The Jack Abramoff scandal has provided a rare glimpse into the way business is conducted in Congress today--and into the part played by our Congressman, Dave Camp (R-Midland).

Camp is one of more than a dozen members of Congress who intervened to help Indian tribes win federal school construction money while accepting political donations from the tribes, their lobbyist Jack Abramoff, or his firm. Here in Michigan, both Senators Stabenow and Levin also wrote letters that pressed a reluctant Bush administration to renew a program that provided tribes federal money for building schools.

Lawmakers received donations, ranging from $1,000 to more than $74,000, in the weeks just before or after their intervention. Ethics rules require lawmakers to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest while performing official duties. This requirement became famous a decade ago during the so-called Keating Five scandal (which ensnared, among others, likely 2008 presidential candidate John McCain) when legislators pressured regulators on behalf of Charles Keating while taking donations from the savings and loan operator.

Of the three Michigan lawmakers, Dave Camp got the most money - $35,000 - from Abramoff and American Indian tribes Abramoff represented, including not only the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, but also the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and the Tigua Indian Reservation, all of whom are Abramoff clients. Levin and Stabenow also received money from the Saginaw tribe, but lesser amounts - $2,000 for Levin and $4,000 for Stabenow (she also received $1,000 from other tribal interests).

So why was Camp so much more richly rewarded, compared to Levin and Stabenow, who are arguably bigger wheels in the Washington scheme of things? We've argued elsewhere that the missing link was Tom DeLay, the disgraced former Majority Leader in the House. Camp sided with DeLay on a staggering 92% of House votes. Abramoff was all about funneling money to reliable supporters of DeLay--who then marshaled support for interests represented by Abramoff and other members of the K Street Project. Camp got more because he did more than Levin and Stabenow to advance the interests of Jack Abramoff's clients.