[theknife]

the indictment of Jack Abramoff, which has already produced the arrest one top administration official, is rippling through the GOP establishment in slow motion like a crude oil spill - less of a tangled web than a spreading stain.

Abramoff, under indictment on wire fraud and conspiracy charges, remains the focus of a lengthy investigation by a task force led by prosecutors at the Justice Department that also includes investigators at the Internal Revenue Service, the Interior Department and General Services Administration.

The probe initially focused on whether Abramoff bilked Native American tribes that paid him tens of millions of dollars in lobbying and other fees, but it has since widened to include other matters.

Abramoff is starting to look less like a lobbyist and more like some kind of a bagman for the GOP, siphoning huge amounts of cash from clients and funneling funds to GOP-controlled groups and commitees. case in point:

A top aide to Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has for the past year been cooperating with federal investigators who are examining the activities of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a spokesman for the governor said yesterday.

A federal grand jury issued a subpoena last summer to Edward Miller, Ehrlich's deputy chief of staff, because of Miller's role in establishing a Silver Spring company called Grassroots Interactive.

The company, now defunct, was in the news yesterday because of reports that it collected hefty fees from one of Abramoff's lobbying clients, Tyco International Ltd. -- money that was allegedly diverted to other entities controlled by Abramoff and misspent.

the Tyco connection is interesting because of Timothy Flanigan, currently Bush's nominee for Deputy Attorney General of US:

Mr. Flanigan, who is a senior lawyer at Tyco, oversaw lobbying work that Mr. Abramoff did for Tyco in 2003. Mr. Abramoff successfully lobbied Congress to allow offshore companies like Tyco, which is based in Bermuda, to retain their tax-exempt status, and Mr. Flanigan acknowledged to the Judiciary Committee that he made the final decision to hire Mr. Abramoff and the firm where he worked at the time, Greenberg Traurig.

the Abramoff story branches out into other directions, including allegations that the Justice Department under John Ashcroft squelched an earlier investigation of his activities:

WASHINGTON The U.S. Justice Department's inspector general and the FBI are looking into the demotion of a veteran federal prosecutor whose reassignment nearly three years ago shut down a criminal investigation of a Washington lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, current and former department officials report.

They said investigators questioned whether the demotion of the prosecutor, Frederick Black, in November 2002 was related to his alert to department officials days earlier that he was investigating Abramoff, a major Republican Party fund-raiser and a close friend of several congressional leaders.

so it's interesting to keep Abramoff's links to House Majority Leader Tom Delay,various congressmen, his claims of influence with Karl Rove, and his connections to the GOP establishment in context when considering today's news:

Fort Lauderdale police have arrested three men on murder and conspiracy charges in the 2001 gangland-style killing of a South Florida businessman who sold a casino cruise line to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, authorities said today.

Police picked up Anthony Moscatiello, 67, Anthony Ferrari, 48, and James Fiorillo, 28, last night and this morning in connection with the ambush slaying of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, who was killed in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 6, 2001.

Anthony Moscatiello (top), Anthony Ferrari (lower left), 48, and James Fiorillo (lower right), 28, were arrested in connection with the ambush slaying of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis.

Boulis had sold SunCruz Casinos to Abramoff and a partner, Adam Kidan, in 2000 at a time when Abramoff was one of Washington's most powerful lobbyists. Abramoff and Kidan were indicted last month on charges of wire fraud in connection with the purchase of the company. Moscatiello, known to police as a bookkeeper to New York's Gambino crime family, was brought in as consultant by Kidan when he and Abramoff took control of SunCruz. Ferrari is a business associate of Moscatiello.

so let's see: Abramoff's former partner got whacked by the Gambino crime family, who were working for Abramoff, who had been arranging improper gifts for congressmen, while bragging of influence in the White House, while simultaneously raising money for the GOP by bilking clients, one of which had him working under the supervision of the man currently being considered for the second highest law enforcement position in the country. if this isn't a Law & Order episode, it should be.