"I'll call Karl on that."

The LA Times follows up today on Karl Rove's "casual acquaintance,"  Jack Abramoff. Like yesterday's AP story, it focuses on one contact in particular between the two, witnessed by a former Abramoff associate.

Abramoff represented the government of Malaysia, and in May 2002 the prime minister met with Bush. According to Abramoff's anonymous colleague, the meeting was set up through Rove:

The former associate was the only person to observe Abramoff's direct contacts with Rove, and he heard only Abramoff's end of the conversation. He recalled Abramoff picking up his ringing cellphone, looking at the caller identification and saying, "It's Karl." Abramoff listened for a few seconds and gave the former associate the thumbs-up sign. Abramoff then closed his phone and said the official invitation was forthcoming. "Call the ambassador," he said.

This sort of contact wasn't so rare:

[Two former associates of Abramoff] said Abramoff talked of his access to Rove and cited his relationship with Susan Ralston, Rove's administrative assistant. Before joining the White House staff, Ralston was an assistant to Abramoff.

One of the former associates said Abramoff referred to Ralston as his "implant" in the White House.<snip>

Although White House officials have taken pains to distance Bush and his aides from Abramoff, hoping to shield the president from the scandal's political fallout, former associates say Abramoff often bragged of his ties to the highest levels of the administration.

One lobbyist recalls Abramoff's frequent refrain when confronting important legislative issues: "I'll call Karl on that."

For more on Abramoff's relationship with Rove, see yesterday's Daily Muck.

Lobbying Boom

Their profession may be the brunt of some bad press lately, but business in 2005 wasn't bad at all. From The Hill:

Early returns on end-of-year revenues show strong growth all along Washington’s lobbying corridor. Several well-known firms reported a revenue jump greater than 20 percent....

With Congress eyeing new curbs on earmarks and congressional travel in response to scandals, 2005 could wind up being a high-water mark for the lobbying industry.

But lobbyists said that so far their business hasn’t suffered under the intense spotlight, as both retainers and client lists are continuing to grow....

End-of-year numbers add to the strong start lobbyists made in 2005. PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks lobbying spending, reported this week that companies and other special interests spent $1.16 billion to lobby Congress and federal agencies during the first part of last year. That represented a growth rate of 8 percent and a new six-month record for lobbying spending.

Discussing the issue of congressional travel on "Meet the Press" a couple of Sundays ago, newly-minted Maj Leader John Boehner (R-OH) defended his lavish travels by observing that "these industry meetings occur in nice places."

...it doesn't bode well for Democrats that they've decided to retool their recent matra about a "culture of corruption" in response to "frustration among Democrats that their steady drumbeat on corruption isn't connecting with voters as much as they'd like." The new message will harp on the "costs of corruption" as a way of connecting the scandals to everyday pocketbook issues. It sounds like a reasonable enough strategy. But there's something inherently unreassuring about the way the party seems to adjust its message with every full moon.