Reply #22: Reminds me of something Maxwell Smart would have said....

[Roland99]

In the letter DeLay distances himself from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whom he called "one of my closest and dearest friends," during a trip to the Northern Mariana Islands in 1997.

"The notion that Abramoff was a close friend who wielded influence over me is absolutely untrue," DeLay writes. "Jack Abramoff and I were not close personal friends. I met with him only occasionally, in fact less frequently than numerous others who brought issues before Congress — never did he receive preferential treatment.



"We were not close friends...pals or buddies, maybe, but not close friends."

"Well, we weren't even pals, more like acquaintances."

"Would you believe I spoke to him once when he stopped me once and asked me the time?"