The group raised $2.5 million from three Abramoff clients, including $1 million from Russian businessmen, the Post reported. Abramoff worked with [Former DeLay chief of staff Edwin] Buckham to organize a 1997 trip to Moscow by DeLay.
Buckham's lobbying firm, the Alexander Strategy Group, employed DeLay's wife, Christine, paying her $115,000 during three years. DeLay's lawyers have said she was paid to determine the favorite charities of members of Congress.
$115,000 to Tom DeLay's wife to determine what everyone already knows? Seems like a lot. The favorite charity of GOP members of Congress is, of course, themselves.
And who knew that Russian businessmen cared so deeply about U.S. families as to lighten their pockets by $1 million?
"[Addington] lives in a modest house in Northern Virginia, takes the subway to work, and shuns the parties and perks of office. He usually has the same simple meal every day -- a bowl of gazpacho soup. Though born in Washington, he styles himself as a 'rugged Montana man' in the image of his boss, and he has a photo in his office of Cheney shooting a gun."
The most cluelessly homoerotic administration in history.
Hallibuton's shares have surpassed highs hit five years ago thanks to rising energy prices. And lucky insiders have been guzzling up the profits.
Company insiders sold $24 million in stock in the fourth quarter, eclipsing the five-year average of $5.9 million for this period, according to data from Thomson Financial. [...]
Insider selling spiked in July, September and December, when the stock tested five-year highs, notes Mark LoPresti, senior quantitative analyst at Thomson Financial. [...]
In 2005, five senior executives sold nearly a million shares for roughly $55 million in 2005, eclipsing sales of 154,000 shares for $5.9 million the previous year, according to Thomson data.
Andrew Lane, chief operating officer, Bert Cornelison, general counsel, and Mark A. McCollum, chief accounting officer, are among the executives selling shares. [...]
David Lesar, chief executive officer, has been the most aggressive seller. He pocketed $6.9 million last month by selling 107,000 shares after exercising options on most of them. The options were priced between $31.55 and $51.50, and the sales were conducted under a fresh trading plan Lesar adopted in August.
This year, Lesar made more than $46 million selling nearly 778,000 shares -- about 70% were options-related sales -- since he started selling in April. Even so, he continues to maintain a stake of just under 700,000 shares with the help of option grants. [...]
"[T]his guy is getting pretty fat option grants," says [Harris Hall, director of equity research at Singular Research]. This is a "classic example of the company that is getting sweetheart deals from the government and insiders are making out like crazy."
