New Witness in DeLay-Abramoff Scandal (Dailykos)

For some time now I have written about the Abramoff scandal and its links to the Commonwealth of North Marianas Islands (CNMI)--especially how Jack, Tom DeLay and the GOP worked to protect sweatshops and the economic control of CNMI by the Tan Family of Hong Kong, China.

One big player in that story is Ben Fitial. He is the new CNMI Governor-elect and a former Tan Company VP who DeLay had installed as CNMI Speaker of the House in 1999-2000.

Today, comes the report out of CNMI that Ben is talking to the Feds about Tom and Jack:


The Marianas Variety Online reports that Governor-elect Benigno R. Fitial says he will cooperate with federal authorities in the ongoing investigation of Rep. Tom Delay and former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom he once described as his "close friends."

(more)

<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/12/7/20332/6168>

Spill the beans...

Just tell the truth without prejudice or malice. The plain truth.

Spill the beans.

Spill 'em out!

:)

Gives me shivers of anticipation.

:)

:hi:

I believe!

deep sh@#! ((Kos doesn't care about copyright)

What a twisted web the GOP has spun:

in the Northern Marianas Islands or here in the US..? I couldn't understand how DeLay could install someone in a foreign countries government...or was it here and then Fitial moved to the Marianas? If it was here what state was he running in? Is he Chinese National or American?

:eyes: Sorry...it's such a web of intrigue with DeLay and Abramoff it's hard to keep it all straight!

-snip-
When Ben was running for Speaker of the House in 1999 and then a failed 2001 run for Governor he had the support of some US Congressmen like Chris Cannon and John Doolittle. Expect them to join Ney, DeLay and Burns in the spotlight as this breaks open.

the Commonwealth of North Marianas Islands (CNMI).

From Wikipedia - a little about the Commonwealth of North Marianas Islands:

The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) is a commonwealth in political union with the United States of America at a strategic location in the West Pacific Ocean. It consists of 14 islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the Philippines.

Together with Guam to the south, a United States territory, the Northern Mariana Islands make up the island arc of the Mariana Islands.

The economy of the Northern Marina Islands depends primarily on tourism, especially, from Japan, and the rapidly growing garment manufacturing sector. The Commonwealth also benefits from substantial subsidies and development assistance from the federal government of the United States.

The Northern Marina Islands had successfully exploited its position of being in a free trade area with the United States, while at the same time not being subject to the same labor laws as it. This means that the minimum wage in the Commonwealth is lower than in the US, and some other worker protections are weaker leading to lower production costs. In addition, a different immigration régime meant that a large number of Chinese migrant workers were employed in the Islands' garment trade.

Politics of ther Northern Mariana Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the Governor is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The Northern Mariana Islands are a commonwealth in political union with the United States. Federal funds to the Commonwealth administered by the US Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Northern Mariana Islands and the United States eached a Covenant Agreement effective 4 November 1986. The Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands became effective 1 January 1978.

And that was before we knew about the forced abortions in the sweatshops.

Murkowski fighting for a bill to help these people. Never thought of Murkowski as a human rights advocate.

Didn't know about the forced abortions, either. I hope DeLay goes down hard...this alone would seem to be enough...but I hope the rest lands him in jail for the rest of his pitiful life.

who would have thunk it? State ordered abortion for these poor women, AND they're dealing with the "Chi-Coms" that they so forcefully railed against the Clinton administration of "supporting". As long as you're making money from it, the GOP's almighty god, it makes everything alright I guess? :eyes:
Wow, :wow: the GOP is dabbling in the very sins that made Bill Clinton public enemy number one for them and more. FORCED ABORTION? :wtf: Way to go, GOP. You've reached NEW lows in hypocrisy, something I didn't think possible. Every time I think the GOP can't possibly sink any lower, BAM, they dig the hole a little deeper.
I can't think of a more fitting way to celebrate MY 10,000th POST (shameless plug here) :party: than jumping all over the backs of the GOP, the party of "trust", "honor" and "moral clarity"! :puke:

GOP'ers even traveled with her.

AND she was fucking the same FBI agent who was harassing Gore by "investigating" bogus claims of taking money from Chinese.

:applause: 10,000 posts! :applause:

The GOP doesn't care about people, when did they ever give the impression that they cared about people.

This is about money, that the GOP cares about. See it isn't personal, they really don't care who they use and or abuse.

Just how does Delay keep track of all these evil things that he does? He has to be an intelligent person, what a waste.

Congratulations on the 10,000th post.

Take a look fundi freaks!

That's what I want to hear his "righteous, God-fearing" supporters to hear. I want everyone in the country screaming for the bastard's head.

Don't forget, he told them that God had given him Terri Schiavo. Fucker.

in 2005.

Let his constituents know who he is really supporting in DC. I'm sure they would be shocked and horrified.

Brian Ross of ABC News was the first on this issue. Here is an article of his from April 2005.



Tie all of this to the entire House GOP.

You'll be a fine addition!


:rofl:


:hi:

course, but he gives a VERY good overview of the Abramoff/Reed/Norquist/DeLay axis of sleaze, before the more recent indictments and the murder in FLA and now this.

A far off exotic locale, in a tropical Pacific island, yet!

This story has everything, I wish I were a screenwriter!

I'll bet they'll be in daily contact with federal investigators now. But not by choice. :nopity:

:woohoo: This is going to be GREAT! I have waited and waited and waited for the Mariana story to hit again. There won't be any talk about any guest worker program after people see what happened over there.

site that looks like it is written by someone living in Saipan (last update July 2005)

http://www.saipansucks.com/about.htm

It mentions Tom and Jack and their exploits about halfway down the page

<snip>

Two champions of the Saipan garment manufacturing industry are U.S. Congressman Tom DeLay (Cockroach, Sugar Land) and his long-time cohort Jack Abramoff (Scumbag, District of Columbia), now under grand jury and U.S. congressional investigation. In exchange for millions of dollars of CNMI money (read, U.S. taxpayer money), Abramoff hooked DeLay up with Willie Tan, the principal Saipan garment manufacturer. A 1999 segment on the TV news magazine 20/20 revealed Tan’s own impression of the importance of his relationship with DeLay when Tan was shown on tape boasting to the undercover investigator posing as a potential investor that there would be “no problem” with Saipan maintaining its favorable relationship with the U.S. because of DeLay’s protection. That protection included preserving the $3.05 minimum wage and local control over immigration, which permit Saipan to import Asian garment workers and pay them what are essentially slave wages. And because the CNMI is an American territory, manufactured goods could be imported to the Mainland with “Made in the United States” tags, thus (mis)leading American consumers to believe they were actually buying items made in the U.S. and, in theory, subject to U.S. wage and labor laws. Notwithstanding the efforts of California Congressman George Miller and others to resolve the abuses blatantly being carried out on U.S. soil, DeLay had assured Tan and Abramoff that any such odious legislation would never see the light of day.

It hasn’t.

For more on DeLay (Cockroach, Sugar Land) and Saipan, take a look at the following web site, published on May 15, 2005 . . http://dailykos.com/story/2005/5/15/11429/0369

In fact, the CNMI “guest worker” program is thought to be the model for Bush’s proposal that the United States implement a federal guest worker policy, providing people from Mexico, Central and South America the rare privilege of working in the U.S. with no benefits, no rights and, inevitably, no hope. Slavery is alive and well in America, and in the dreams of greedy exploiters throughout the land.


I found this site just surfing around trying to educate myself regarding CNMI.

Looks like everybody around the world hates Delay :rofl:

is being revealed for the scumbag he truly is

spill...

cookie???

:popcorn:

There is a good documentary out about the terrible sweatshop conditions on CNMI, but I can't remember the name - one of the former workers helped make the film, and she has moved to the U.S. and is active in this cause. Perhaps someone here knows about the film.

The whole Abramoff scandal is going to rock the GOP to the core. Since this was probably a scam created by intelligence agencies plausible denial contingencies are in effect. Blame some underlings such a Delay and investigations (maybe) will not go higher up the chain of authority with people such as Cheney.

help him out. One liar/human rights abuser helping another.

This is the story that will bring down the pukes in numbers. I wish tweety would latch on to this scandal like he did the Plame story and run with it everyday.

Since a new witness has flipped in the North Marinaras Islands, it is a new story he can cover and he could give the full, sordid background. It has been verified by the mainstream press so that shouldn't be an issue.

Actually, like someone else wrote in this thread, it would be good for Tweety to jump on this as well.

Let's send it out to them.