Jan. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Jack Abramoff's guilty plea yesterday pushed the federal investigation of the lobbyist deep into the office of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay by implicating one of his top ex-staffers.

People close to the investigation identified the ``Staffer A'' mentioned on page 13 of Abramoff's 15-page plea agreement as DeLay's former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy. While a member of DeLay's staff, Rudy helped Abramoff stop a measure that would have prohibited Internet gambling, according to the government. In return, Rudy's wife was paid $50,000 through a non-profit group, the government says. DeLay himself isn't named in the agreement.

The link to DeLay is at least the third to emerge in a 20- month investigation of Abramoff's ties with lawmakers, and it comes as DeLay, 58, fights separate money-laundering charges in Texas that forced him to step down as House majority leader.

Abramoff, 46, told a federal judge in Washington he will cooperate with prosecutors investigating political corruption.

``If I were DeLay, I would be very concerned,'' said Bill Mateja, a white-collar criminal-defense lawyer with Fish & Richardson PC in Dallas and formerly a senior counsel in the Justice Department's corporate criminal task force. ``A staffer is certainly a subject of the investigation. Whether it takes them all the way to DeLay, we'll have to wait and see.''

Rudy didn't return a phone call seeking comment.

Legal Cloud

Abramoff's agreement to cooperate may scuttle DeLay's chances of returning as majority leader, because the Texas Republican may continue to be under a legal shadow for many more months. President George W. Bush said in an interview with Fox News Channel on Dec. 14 that he hoped Delay would be able to reclaim the majority leader's post because of his success in passing legislation.

``Do I? Yes, I do,'' the president said when asked whether he thought DeLay was innocent in the Texas case. He added, ``When he's over there, we get our votes through the House.''

Abramoff's plea also increases the political jeopardy for Republicans in general during this election year, since most of the donations from the lobbyist and his former associates and clients went to members of that party.

Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to tax evasion, wire fraud and conspiring to corrupt public officials. He is set to plead guilty today to conspiracy and wire fraud in a separate case in federal court in Miami and will cooperate with prosecutors, according to a copy of the plea agreement obtained by Bloomberg News. The government will dismiss four other charges against him in connection with his purchase of a casino cruise-ship line in 2000, the agreement says.

Legislative Favors

The plea agreement in Washington charged Abramoff with conspiring to corrupt ``Representative #1,'' previously identified as Representative Robert Ney, an Ohio Republican, in return for legislative favors for the lobbyist's clients. Neither Ney nor DeLay has been charged.

``The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive, and we will continue to follow it wherever it leads,'' Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher told reporters. ``This case is very active and ongoing.''

In November, former DeLay spokesman Michael Scanlon, Abramoff's business partner, pleaded guilty to helping the lobbyist defraud Indian-tribe clients of more than $50 million. Scanlon is also cooperating with investigators.

Not Concerned

DeLay's lawyer, Richard Cullen, said DeLay isn't concerned that Abramoff's plea arrangement will put the lawmaker in jeopardy.

``He's not apprehensive about this, because he knows he hasn't done anything wrong and he's confident that will be the ultimate conclusion,'' Cullen said.

Cullen said he couldn't comment on Rudy, saying DeLay has always demanded that his staff ``comply to the highest ethics and violate no laws. He would have no tolerance with staffers that did not obey the law.''

About 220 lawmakers received at least $1.7 million in political donations from Abramoff, his associates and nine tribal clients between 2001 and 2004, according to a review of Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service records. Of those, 201 are still in Congress. Republicans got $1.1 million, 64 percent of the total.

Many lawmakers are giving money back to Abramoff's clients or donating the funds to charity. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, said yesterday he would donate his Abramoff-related money to charity. Hastert received $57,250 from Abramoff, his associates and his clients from 2001 to 2004, ranking fifth among all lawmakers. Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana, who ranked first, said last month he'd give donations he got from Abramoff to charity, and Democrat Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, who ranked fourth, said he would send Abramoff-related donations back to the tribes.

Top Recipient

DeLay was the top recipient of funds directly from Abramoff, having accepted $17,000 in donations from the lobbyist from 2001 to 2004.

The reference to Rudy in Abramoff's plea agreement suggests that the investigation is also zeroing in on Capitol Hill staff members as well as lawmakers.

Rudy went to work for Abramoff at the Greenberg Traurig LLP law firm in Washington in 2001. In 2000, Abramoff and former DeLay chief of staff Ed Buckham used their credit cards to underwrite a trip to the U.K. attended by DeLay and his wife, the Washington Post reported in April.

Before Rudy left DeLay's office, he helped Abramoff stop legislation curbing Internet gambling on behalf of eLottery Inc., the Washington Post reported in October.

Internet Gambling

Norwalk, Connecticut-based eLottery paid Abramoff's former firm, Preston Gates LLP, $720,000 in 2000. Preston Gates, Abramoff's employer at the time, said it was lobbying on legislation to ban Internet gambling. The legislation was defeated. DeLay was one of 44 Republicans to vote against the measure in July 2000, with 165 Republicans voting for it. The measure, which needed 270 votes to pass the House, failed by 15 votes.

At the time, Rudy's wife, Lisa, was being paid fees by Toward Tradition, a Seattle-based Orthodox Jewish nonprofit organization run by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a friend of Abramoff's, the Post reported in October.

Rudy in June 2002 also solicited a $25,000 donation for Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation charity from a Cyprus- based importer of Russian vodka, the government charged. Abramoff then used that money to help pay for a Scotland golf trip. The foundation's ledgers, released in November by a Senate Committee investigating the lobbyist, showed Abramoff spent more than $160,000 on the August 2002 trip that was attended by Ney and other officials, including Christian activist Ralph Reed.

Representative Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican, said in an e-mailed statement that ``Jack Abramoff's guilty plea and his close association with Tom DeLay underscore the need for a new majority leader in the Republican Party.''

Shays said that ``it is time we make it clear that ethics are an essential part of how we do business and that our leadership needs to reflect this strong ethical conduct.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Forsythe in Washington mforsythe@bloomberg.net; Jonathan D. Salant in Washington at jsalant@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 4, 2006 00:01 EST