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Get Your Popcorn and Soda: New Movie Highlights Congressman Blunt’s World of Washington Corruption
Get Your Popcorn and Soda: New Movie Highlights Congressman Blunt’s World of Washington Corruption Blockbuster will feature Blunt confidants Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay Jefferson City, Mo. A new movie hitting theaters later this year will be one political junkies won't want to miss. Casino Jack stars Kevin Spacey as convicted felon and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and Politico recently described the movie, as having wise guy story lines that sound like they were lifted from an Al Pacino mob flick. The article also calls it a Washington Goodfellas. Congressman Blunt will most likely avoid the Red Carpet at the premier of Casino Jack, since it highlights his own world of Washington corruption by focusing on convicted felon lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s corruption and dishonesty. The movie highlights the deals Abramoff worked out with lawmakers, in particular schemes to defraud the public and Native American tribes, that ultimately sent him to jail. Numerous reports and documents uncovered over the course of the Abramoff investigation showed that he worked closely with both former Congressional Majority Leader Tom Delay and his protégé, then-Majority Whip Congressman Roy Blunt.[Associated Press, 1/11/06] “Congressman Blunt should get the nod for best supporting actor for the supporting role he played in the Abramoff corruption ring,” said Missouri Democratic Party Communications Director Ryan Hobart. “Congressman Blunt and his colleagues Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay represent the worst of Washington insider deal-making. They blurred the lines between lobbyists and lawmakers so much that we are still recovering from the damage they did.” In 2006, the Associated Press implicated Congressman Roy Blunt as someone who helped push for deals favorable to Abramoff clients and swapped campaign donations “ultimately enriching the Missouri political campaign of his son [then-candidate for Missouri Governor] Matt”. [Associated Press, 1/11/06] The same article also details the campaign cash Blunt got in return for helping Abramoff: Blunt received a $1,000 donation from Abramoff and $2,000 from his lobbying firm around the time of a May 2003 letter he wrote to Interior Secretary Gale Norton on a casino matter at Abramoff’s request. A month later he signed another letter on the issue along with DeLay and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. [Associated Press, 11/17/05; OpenSecrets.org] Congressman Blunt is running against State Senator Chuck Purgason and Kansas City auto consultant Mark Memoly in the August 2010 primary for the Republican nomination for US Senate. --30--
