Democrats' Travel Costs Linked to Lobbyist

Democrats' Travel Costs Linked to Lobbyist: "By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 4, 2005; Page A01

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff paid at least a portion of the expenses for two Democratic members of Congress and two staff members to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) during a pair of trips in the mid-1990s to the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a former Abramoff secretary and travel records published on the Internet yesterday.

The payments represent two new instances in which lawmakers and staff members on overseas trips had their expenses initially covered by a registered lobbyist despite a blanket ban in congressional ethics rules on direct payments by lobbyists for travel-related expenses."