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Washington Post national political reporter/Washington Sketch columnist Dana Milbank was online Friday, Jan. 6, at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest in political news.

The transcript follows.

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washingtonpost.com: Today's Washington Sketch: Even Before Alito Hearings, the Verdicts Are In , ( Post, Jan. 6, 2005 )

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Dana Milbank:

It's been a rough week. President Bush returned early from his New Year's break in hopes of getting 2006 off to a better start with talk about the economy and national security.

Instead, Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty in Washington and Florida and will have to pay more than $25 million and spend a decade in the pokey -- even after he helps bring down various congressmen. Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke and is near death. And, after one of the bloodiest weeks in Iraq, the former U.S. commander there, Ricardo Sanchez, says "the country is on the verge of a civil war."

But thank God for this: We have Pat Robertson. In addition to his helpful remarks yesterday about Sharon, he started the year off by having a conversation with a highly placed source: The Lord.

"Here is what I believe the Lord said," Robertson said on the 700 Club Tuesday, reading from a yellow legal pad on which God allowed him to take notes.

"The fall elections will be inconclusive but the outcome of the war and the success of the economy will lead the Republicans in charge but it's going to be inconclusive in this year. But I do believe the president is going to strengthen and that Alito's going to get confirmed. I believe another liberal judge is going to retire, step down from the court. We'll have another opening there and the war in Iraq is going to come to a successful conclusion and we'll begin withdrawing troops before the end of this year."

Robertson's exclusive with God was a helluva scoop, so to speak, beating both Brit Hume and Tim Russert to the highly desired interview. But, as it happens, the Lord is loosening up some of His message discipline in recent days and is granting a surprising number of interviews. In fact, I have Him on the line right now and He has agreed to answer your questions today, speaking through me. He asks only that you keep your questions civil, so He is not forced to smite any of you.

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Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: Hey Dana-

Do you sit next to Robin Ghivan? I was wondering after laughing out loud reading about your column on poor Jack Abramoff's guilty plea attire. Where was his wife to tell him how to dress?

Dana Milbank:

Robin Givhan, our fashion writer nonpareil, actually works out of New York. But it is true that, while not technically related, we are journalistic soulmates. After I viewed the Abramoff Fedora and the Lowell tie and pocket hanky (I swear it had snowflakes on it) at the DC plea, and then the next day heard about the golf cap at the Florida plea, I urged her to pursue the fashion of the perp walk. I can't take credit for her superb story today, but here's the link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010502391.html

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Indianapolis, Ind.: No question -- just a comment. This lead you wrote was terrific, as was the rest of the story: It was just past noon yesterday, about the time Jack Abramoff would be sitting down to lunch at Signatures, the restaurant he owned at Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Over the roasted waluu ($19) or perhaps a starter of Kobe pot stickers ($12), he would be securing favors for his lobbying clients from well-fed lawmakers.

Dana Milbank: Well thank you for that. I should note that my dear friend Mark Halperin, the political director for ABC News, had a different view. In his morning tip sheet, Wednesday, he started off with a pop at that story, saying:

"Anyone can read the Abramoff indictment, call Fred Wertheimer for a cheap quote, look through the windows of Signatures for metaphors, throw around the word "superlobbyist," and slap together a story about What Happened and What It All Means."

I hope that you, and others like you, will send an email to Halperin, mark.halperin@abc.com, with the subject line "Be Nice to Dana."

And may God bless you. (He says He will.)

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Los Angeles, Calif.: I was hoping Madeleine Albright would have walked over to Cheney and decked him. That would have been fantastic!

Dana Milbank:

This is a clever reference to yesterday's meeting at the White House with President Bush and 13 former secretaries of state and defense. Unfortunately, journalists were only allowed in briefly for a photo-op, so we don't know exactly what occurred there.

But, God knows! And here is His account: Albright did indeed attempt to tackle Cheney. But she was tripped up while charging him by Rumsfeld. This led bill Perry to take a swing at Rummy, but Perry was decked by Jim Baker. At this point, Al Haig attempted to take control of the situation. McNamara and Powell both took full responsibility.

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Silver Spring, Md.: In the midst of discussions of Abramoff's hat, and a fair bit of rhetoric about getting rid of all the lobbyists, I would like to point out that many lobbyists do play a significant role in our system. For example, the average citizen does not read the bills, or have much in the way of access to go over the details of them with staffers, etc.

Dana Milbank: Thank you for that excellent point, Mr. Scanlon. I am glad that you have not lost computer privileges.

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Albany, N.Y.: Republicans are claiming that Abramoff gave to both parties. My understanding is that Abramoff himself only contributed to Republicans. It is true that his clients donated to both parties. My question is this: is there any evidence that Abramoff had any involvement in his clients' decisions as to whom to contribute? I think it is fair to infer that there might well be a connection, but is there, but unless there is a connection between Abramoff and these contributions, this claim is just spin intended to once again muddy the waters and put people to sleep by hopelessly complicating the issue.

Dana Milbank:

That is correct. Our talented if slightly voluble congressional correspondent Jonathan Weisman teports that there has not been any discovery yet of money from Jack Abramoff or his wife given to Democrats. That is what's allowing Democrats to say this is exclusively a Republican scandal.

It's true that this is mostly a Republican scandal, but not exclusively. About two thirds of the contributions from Abramoff and his Indian-tribe clients went to Republicans, a third to Democrats. Presumably, the tribes were making their contributions at the direction of Abramoff. And, of course, there is no crime in receiving political contributions; the crime is if something is done in exchange for the contribution.

The Lord tells me he frowns on such activity.

For some good number crunching on the matter, you can check out the Center for Responsive Politics.

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washingtonpost.com: http://www.opensecrets.org/

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Abramoff's Money to Bush... (Columbia, Md.): Why is the Bush only giving back $6000 of the money he received from Abramoff? To my understanding, in order for Abramoff to become a "Bush Pioneer or Diamond or whatever they are called," he had to contribute FAR more than $6000 to earn that title (Probably at least into the 6 figures I'm guessing.) Are we to be happy that the President is returning/donating about 10% of what me may have received from Abramoff? I don't get it.

Dana Milbank:

Bush is returning the money Abramoff gave him, but not the money Abramoff RAISED for him. To be a pioneer, you have to raise $100,000 or more. God tells me he has not yet determined if this is Kosher.

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Washington, D.C.: Can you find out from God if he is a Redskins fan and if we will be delivered out of Tampa with a win?

Dana Milbank:

Tampa Bay is 2.5-point favorite. The Lord says He is busy preparing for the Alito hearing this weekend but recommends going with the Skins at that spread.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Hi Dana, Are there still reporters stalking the Fitzgerald grand jury? Any signs of activity this week? Please, throw us a bone!!

Dana Milbank:

For this question I have gone to the Highest Authority: Carol Leonnig, our woman at the court. She reports:

"Yes, reporters all over the place - crawling with e'm. No sighting of Fitzgerald - but grand jury that usually deals with CIA leak case was empaneled both Wednesday morning and Friday morning."

Even if you don't think you know Carol, you probably do. She's the woman seen in all the newspaper photos -- most recently on A1 of the New York Times -- chasing Fitzgerald and his victims out the courthouse door.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Dude, it is really not fair of you to call me "Mr. Scanlon" just because I think that there is a place for people who are hired to help citizens petition their government. I believe that the organizations that I contribute to such as the Sierra Club, NARAL, and the Children's Defense Fund also use some of their resources to "lobby". I doubt that they can afford many golf trips to Scotland, but it is up to our elected members of Congress to play fair or pay the consequences.

Dana Milbank:

You are right. I will stop calling you Scanlon, Dukestir. I hereby repent and the Almighty hereby forgives me, or so He tells me.

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Ellicott City, Md.: Is anyone standing by Abramoff other than his lawyers?

Dana Milbank: My wife tells me I'm crazy, but I felt bad for Jack Tuesday. The only people defending him are the ones he's paying, and even his lawyer seemed to be enjoying the whole thing a bit too much. He seemed genuinely miserable through the proceeding -- with good reason -- particularly when he said he was seeking forgiveness from the Almighty. God declines to comment before sentencing.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Here's my prediction: The Alito nomination goes down in flames, and Frist will be forced out as majority leader as a result. Your thoughts?

Dana Milbank: False prophet! Heretic! Send me your zip-plus-four and God is sending a lightening bolt your way pronto.

The second part of your prediction would follow the first, in large part because I detect no serious belief that Alito will be defeated. Privately, Democrats would like to be done with the Alito thing as quickly as possible, because it's about the only issue right now where they don't have an advantage.

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: Hi Dana, For me, the most interesting figure in the Abramoff scandal is Ralph Reed, former leader of the Christian Coalition. Marshall Wittmann, in his Bull Moose blog, opined the other day that Brother Ralph claims he was only the piano player at Casino Jack's bordello. Will the Lord be smiting Ralph for claiming ignorance while he whipped his Christians into an anti-gambling fervor so Casino Jack could shake the tribes down for millions? And will the prosecutors be handing an indictment down against Ralph anytime soon? Love your Washington Sketches.

Dana Milbank: If Marshall Wittmann says it, it must be true.

Don't know about Ralph's status, but his first judgment day will be with the Georgia voters this year, who will decide whether he should be their lieutenant governor.

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Arlington, Va.: How do you know that the NSA isn't monitoring your phone calls, trying to track down the phantom prisons in Eastern Europe?

Dana Milbank:

If the NSA is monitoring my phone calls in hopes of learning about the prisons, our intelligence is in worse shape than I thought. Dana Priest wrote that story. True, I have God on the line, but we have encrypted the conversation to avoid snooping.

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Saint Louis, Mo.: Can we get some comments on the length of the Bush meeting yesterday with his war opponents? Secretary Albright said last night on PBS it lasted 45 minutes! What??? What kind of open dialogue or communication could possibly have occurred in that period of time?

Dana Milbank:

That's fairly standard length for a presidential meeting. Obviously, the purpose of the session was less to solicit 10-point plans for Iraq than to make the point that, whatever all these people felt about the war, they all (presumably) agree it's necessary to finish the job. As mentioned, we don't know exactly how the meeting went, but I can report with authority that Eagleburger tossed his cigarette into a White House shrub before entering.

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Arlington, Mass.: Why wouldn't Alito go down in flames seeing how he threatens the very power of Congress? I would think every Senator would want to hold on to their own power.

Dana Milbank: Do not underestimate how supine the Congress has become.

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Heaven: Dana, this is the Lord. Stop taking my name in vain, or I

shall kick thee 300 cubits down 15th St., then 3,000

cubits down L.

An lay off Pat. I gave him to thee for thine amusement,

and I can take him back as I will.

Dana Milbank:

Well, it appears my Partner in this chat has ended His participation, so I will sign off. Thank you, and thank God.

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