DELAY'S EUROPEAN VACATION

progressreport.org
3/4/2005

DELAY'S EUROPEAN VACATION

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is mired in yet another ethics scandal
(http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110989731396270221,00.html?mod=politics%5Fprimary%5Fhs)
. The latest: DeLay, his wife, and conservative lobbyist Jack Abramoff
went on a whirlwind tour of Europe in 2000, staying in posh hotels and
eating lavish meals. The trip was supposedly paid for by the
conservative National Center for Public Policy Research. New disclosures,
however, show Jack Abramoff -- who is currently enmeshed in his own ethics
violations concerning pulling in money from both sides of an Indian
gambling issue -- may have actually paid for some of DeLay's expenses.
Legally, that's a clear "violation of House ethics rules, which prohibit
members from having their travel paid for by a registered lobbyist." Though
the National Center purports that they were "careful to pay all the
expenses associated" with the trip, Abramoff reportedly listed some of
DeLay's expenses -- for example, a $4,285 hotel bill -- as well as his own
when asking his law firm to reimburse him for the trip.