The Man in the Black Hat

Someone this a.m. asked me who I thought Jack Abramoff had used as fashion consultant for his guilty plea yesterday. Black Bart, obviously, and who knew he was even available?

Meanwhile, the weaselly Denny Hastert couldn't help looking like prime sleaze as he slipped $69,000 out the back door to "charity," money he'd gotten from Abramoff's clients. As though no one would notice.

Enamored as we are of Prevues of Coming Attractions, our favorite line from Abramoff's guilty plea yesterday is this:

"The preceding statement is a summary, made for the purposes of providing the court with a factual basis for my guilty plea to the charges against me. It does not include all the facts known to me concerning criminal activity in which I and others engaged."

Stand by.

ADDENDUM: The Wall Street Journal says that "Mr. Abramoff says he has information that could implicate 60 lawmakers."

FURTHER ADDENDUM: Ankle Biting Pundits, a dependably right-wing blog, shows the crack opening up in the GOP over Abramoff:

"I think it is time for conservative to begin piling on the Abramoff thing for a couple of reasons. First, liberals are right in this instance. The fact that this hideous wretch climbed to the heights of power under GOP leadership in Washington, shoot, with the aid and comfort of the GOP leadership, is a scandal in and of itself. I was around in 1994 when we won the House and the Senate for the first time in forty years. I recall distinctly using the phrase 'K Street fat cats' in mail pieces against Democrat incumbents who, while not breaking any laws by cozying up to these sleaze ball lobbyists, certainly violated common decency by allowing them to draft their legislation and fund their political operations. The GOP of the Abramoff era behaved no differently, sad to say.

"Second, the Abramoff story is not over. Not by a damn sight. If you think this is just a story about a greedy lobbyist who abused his relationship with congressional leaders you better think again. Matthew Continetti's recent chilling piece in the Weekly Standard, 'Money, Mobsters, Murder' ought to disabuse anyone of the idea that this story ends at money laundering...."