Bloomberg.com: McCain Says Abramoff Probe Will Lead to More Indictments

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator John McCain said he expects ``lots'' of indictments to grow out of the federal investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and that there was ``strong evidence'' of wrongdoing by some lawmakers.

``This town has become very corrupt, there's no doubt about it,'' McCain said today on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' program.

The Arizona Republican is chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and has led a congressional probe of Abramoff's dealings with Indian tribes who hired him as a lobbyist. The Justice Department is investigating Abramoff's contacts with lawmakers and congressional staff members.

``There's strong evidence that there was significant wrongdoing,'' McCain said when asked whether he believed some lawmakers have committed crimes. He declined to be specific.

Michael Scanlon, a former Abramoff associate who previously was an aide to Republican Representative Tom DeLay, pleaded guilty last month to conspiring to corrupt public officials and defraud Indian-tribe clients. The plea clears the way for his cooperation with the investigation.

Abramoff, Scanlon and their lobbying clients combined to give campaign money to a third of the members of Congress.

``The system here, where so much is done in the way of policy and money in appropriations bills where line items are put in in secret which nobody knows about or sees until after they're voted on, is the problem,'' McCain said.

Representative Robert Ney, an Ohio Republican who took an Abramoff-sponsored trip to Scotland in 2002, said last month that prosecutors have subpoenaed records from his office. He has denied any wrongdoing and said he was deceived by Abramoff and Scanlon.

McCain, 69, said the lobbying system needs to be restructured to eliminate fraud and to prevent groups from hiring well-connected people to make deals to pass certain legislation or guarantee funding for key issues. He said he wouldn't count on the congressional ethics committee that monitor lawmakers' compliance with laws and ethics regulations.

``I don't think the ethics committees are working very well,'' McCain said.