WASHINGTON — From the White House to Capitol Hill, prominent Republicans scrambled Wednesday to shed campaign contributions linked to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, as his guilty pleas in fraud and corruption cases opened a painful debate within the party over its leadership and direction.
President Bush, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and DeLay's temporary successor in that post, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, joined a lengthening list of politicians whose campaign committees have returned or donated to charities money they received from Abramoff, his associates and his clients.
More lawmakers were expected to follow suit in what was becoming a stampede to distance themselves from a lobbyist who once enjoyed easy access to Washington's corridors of power.
The spreading Abramoff scandal is considered so politically toxic that some Republicans urged the party Wednesday to make broad changes if it hoped to preserve its control of Congress in November's elections. These moves include the quick selection of a permanent House majority leader -- which would block DeLay's efforts to return to the position -- and a party commitment to champion lobbying reforms.
The cloud surrounding Abramoff grew Wednesday when he pleaded guilty in Miami to federal fraud charges arising from his purchase of SunCruz Casinos, a fleet of gambling boats in Florida. On Tuesday, he pleaded guilty in Washington to three federal felonies stemming from his lobbying activities.
Anxieties on Capitol Hill are mounting because Abramoff -- once a key player in the vaunted "K Street" lobbying project that DeLay built into a powerful tool to help maintain Republican majorities in the House and Senate -- is cooperating with federal prosecutors in a wide-ranging corruption investigation.
The probe is focused on whether at least a half-dozen members of Congress and several aides traded legislative action in return for lavish trips, gifts and campaign contributions orchestrated by Abramoff.
Although some Democrats received Abramoff-linked contributions and favors, the lobbyist -- a Republican activist since college -- spent most of his time and money helping the GOP.
Records have shown that Abramoff helped funnel at least $100,000 to Bush's reelection campaign. Tracey Schmitt, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said Wednesday that the campaign had decided to donate to the American Heart Assn. $6,000 in contributions connected to Abramoff. She said that amount covered separate $2,000 donations from Abramoff, his wife and an Indian tribe in Michigan that he represented.
