I have a persistent dream of finding Pombo's shark-severed head on a beach, and kicking the thing back into the surf

Big-time California Cong-Crit/sleaze-machine Richard Pombo, who tried like mad to distance himself from the Jack Abramoff/Bob Ney/Tom DeLay/Mariannas scandals, apparently has MUCH closer ties to the dirty business--which involved coercing women into the sex trade, compulsory abortions, and other pretty typical GOPuke depredations--than he previously let on. The MotherJones link in the headline will take you to the whole story:

They...establish that between 1996 and 2001 Abramoff and his associates met with
Pombo’s staff on more than two dozen occasions.

Pombo’s spokesman Brian Kennedy told the AP that those meetings "never happened” and the staff-level contacts were "greatly inflated." Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in a congressional corruption investigation, is "an admitted felon" who can't be trusted, Kennedy said.

As Mother Jones reported in September, Pombo has received at least $31,250 from Abramoff, his associates and clients, and even accompanied him on a delegation to the Marianas in 2004.