Ed Buckham

Edwin A. Buckham is a former congressional staffer and lobbyist, who presently is under investigation in various scandals surrounding high-profile lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Congressman Tom DeLay. Those associated with Abramoff are of special note, because Justice Department prosecutors have systematically pursued guilty pleas from such lower associates seeking testimony against Members of Congress. [http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003099.php] Buckham has said little, but maintains his innocence.

Buckham became chief of staff to then Majority Whip Tom DeLay from approximately 1995 to 1998. Buckham had run the House Republican Study Committee in the early 1990s, while Tom DeLay was the Committee's Chairman. There, Buckham also hired Jim Backlin, also of Maranatha Campus Ministries, now Vice President for Legislative Affairs for the Christian Coalition previously run by Ralph Reed.

He is a lay (non-ordained) evangelical minister, who served as an elder of the Washington DC chapter of the controversial and politically-active church, Maranatha Campus Ministries, then later as a deacon of a small church called Harvest Christian Fellowship in Frederick, Maryland. He was an elder under the former head pastor Mike Vario, now the pastoral torch has been passed onto a younger man Justin Thomas. Ed Buckham has left Harvest Christian Fellowship and moved to Knoxville, TN. With his lovely wife and youngest daughter.

= Connections to the Abramoff scandal =

Most of the $3.02 million in revenues of the U.S. Family Network came from clients of Jack Abramoff. More $1 million of that money was then paid by USFN to Buckham and his wife, Wendy, during a five-year period ending in 2001, via their lobbying firm, the Alexander Strategy Group. [cite news
title=Former DeLay Aide Enriched By Nonprofit |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/25/AR2006032501166_pf.html
author=Smith, R. Jeffrey (Staff writer)
publisher=The Washington Post
date=2006-03-26]

In January 2006 Buckham closed Alexander Strategy Group, and left the lobbying business. Buckham said that the company was fatally damaged by publicity about the ongoing federal investigation into the affairs of Abramoff. [cite news
title=Lobby Giant Is Scandal Casualty |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/09/AR2006010901996.html
author=Birnbaum, Jeffrey H. and Grimaldi, James V.
publisher=The Washington Post
date=2006-01-10]

=References=

External links

*George Loper, [http://george.loper.org/~george/archives/1999/Dec/84.html "Elections 2000: National Republican Congressional Committee Funds National Right to Life Committee and U.S. Family Network,"] Loper.org, December 1999.
*Jim Burns, [http://usconservatives.about.com/bln0503delay.htm "Democrats File RICO Suit Against DeLay,"] "USConservatives", May 3, 2000.
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4702608 "GOP group pays $280,000 campaign fine,"] Associated Press (MSNBC), April 9 2004.
* [http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/1561.html "NRCC busted for illegal 'soft money' donations,"] "The Carpetbagger Report", April 9 2004.
* [http://www.techpolitics.org/congress/delayalum.php?sort_field=recipient+asc,+contributor&sort_order=asc "Political Contributions by DeLay Alumni During the 2003-2004 Election Cycle,"] "Tech Politics" ("CQ Weekly", Federal Election Commission downloaded March 2005.)