For Immediate Release: February 9, 2006
Contact: Ned Wigglesworth

TheRestofUs.org Files FEC Complaint Against Jack Abramoff

Abramoff Contributed $34,750 in 2002, in Violation of $25,000
Aggregate Cap

Nonpartisan campaign watchdog TheRestofUs.org filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission today against Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist who recently pleaded guilty to bribing a member of Congress with campaign contributions, for violating the $25,000 aggregate cap on contributions to federal candidates and committees in 2002.

"Mr. Abramoff exemplifies two different kinds of corruption in American politics," said TheRestofUs.org's Ned Wigglesworth, "He bribed elected officials outright with cash and gifts and he used big campaign contributions to get his preferred politicians into office. The one may seem more sensational than the other, but both kinds of corruption undermine representative democracy in this country."

FEC filings list contributions from Mr. Abramoff to federal candidates and committees totaling $34,750 for the year 2002, nearly 40% more than the $25,000 annual aggregate limit then applicable for federal contributions. The contributions would be legal today under the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, which raised the aggregate limit to $95,000 per election cycle, indexed for inflation. A full list of the recipients can be found in the complaint.

"Recent changes jacked up legal limits to a level satisfactory even to the very powerful in our society and made it easier for folks like Jack Abramoff to give even more money directly to politicians," said Derek Cressman, director of TheRestofUs.org. "That doesn't excuse the apparent violation of federal law by this man, nor does it mean that all Americans shouldn't be asking of themselves and their representatives: what did Jack Abramoff see in the politicians who he chose to give contributions to?"

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TheRestofUs.org is a nonpartisan campaign watchdog.