DeLay Office Knew Abramoff Arranged Trip.

Source: AP via 1010 Wins News

Oops, it seems Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and Susan Ralston have all been caught in a big lie and an even bigger cover-up.

At least if you're going to outright lie about something criminal, how about destroying the email evidence next time?

Prosecutors have e-mails showing Rep. Tom DeLay's office knew lobbyist Jack Abramoff had arranged the financing for the GOP leader's controversial European golfing trip in 2000 and was concerned "if someone starts asking questions."

The e-mails obtained by The Associated Press show DeLay's staff asked Abramoff - not the advocacy group -- to account for the costs that had to be legally disclosed on congressional travel forms. DeLay's office was worried the group being cited as paying the costs might not even know about them, the e-mails state.

Abramoff's team sought to low-ball the cost estimates and DeLay's office ultimately reported to Congress a total that was a few thousand dollars lower than the one the lobbyist provided, the documents show.

"We should give them the most minimal numbers for cost of the hotel (do not include golf), food and plays," Abramoff wrote two assistants at his Preston Gates lobbying firm in an e-mail from June 29, 2000. One of those assistants, Susan Ralston, now works for top White House adviser Karl Rove.

In a follow-up e-mail to Abramoff, Ralston reported she talked to DeLay's then-deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, who suggested numbers that could be used as cost figures on the congressional travel report. Rudy had gone on the trip with his boss.

Getting your hand caught in the cookie jar has to suck, big time.

Especially when the cookies are illegal kick-backs and the guy catching you is a new, hot, up and coming federal prosecutor like Patrick Fitzgerald who will rack your balls regardless of who you are.

This story isn't dying anytime soon and is set to get more interesting as the entangled web of deceit unfolds.

I now have a firm grasp of why Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld don't use email now. Maybe they aren't as dumb as people think--still evil and misguided--but not dumb.

Tags: [Tom DeLay], [Jack Abramoff], [Susan Ralston], [Karl Rove], [Abramoff paid for DeLay's European golfing trip in 2000], [government scandal continues]