Okay, the Jack Abramoff thing

I haven't said anything about the Jack Abramoff case, which other blogs are circling like lions before a kill, because I didn't think I knew enough about it to have an opinion. And I couldn't find, on or offline, a concise explaination.

As so often in matters of law, your best bet is firedoglake, a blog run by two women, Jane Hamsher and "Redd" (an attorney). They do a great job in giving their own thoughts and synthesizing those of others.

Case in point, these excerpts from a New York Times article, followed by Hamsher's conclusion:

With a federal corruption case intensifying, prosecutors investigating Jack Abramoff, the Republican lobbyist, are examining whether he brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors, people involved in the case have said.

The attention paid to how the aides obtained jobs occurs as Mr. Abramoff is under mounting pressure to cooperate with prosecutors as they consider a case against lawmakers.

Many forces are bearing down on Mr. Abramoff. Last week, his closest business partner, Michael Scanlon, pleaded guilty to conspiracy in exchange for cooperating in the inquiry, being run by an interagency group, into whether money and gifts were used in an influence-peddling scandal that involved lawmakers.

Despite charging Indian tribes that were clients tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees, Mr. Abramoff has told friends that he is running out of money.

...the specter of Abramoff flipping is probably sending more DCers into prickly heat than even TraitorGate. Abramoff knows where the bodies are buried. You know, figuratively speaking and all. Not literally. Okay sort of literally.