Conspiracy Theorists, Gather Round- Gates/DeLay

[liveoaktx]

http://news.com.com/2061-10787_3-5683973.html?part=rss&tag=5683973&subj=news

Maybe it’s all a series of random occurrences. Then again, maybe not.

On Sunday, the Washington Post ran a story reporting that a credit card belonging to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff was used to pay for airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for the then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

...But what piqued my interest was the tidbit that the flight invoice listed Preston Gates & Ellis, the firm that then employed Abramoff as a lobbyist. Computer history buffs will recall that Preston Gates & Ellis was co-founded by William H. Gates, Sr., the father of Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

I point that out because only last week the New York Times reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation had contributed a substantial sums to the DeLay Foundation for Kids since 2001.

[MissWaverly]

1. Question

Is that the same foundation that was siphoning money off to support
Israeli efforts to fight the Palestinians, I read where Abramoff was siphoning money out of a fund to help inner city kids?

[Caution]

2. There may be something here but it is more likely that the plane in

question was simply rented out. Most private jets are rented out when not in use by the owner simply to defray costs. It's really very very common.

[sandnsea]

3. Scanlon used foundations

One of the investigations is money laundering through foundations. One of the foundations, Scanlon created it, it was up for about a year, then paid Abramoff $1.2 million when it closed. Also Abramoff had a Jewish school that money was funneled through, then was closed. Income for Preston Gates went up enormously after Abramoff signed on. And it would be interesting to check the Microsoft lawsuits and Delay Foundation timing too. And whether Delay's family is paid by the Foundation like they were paid through the campaign.

[Pachamama]

4. I wondered exactly the same thing - Former MS General Counsel Neukom

who helped fight the Justice Dept for Microsoft retired and is back in private practice....at guess who - Preston Gates & Ellis. Wonder what Abramoff was doing for Microsoft vis a vis Preston Gates & Ellis. Preston Gates & Ellis as you mentioned is from the merger of law firms including the one founded by Billg's dad.... Meanwhile, Abramoff joined the firm in 1994, a year that I remember being a pretty significant one for Microsoft in its dealings with the Justice Dept. Neukom was in charge of the hiring of outside lawyers and I don't believe that its coincidink that Abramoff started working at Preston Gates & Ellis in 1994....:shrug:

Interesting summary of Abramoff and Preston Gates in Seattle Weekly:

http://www.seattleweekly.com/features/0508/050223_news_prestongates.php

[KoKo]

5. Interesting stuff. I had no idea Bill Gates father was associated with

them. Aren't the connections just amazing? "America the Corporate," instead of America the beautiful....and pigs at the trough from "sea to shining sea."

As conspiracy sounding as this "might seem" we've found here on DU that the information our folks dig up most often turns out to be significant if not right on the mark.

:kick: