Daily Briefing: 'Waiting for the Other Shoe to Drop'
•Jack Abramoff pleads guilty as part of plea deal; inquiry reaches 60 lawmakers. Justice Department official: "The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive. We're going to follow this wherever it goes." [WP, NYT, LAT, WSJ, USAT, WT]
• Secret eavesdropping by the NSA occurred before White House approval; data was shared with the FBI. [NYT, WP]
• Republican lawmakers seek cover from Abramoff scandal; officials are "waiting for the other shoe to drop." [WP, NYT, WP, USAT]
• Republican strategy of "turning the K Street lobbying corridor into a cog of the GOP political machine" backfires. [LAT]
•Abramoff secretly collected over $20m; he has agreed to return $25m. [NYT, LAT]
• Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) --"Rep. #1"-- could face indictment. [LAT]
• D.C. is likely to benefit from new risk-based distribution of Homeland Security grants. [WP]
•Bush attacks opponents of the Patriot Act: "For partisan reasons, in my mind, people have not stepped up." [WP, NYT, USAT]
• Lobbying industry expected to face increased scrutiny, criticism. [WP]
• "Left Behind" bills are left behind. [WP]