The Savage Republican

DNC Chairman Howard Dean was on Fox News Sunday (transcript not yet available) this morning. As usual, Chairman Dean didn't disappoint.

DEAN: It is possible that some of Jack Abramoff's clients may have decided on their own to give Democrats some money. The key is . . .
WALLACE: I'm sorry. Did you say that you're sure that Abramoff didn't direct them to give that money?
DEAN: No, what I said was that it is possible that some Democrats got money from someone he [represented]. What I'm saying is that Abramoff may not have directed some of this money to Democrats.
WALLACE: In fact, he did. We have evidence of that.
DEAN: But the point is not one Democrat either knew it or acted on it. Nobody got anything out of the Democrats from Jack Abramoff. No Democrat delivered anything and there's no accusation and no investigation that any Democrat ever delivered anything to Jack Abramoff. And that's not true of the Republicans.
WALLACE: So if we find - and we have to wrap this up - so if we find that there were some Democrats who wrote letters on behalf of some of the Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, then what do you say, sir?
DEAN: That's a big problem. And those Democrats are in trouble. And they should be in trouble. [END EXCERPT]

Oh where to begin, where to begin.....How about in November, when the AP first reported this:

Reid "sent a letter to (Secretary of Interior Gail) Norton on March 5, 2002," the AP said. "The next day, the Coushattas (Tribe) issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004."

Regarding the Chairman's claim that "there's no accusation or no investigation" into Democratic connections to Abramoff...as I noted here on January 11, law enforcement officials have already said that they are looking into 5 lawmakers in the initial phase of the investigation, including Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) (along with 3 Republican legislators).

Facts are funny, stubborn things Chairman Dean and (unfortunately for you) they are not in your favor.