GOP MURDER SUSPECT ADAM KIDAN ROLLS OVER. IS THIS CURTAINS FOR THE LITTLE BUG MAN?

I think my art department is drunk under a table after a HOLIDAY PARTY they had while watching Howard Stern make an ass of O'Liely last night. In any case, the picture below can serve as the illustration for what you're about to read. Adam Kidan isn't a household name-- but a few months ago, neither was Tom DeLay consigliere Jack Abramoff. However, if you've been following DWT this year you probably have read at least something about this uber-corrupt Republican operative who has been in cahoots with Abramoff, DeLay, Ney and a shit-load of sleazy Republicrooks.

It always amazes me that the Republicans have managed to more or less keep this explosive story away from the lazy, pathetic mainstream media, but in Florida the Abramoff/Kidan/DeLay/SunCruz drama has been HUGE for a long time. Today's SUN SENTINEL is reporting that "Kidan is expected to plead guilty next week to federal conspiracy and wire fraud charges in connection with the purchase of the SunCruz gambling fleet from entrepreneur Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis." It is widely believed that DeLay, Abramoff and Kidan had Boulis murdered by 3 Mafia hitmen after their partnership soured. If Kidan's plea bargain takes effect, his 30 year prison term could be reduced to 10 years or less for testimony against his partners.

The SUN SENTINEL reports that the "case can be traced to 1999 when the government forced Boulis to sell his controversial SunCruz gambling fleet by using an obscure shipping law prohibiting non-U.S. citizens from owning maritime interests. One of Boulis' lawyers put him in touch with Abramoff to help find potential buyers. Abramoff met Kidan years earlier through a young Republicans club in Washington, D.C., while Kidan was a college undergraduate and Abramoff a law school student. Liking what he saw in the SunCruz deal, he asked Kidan if he wanted to become a partner. Prosecutors maintain that neither man had the financial wherewithal needed to buy SunCruz, especially Kidan, who was close to being broke, sources said. But authorities said that didn't stop them from diving into negotiations in January 2000. In Boulis, they found a man willing to go along with the agenda, if it meant he could secretly keep part of SunCruz, prosecutors contend. Six months later, a company Kidan and Abramoff formed struck a deal to buy SunCruz for $147.5 million. The funding they obtained through Foothill Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund required that they pay, and show proof they paid, $23 million of their own money to Boulis at the closing." Congressmen DeLay and Ney were instrumental in both the financing and the pressure applied to Boulis to accept the bizarre deal that went down.

And when the deal soured Kidan contacted an old friend, John Gotti-associate Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello and 2 other Mafia hitmen, Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari and James "Pudgy" Fiorillo (who have all been indicted for the gangland murder of Boulis). Kidan and Abramoff were conspicuously out of the country when the murder took place and claimed the Mafia hit men were only hired as "caterers," not for the skills they were best known for. I know it sounds like an episode from THE SOPRANOS but according to THE SUN SENTINEL, Moscatiello, after being arrested "told detectives that Fiorillo traveled to his Queens home two weeks after the murder and confided that Kidan reportedly told Ferrari to kill Boulis, according to court records. Moscatiello said Fiorillo also indicated that he and Ferrari carried out the hit, the documents show. Moscatiello told detectives, 'I told Adam what had happened, what I was told and he told me he never made no phone call and after Tony Ferrari told me it was a lie, I never discussed it anymore with Adam.'
Meanwhile Tom "The Hammer" DeLay and his chief financial associate, Jack Abramoff, refuse to comment, although Abramoff insists that the 3 Mafia hitmen were only caterers. Bob Ney says he was tricked into the whole mess by Abramoff and he regrets everything.