CONRAD BURNS-- STILL SOMEHOW MANAGING TO EVADE PRISON

We all know who got the biggest bribes and the most loot from Abramoff's Indian scams-- Montana's corrupt Republican Senator Conrad Burns. And many who follow this stuff also remember the unseemly stories about how Burns said the bribes would not be returned and to get that kind of dough from him, it would have to be pried free from his cold dead fingers. And then a little more newspaper coverage and he grudgingly agreed to hand over "some of" the tainted bribes he got from Abramoff and his clients for various favors delivered. So what happened? Did Burns give back the bribes to the tribes he and Abramoff swindled? Guess.

Oh, you don't want to guess? OK; did you open your HELENA INDEPENDENT RECORD this morning? Well, they're reporting that most of the money was given to a former Burns crooked staffer's lobbying clients, the Montana Wyoming Tribal Leaders Council and none of it went to the tribes in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Michigan that were cheated by Abramoff, Ralph Reed, Burns and a gaggle of crooked Republican politicians like GOP Crime Boss Tom DeLay and most of his underbosses like Bob Ney, John Doolittle, Roy Blunt and DeLay's specially selected House Ethics Committee Chairman, "Doc" Hastings. This sneaky maneuver is in direct contradiction to Burns pre-holiday promise to his constituents: “I intend to return all campaign contributions associated with Mr. Abramoff, his associates and his clients … With the exception of contributions received directly from Mr. Abramoff and his associates, each contribution will be returned to its original donor.” The Indian tribes Abramoff and Burns ripped off are plenty pissed. And so are the Indian tribes in Montana who feel Burns has been paying a lot more attention to tribes in Michigan and Lousiana that bribed him than he has to tribes in his own backyard. "The senator is from Montana, but has never taken an interest in it," said Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff in a case in which a half-million Indian landowners have sued the Interior Department for mismanaging money owed them for natural resource development.