Why Does Lucius Still Have Influence After the Diary!Riddle Incident?

[erisedstraeh2002]

No: HPFGUIDX 42907

I was hoping to get the input of the group on a question I have 
regarding Lucius Malfoy.  At the end of CoS, Harry tells Lucius 
Malfoy that Ginny got the diary because Lucius gave it to her at 
Flourish and Blotts.  Lucius responds by hissing "Prove it" (CoS, US 
paperback ed., p. 336).  Dumbledore then says "Oh, no one will be 
able to do that...Not now that Riddle has vanished from the book.  On 
the other hand, I would advise you, Lucius, not to go giving out any 
more of Lord Voldemort's old school things.  If any more of them find 
their way into innocent hands, I think Arthur Weasley, for one, will 
make sure they are traced back to you" (pgs. 336-337).

This implies that only Dumbledore and Harry know the truth about how 
Ginny got Riddle's diary.  However, this must have been communicated 
to others, for on p. 340 we learn that "Lucius Malfoy had been sacked 
as a school governor." 

OK, so good, so far.  The news was broadcast that Lucius was behind 
the diary, and he got what was coming to him (although I think 
Azkaban would have been more appropriate, but I digress).  But here's 
where I get confused - how, after being sacked as a school governor, 
and presuming that his "sacking" was due to others learning about his 
role in the Diary!Riddle incident, did Lucius still have the 
influence needed to order Buckbeak's execution?  The school governors 
send Hagrid a letter which reads "We have decided to uphold the 
official complaint of Mr. Lucius Malfoy, and this matter will 
therefore be taken to the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous 
Creatures" (PoA p. 218, US paperback ed.).  Hagrid then says "Them 
Disposal devils, they're all in Lucius Malfoy's pocket!  Scared 
o'him!" (PoA, p. 219).  And after the Trio learns that the 
executioner will be coming to the appeal, "Harry had a horrible 
feeling that the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures 
had had its mind made up for it by Mr. Malfoy" (PoA, p. 316).

Is it perhaps that the "Disposal devils" (an apt descriptor!) are 
Death Eaters like Lucius?  We learn in GoF that Macnair, the 
executioner sent to kill Buckbeak, is a Death Eater.  But why 
wouldn't the opinion of the rest of the Wizarding World matter?

In addition, in GoF, Lucius and his family rate a seat in the top 
box.  There's a reference to Lucius' generous donation to St. 
Mungo's - is this it, then, he's bought his way back into influence?  
While I know that it's not unheard of for someone to buy their way 
into influence, it just seems to me that no amount of money could 
make up for someone who was behind a plan to set a basilisk on a 
school full of (mostly) innocent students, with the aim of killing 
off non-pureblood wizards and, IMO, with the aim of finishing off 
the "good, great" Harry Potter himself.

Any help you can provide on this would be much appreciated!

~Phyllis
hoping this hasn't been endlessly discussed before