened today, and BusinessWeek's Eamon Javers and the Washington Post's Jim
VandeHei will be here to talk about it all.
And if you want to know what Abramoff was doing with that tribal money, then
you don't want to miss Chris' interview with Jimmy Faircloth, an attorney for
the Louisiana Coushatta Tribe that paid Abramoff more than $30 million, of
which Abramoff and his associates pocketed more than $11 million, according to
court documents.
Plus, former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) will be here to share his thoughts on the
significance of the charges and the degree of corruption this probe might
uncover.
Roberta Baskin, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, also
will be here to talk about how many members of Congress are tied to Abramoff
either by association or fundraising. Read more of the center's expert analysis
here: http://www.publicintegrity.org/default.aspx.
Newsweek's Howard Fineman and Charlie Cook, NBC News' political analyst and
publisher of the Cook Political Report, also will join Chris to discuss the
political fallout of the Abramoff deal for other members of Congress, including
former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). By the way, the AP has a report on
ex-Rep. Nick Lampson (D-TX)'s filing Monday to challenge DeLay:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10685880/.
Here are some things you might not have read yet today:
--Newsweek finds slides from a 2002 White House briefing on Iraq and 9/11
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10663343/site/newsweek/
--AP reports Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) still has the bug
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10663257/
--Newsweek sees John Edwards and Jack Kemp becoming pals
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10663344/site/newsweek/
--NBC's First Read (!) http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/
--Doonesbury http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html
Brooke Brower compiled the "Hardball Briefing" in Washington, D.C.
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