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As A Lobbyist, I Thought It Only Natural And Right That My Clients Should Reward Those Members Who Saved Them Such Substantial Sums With Generous Contributions. This Quid Pro Quo Became One Of Hallmarks Of Our Lobbying Efforts.

-Jack Abramoff

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As A Lobbyist, I

Jack Abramoff

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As A Lobbyist, I Thought It Only Natural And Right That My Clients Should Reward Those Members Who Saved Them Such Substantial Sums With Generous Contributions. This Quid Pro Quo Became One Of Hallmarks Of Our Lobbying Efforts.

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I Did This Within A Philosophical Framework, And A Moral And Legal Framework. And I Have Been Turned Into A Cartoon Of The Greatest Villain In The History Of Lobbying.

You Can't Take A Congressman To Lunch For $25 And Buy Him A Hamburger Or A Steak Or Something Like That. But You Can Take Him To A Fundraising Lunch And Not Only Buy Him That Steak, But Give Him $25,000 Extra And Call It A Fundraiser. And Have All The Same Access And All The Same Interactions With That Congressman.

Lobbying Is Not A Bad Thing. I'm Not Trying To Say That We Shouldn't Have Lobbyists Or We Shouldn't Have Lobbying To Petition Our Government. It's In The Constitution, And It's Something That Should Be Honorable And Good.

No One Wants A Domain With Their Name On It Owned By Somebody Else.

Having Gone Through What I Went Through, Watching My Family Be Torn To Shreds And My Children Suffer Immensely, I Can't Be The Agent Of Doing That To Someone Else. I Can't Be The Agent Of Causing Someone To Go To Prison.

I'm A Human Being. I'm Not Perfect.

I Might Dream, But I Am No Dreamer.

Human Beings Are Weak.

I Got Into Lobbying Kind Of Against My Will At First. I Frankly Didn't Want To Be A Lobbyist, But I Realized That In Lobbying I Could Do Things Politically That Were Interesting To Me And Do Some What I Thought Would Be Good. I'm Not Sure It All Turned Out Like That, But At Least That Was Some Of The Initial Thinking.

Democrats Don't React The Same Way Republicans Do, Because They Are Not Forced To React The Same Way Republicans Are Forced To React. They Get To Be As Corrupt As, Basically, They Want, And Just Ignore It.

It's Very Difficult For Felons To Live In Society.

As A Lobbyist, I Was Completely Against Term Limits, And I Know A Lot Of People Are Against Term Limits, And I Was One Of The Leaders, Because Why? As A Lobbyist, Once You Buy A Congressional Office, You Don't Have To Re-buy That Office In Six Years, Right?

Well, I Don't Think Most Americans Are Playing The Super-pac Game. I Think What You Have Is Elites On Both Sides Playing The Super-pac Game.

I'm Not Exactly The Endorsement People Are Seeking.

Washington's A Dangerous Place.

Dangerous Places

As A Result, I've Been Portrayed As A Cynical Barbarian Preying On The Very Clients I Was Charged To Defend.

In The Past Two Years, I've Started The Process Of Becoming A New Man. I Am Much Chastened And Profoundly Remorseful Over The Reckless And Hurtful Things I Have Done In My Life, Especially Those Which Have Brought Me Before You Today.

If You Make The Choice To Serve The Public, Public Service, Then Serve The Public, Not Yourself.

All I Have, Really, Is My Creativity.

I Don't Pay Much Attention To Sports.

I'm Capable Of Making $44 Million. I Know I'm Intellectually Capable Of Finding A Series Of Things And Making Hundreds Of Millions. I Have To Get There And Do It. Carefully. Legally.

One Of My Personality Defects, Perhaps, Is That I'm Rather Add, And I Work On A Bunch Of Things At Once.

In The Past Few Years I Have Begun The Process Of Becoming A New Man.

You Can't Beat Somebody With Nobody.

I Am Much Chastened And Profoundly Remorseful. I Can Only Hope That The Almighty And Those Whom I Have Wronged Will Forgive Me My Trespasses.

I Think The American People Deserve Somebody Telling Them What Is Really Happening In Washington.

I'm Not A Complete Libertarian. There Is A Proper Role In Some Areas Of The Government To Have Rules And Regulations - I'm Not An Anarchist.

Rules And Regulations

I Know I'm Intellectually Capable Of Finding A Series Of Things And Making Hundreds Of Millions. I Have To Get There And Do It. Carefully. Legally.

I'm Not Trying To Become Popular.

I Mean, Money Is A Tool.

A Senator Will Come Off Capitol Hill And They'll Be Barred From Two Years From Lobbying In The Senate. So They'll Pick The Phone Up And They'll Call Their Buddy, The Senator, Their Old Buddies, And They'll Say, 'listen, I'm Here At This Law Firm Now. I Can't Lobby You, But My New Partner, Jack, Can Lobby You.'

Congress Doesn't Hate Congress.

Well, I Think The Great Tragedy In American Politics Is What Is Legal, Not What Is Illegal.

Prisoners Do Different Things. Some Write, Some Read. Some Engage In Athletic Events And Working Out And Some Do All Of That. Some Get Involved In The Religious Groups That They're Part Of. Some Get Involved In Hobbies That Are Permitted In Prison. There Are Plenty Of Ways To Stay Busy. You're Never Going To Survive In Prison Unless You Start Getting Busy.

Some Issues Lend Themselves To Grassroots Campaigns - Homeschooling Works Well - But Others Require Contrivance And Connivance To Whip Up Support. Often, Lobbyists Will Hire Vendors To Dispatch Blast Emails And Robocalls In The Hopes Of Bombarding Congressional Offices With Citizen Fury.

I Think What I'm Trying To Do, Reform-wise, Is Completely Consistent With Conservative Philosophy. It May Not Be Consistent With Some So-called Conservatives Who Live In Washington And Make Their Living Like I Used To.

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Words Will Not Be Able To Ever Express How Sorry I Am For This, And I Have Profound Regret And Sorrow For The Multitude Of Mistakes And Harm I Have Caused.

The Hope In Radio Is To Build An Audience Over A Number Of Years, A Slow Build To See If Something Works.

They Realize That Spending Millions To Save Billions Is Just Good Business.

I Can't Vote Again Ever, So Political Party Is Not A Relevant Thing For Me.

Everybody's A Complex Person. Everybody. Everybody's Nuanced.

If You Chose To Serve In Congress Or On A Congressional Staff, You Should Be Barred For Life From Working For Any Company, Organization, Or Association Which Lobbies The Federal Government.

I'm An Aggressive Person.

I Support Myself By Public Speaking And Trying To Work On As Many Appropriate And Legitimate Ventures As I Can.

As A Lobbyist, I Thought It Only Natural And Right That My Clients Should Reward Those Members Who Saved Them Such Substantial Sums With Generous Contributions. This Quid Pro Quo Became One Of Hallmarks Of Our Lobbying Efforts.

I'm A Hypercompetitive Individual.

Access Is Vital In Lobbying. If You Can't Get In Your Door, You Can't Make Your Case.

If I Read The Articles About Me, And I Didn't Know Me, I Would Think I Was Satan.

Class Envy Is Dangerous.

All I Want Is For People Not To See Me As This Cartoon Monster.

I Try To Avoid Saying Anything Positive About Any Presidential Candidate For Fear That If I Actually Like Them Then I Will Kill Their Campaign.

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I Can't Afford To Be A Member Of A Golf Course.

I'm Not Asking People To Feel Sorry For Me.

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