By Scott Wright

Back in March 2005, I wrote in a column that it didn't make any difference to me if embattled Texas congressman Tom DeLay took a few golfing trips abroad with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. As it turns out, though, looks like the Justice Department is extremely interested in those outings.

DeLay is in enough trouble without the mess Abramoff has gotten him into. The Hammer is already in hot water for allegedly handling some campaign money in an illegal fashion. DeLay was forced to step aside as House majority leader when he was indicted on those charges, but swore he'd defend his good name and get his old job back -- and then Jack Abramoff started running off at the mouth.

So far, the scandal-ridden Abramoff has pled guilty to a laundry list of corruption charges and agreed to cooperate in an investigation of unnamed public officials he says he showered with gifts, favors and -- dare I guess, golf trips -- in return for help with his former clients.

The Houston Chronicle wrote last week that Republicans in the House fear DeLay will "become the poster-boy for the culture of corruption" currently engulfing the Congress.

Well, hell. I could have confirmed that little tidbit for the boys at the Houston Chronicle a long time ago, at least as far back as March 2005 when I learned what a slime ball DeLay really is. I say get out your thumbtacks and clear out a spot on the wall, because I'll paint a picture that you may want to have matted and framed if you're ready to see DeLay finally get what he's been dishing out for years.

In case you missed my column from last year, here's a little refresher on just how crooked the Hammer really is.

There's a chain of islands in the Western Atlantic called the Northern Mariana Islands, and Tom DeLay -- along with his buddy Abramoff -- has been knee-deep in graft and corruption over there since the mid-1990's, just about the time DeLay first came into office as a Republican from Sugar Land.

To summarize, the Marianas are covered with illegally-run sweatshops, where a cheap labor force comprised of the underprivileged from neighboring island countries are shipped over under false pretenses and forced to work in horrible conditions for scant pay for dozens of hours at a time.

Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Clinton all worked to improve conditions there during their tenures. In fact, Clinton was ready to shut the entire operation down in 1997 until the GOP-controlled House of Representatives, led by our buddy Tom DeLay, and at the request of the factory owners (who had hired Abramoff to represent their interests in Washington), stepped in and put an end to all federal attempts to put and end to the horrible working conditions and sex trading that was going on in the Marianas.

Abramoff even flew DeLay and his family to the Marianas in late 1997, where they spent the New Year's holiday and attended several parties hosted by the sweatshop owners who paid for the entire trip. During one of those dinners, DeLay actually referred to Abramoff in a post-dinner speech as "one of my closest and dearest friends." Now, of course, DeLay acts like he barely knew the man.

DeLay came back from his trip bound and determined to prevent the Clinton administration from "killing prosperity on the islands." When one reporter asked DeLay about the sweatshops, he said in typically callous fashion: "I didn't see anyone sweating." Behind DeLay's leadership, the House killed attempts to hold hearings on the matter, despite a plea signed by over 200 Democratic and Republican House members. President Clinton's Department of Labor eventually brought about some improvements in the workers' situation, but all this was despite the best efforts of DeLay and Abramoff.

And now we hear that Abramoff is about to spill the beans on a lot of his former congressional cronies. We already know that Rep. Bob Ney is in deep doodie thanks to his ties to Abramoff.

Of course, DeLay has denied any wrongdoing in regards to his relationship with Abramoff. But I know better. The facts of what happened in the Marianas almost 10 years ago prove to me that DeLay and Abramoff have been using their powerful positions in the government to pad their pockets doing favors for anyone willing to pay. In their minds, there were no consequences -- and then Jack Abramoff got caught being a crook and decided to rat out his old partners in exchange for a little leniency.

Politicians like President Bush and acting House speaker Roy Blount are already donating to charity the funds they've received from Abramoff in the past, and that crook is probably going to jail for a long time.

Before Abramoff gets finished squawking, don't be surprised if Tom DeLay's name is one that repeatedly comes out of his mouth.

Scott Wright is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and an award-winning member of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is a native of Cherokee County.