Cornered GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff is facing some jail time, and it looks like he’s determined to bring some of his cronies down with him:

“Any important Republican who comes out and says they didn’t know me is almost certainly lying.”

Apparently this includes Mr. Maverick Reformer John McCain. McCain denies it, though:

“Mr. Abramoff flatters himself,” Mark Salter, McCain’s administrative assistant, tells Margolick. “Senator McCain was unaware of his existence until he read initial press accounts of Abramoff’s abuses, and had never laid eyes on him until he appeared before the committee.”

Abramoff’s response?

Abramoff says, “As best I can remember, when I met with him, he didn’t have his eyes shut. I’m surprised that Senator McCain has joined the chorus of amnesiacs.”

I’m not. McCain has a media halo as a champion of government reform. When it comes out that he met with the super-corrupt Abramoff, just like the rest of his GOP cronies, it will destroy his image. Not only is McCain corrupt, but he has lied.