of his clients, Indian tribes who operate casinos on their reservations. They, for the most part, got what they wanted: laws to tax their operations were quashed and internet gaming regulations were limited. But they paid more for his services than they expected. Abramoff steered them towards colleague's consultancies which charged them over the odds and secretly split their profits with him. He made tens of millions of dollars but, when news of his illegal activities became public, it fed into a series of other corruption and sex scandals associated with congressional Republicans and there was a huge backlash against the party. Other convictions Since an earlier conviction on unrelated fraud charges in November 2006 (for which he was given a sentence of four years and 10 months)he has spent some 3,000 hours talking to Justice Department officials, giving them chapter and verse on who he did business with, and how. So far, his testimony has helped convict 11 people, all connected with the Republican Party. Among them are President George W Bush's former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles and former Congressman Bob Ney. Mr DeLay is among those who have been drawn into the investigation, which is continuing. Abramoff's co-operation ensured prosecutors did not ask for the maximum 11-year sentence for his crimes. So surely the timing of this courtroom drama in Washington could not have come at a worse time for the party faithful in St Paul? Well, not exactly. There was one senator who read an investigation into Jack Abramoff in the