Recent developments in the Abramoff case:  Wal-Mart allegedly fired James Hirni, after reports that he will plead guilty.

In an e-mailed statement that noted the charges against him were unrelated to his work for the superstore, [Wal-Mart executive] David Tovar wrote: “Based on Mr. Hirni’s [expected] guilty plea which relates to conduct occurring prior to and unrelated to his employment by the company, we terminated his employment.” Tovar said the termination occurred Wednesday.

Hirni, a former senior aide to then-Sen. Tim Hutchison (R-Ark.), joined Wal-Mart full-time in 2007 as executive director of Republican outreach. He previously worked at Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal  and then with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig before joining Cassidy & Associates. Hirni first worked on the Wal-Mart account as early as 2004 while still at Greenberg Traurig.

The same article reports that Todd Boulanger left his firm, Cassidy & Associates, recently.

Trevor Blackann, a former Kit Bond and Roy Blunt staffer, previously admitted to filing a false tax return that left out gifts from lobbyists, according to reports.