Just days after issuing a stern lecture to GOP members of Congress on ethics, Mitt Romney, the Chairman of the Republican Governors Association, was forced to return $500,000 of Abramoff tainted money that the group accepted in 2002 according to a story by the AP.

Fired Up! called for the RGA to return this money on  Thursday, January 5th.

Hotline Blog reports that Governor Mitt Romney is set to announce that the RGA will refund the $500,000 in scandal tainted money they took from Capital Campaign Strategies in 2002.  Here's the original Fired Up! post on this matter.

Sources tell Fired Up! that Romney will try to get by with a promise to return the money over a TWO YEAR period. 

They took the money in a six day period two weeks before the election in 2002.  I'd say 6 days is about the right window for them to have to give it back now.

 From the Fired Up! press release inbox:

GOP AbraMafia Caucus

Contact:

        Todd Boulanger*
                    Cassidy & Associates
                    202-347-0773

 

 

For Immediate Release

 
Blunt Leads In Votes From the GOP AbraMafia Caucus

WASHINGTON, DC – The House GOP AbraMafia Caucus is pleased to announce that Rep. Roy Blunt (R-K Street) currently leads in the tally of announced supporters from the Caucus in his bid to become House Majority Leader.

“I am proud to report that Rep. Blunt is off to a strong start among members of our Caucus,” announced Rep. Robert Ney, Chairman of the House GOP AbraMafia Caucus.

Thus far, Blunt has received the announced support of Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rep. John Doolittle, and Rep. Bob Goodlatte.  Rep. Ney, as Chairman of the Caucus has indicated he may not endorse in the race.

Check out the new ads on Rep. Tom DeLay that the Public Campaign Action Fund and the Campaign for America's Future are airing.

Very hard hitting, but exactly right. 

Today's Washington Post has an important story of the role that ties to K Street may play in the race for Majority Leader of the House.

The story lists a sickening array of ties to K Street for both Rep. Roy Blunt  and Rep. John Boehner.  But the story makes one statement that does not appear to be true.

Weisman recounts one example of Blunt doing the bidding of Phillip Morris by inserting a provision into the bill creating the Department of Homeland Security:

In the Summer of 2000, Rep. Tom DeLay and Rep. Roy Blunt jointly sponsored multiple events at the Republican National Convention.

The money was raised into a committee called ARMPAC Convention.  ARMPAC Convention ultimately transferred $150,000 to Blunt's ROYB fund, which he used to make contributions that benefitted his son, and also to pay the Alexander Strategy Group, which employed DeLay's wife.

When asked about these contributions earlier this fall, Blunt asked former Chief of Staff, and now Vice Chairman of Cassidy & Associates Gregg Hartley to respond on his behalf.

Vote Tally In The Race For Majority Leader -

Here's the latest vote tally in Rep. Roy Blunt's race for Majority Leader.

[X-posted at Fired Up! Missouri]

Just yesterday I wrote that the linchpin in the federal investigation that now appears to be zeroing in on Rep. Tom DeLay is Ed Buckham and the Alexander Strategy Group.

Then today, in the Washington Post, we find out that the Alexander Strategy Group will cease their lobbying operations at the end of this month.

One of Washington's top lobbying operations will shut down at the end of the month because of its ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former House majority leader Tom DeLay.

Rich Lowry, Editor of National Review calls the GOP out for their pathetic attempts to evade responsibility for the Abramoff scandal.

It is true that any Washington influence peddler is going to spread cash and favors as widely as possible, and 210 members of Congress have received Abramoff-connected dollars. But this is, in its essence, a Republican scandal, and any attempt to portray it otherwise is a misdirection.

And in case you missed the point the first time, Lowry goes on:

Bloomberg has a piece today on the ties that both Rep. Roy Blunt and Rep. John Boehner have to K Street. Just think of it as the contest between the K Street Conservatives.

In the story, Rep. Jeff Flake states that both Blunt and Boehner are too close to K Street to give the GOP any kind of fresh start and suggests a dark horse candidate may emerge.

Representative Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, said concerns that the two men are too close to Washington's K Street lobbying corridor may encourage a dark-horse candidate to run against them. ``We have three weeks until this election, and a lot can happen between now and then,'' Flake said.