Is Jack Abramoff’s story a tale of personal corruption or a story about what our democracy has become?

NEWS RELEASE

This weekend, our Celebrated Speakers Series program will take place on Sunday , February 8 (not Saturday, as has been our custom in the past). Former Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff will be the featured speaker at the Emerson Center Celebrated Speaker Series Sunday, appearing twice at 4:00 PM and 6:30 PM). Abramoff presentation is expected to stir controversy and re-ignite the debate over money flowing through the political pipeline in our nation’s capital. No doubt, some hard-hitting questions will be posed in the Q&A session following his speeches.

At one point, Jack Abramoff was the nation’s most successful and prominent legislative promoter. Back then, if you wanted cooperation from Congress, you couldn’t ask for a better advocate than Abramoff.

In the 1980s, Abramoff honed his lobbying skills by moving major Reagan administration initiatives through Congress. Next he built a profitable lobbying practice by developing a seemingly unlimited capacity to raise funds to fuel the political system.

But, in an instant, his world collapsed after an investigation by The Washington Post exposed his methods of buying favors from lawmakers. Abramoff landed in federal prison and his name became synonymous with government corruption.

Now Abramoff comes clean, revealing his lobbying techniques and acknowledging his past errors. In his book, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America’s Most Notorious Lobbyist, Abramoff lays out specific reform proposals in a nine-point American Anti-Corruption Act.

A limited number of tickets remain available (with some choice seats available for the 6:30 PM appearance). Call our Box Office at 772.778.5249 or visit TheEmersonCenter.org/tickets.