Your guide to the region's top events, mixed with some commentary about life, media, gossip and politics in Washington, DC.
|
Abramoff Aide Plays the Market
By
Garrett M. Graff
Published Thursday, August 21, 2008
Only four months after buying a $2.2-million house in Georgetown, former Jack Abramoff pal Michael Scanlon and his wife, Brandy McMahon, have put the house back on the market—with an asking price nearly $300,000 more than what they paid in February. The couple indirectly brought about the entire Abramoff lobbying scandal when Scanlon broke off his engagement to another Hill aide and began dating McMahon—a 24-year-old waitress at the Big Fish Grill in Rehoboth Beach, where Scanlon was lifeguarding. The jilted fiancée teamed up with Scanlon’s ex-wife, Carrie Anne Messina, to raise suspicions about Scanlon’s lifestyle. During the height of his association with Abramoff, Scanlon rented a $17,000-a-month penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton in DC’s West End and a share of a Gulfstream jet. Scanlon has long had an extensive—and profitable—real-estate portfolio, at one point owning five expensive homes, including a $4.7-million former DuPont mansion in Delaware. As part of the Abramoff investigation, Scanlon pleaded guilty in 2005 to conspiring to bribe a member of Congress but has not been sentenced. As part of that plea agreement, he agreed to pay up to $19.7 million in restitution.
This article first appeared in the August 2008 issue of The Washingtonian. For more articles like it, click here. More>> Capital Comment Blog | News & Politics | Society Photos
|
Comments
OMGosh....I just don’t see the crime in buying and selling real estate. It’s beach property, where things appreciate in value overnight. Life goes on.
Posted by: Cyn, Nov 01, 2008 02:49:46 PM
Maybe he wanted a change of scenery? Fear and Paranoia? Guilt and shame? Needed the cash? Likes making money? Not enough bedrooms?
Posted by: demnat, Aug 27, 2008 07:11:10 AM
Change of scenery?Leaving the country?Fear and paranoia? Guilt and shame?
Posted by: Rosie, Aug 26, 2008 06:03:28 PM
Nothing wrong with selling a house. But it is interesting -- obviously the fallout from the Abramoff deal hasn’t ruined him, and why is he selling it so soon after buying it?
Posted by: stickymcbiscuit, Aug 22, 2008 02:23:38 PM
Is there something wrong with a guy buying and selling a house for profit?
Posted by: Marcus, Aug 22, 2008 09:22:10 AM
|
Post a comment
Feel free to leave a comment or ask a question. Because of the prevalence of spam, we ask that you fill out the code in the image below to help us eliminate spam comments. By posting here, you affirm that you are 13 years of age or older. Washingtonian.com reserves the right to remove or edit content once posted.
|
|
Newsweek financial columnist Robert Samuelson talks about the economy and his new book.
more
Frozen dinners have come a long way since Swanson’s—such a long way that they now include lobster mac ’n’ cheese from the famed French Laundry in Napa Valley.
more
|
Share
| Print |
Posted at
04:45 PM/ET, 08/21/2008 in
Power Players | Permalink
| Comments (5)
| TrackBacks(0)
| Washingtonian.com Blogs
