The Wives Club

It sounds like the plea negotiations between Jack  Abramoff and the Feds are really starting to get intense.

Here's a story from tomorrow's NY Times on it.

Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist under criminal investigation, has been discussing with prosecutors a deal that would grant him a reduced sentence in exchange for testimony against former political and business associates, people with detailed knowledge of the case say.

Mr. Abramoff is believed to have extensive knowledge of what prosecutors suspect is a wider pattern of corruption among lawmakers and Congressional staff members. One participant in the case who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations described him as a "unique resource."

But the most bizarre part of the story is in the last graf.

Prosecutors are also looking at how some former Congressional staff members landed their lucrative lobbying positions and at the role the wives of several lobbyists and lawmakers may have had in any influence scheme, a piece of the puzzle that investigators have begun referring to privately as the "wives' club."

 That's an even catchier than the "Club Abramoff" moniker we've been using at Fired Up!

Here's the WaPo version of the story. 

See also the DailyDeLay post on this, as well as The Talking Points Memo post.  The Campaign for a Cleaner Congress also has a helpful listing of the Abramoff/DeLay related clips today.