Patrick Kennedy to keep tribal donations

The Boston Globe reports:

US Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, who has collected more donations from tribal clients of once-powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff than any other Democrat, intends to keep the money, joining a number of Democrats who have decided that Abramoff's plea bargain on conspiracy and fraud charges won't alter their decision.

In addition, political committees run by Democrats and Republicans, which took in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Abramoff's clients, said they did not plan to give the money back or give it away to charity.

A number of Republicans, including President Bush, announced this week that they won't keep campaign donations from Abramoff or his tribal clients, an attempt to distance themselves from Abramoff and his legal troubles. But many Democrats, stressing that they didn't receive cash from Abramoff himself, said they see no reason to reject the donations.

The ethics of modern day campaign contributions.