Senate panel probes claims pair bilked tribes of millions - ethnic slurs

[seemslikeadream]

thanks to MrBenchley in GD
Gannett News Service
September 30, 2004


WASHINGTON -- A Washington lobbyist and a close associate played a secret role in helping elect tribal council members of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, who later voted to pay them about $10 million for consulting work, the tribe’s chairman, Richard Milanovich, told a Senate hearing Wednesday.

..

The testimony was part of a Senate investigation into an alleged $66 million paid by newly rich gaming tribes to the two political operatives, who are said to have overbilled by 5,900 percent for voter lists and pressed tribes to pay for skyboxes at the Washington Redskins’ stadium.

Milanovich said he opposed hiring the pair because of their high price and only later learned that Scanlon and Abramoff had worked silently with other council members to manipulate the tribal election and gain control of the council in 2002. The new council then agreed to lucrative contracts with Abramoff and Scanlon and also contributed to candidates and charities as the pair instructed, Milanovich, leader of the tribe that owns two casinos in the Coachella Valley.

..

Abramoff, a large donor to President Bush who is involved in several Republican groups, appeared before the committee but refused to answer any questions. He cited his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions that would incriminate him. Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, was not present and U.S. Marshals were seeking to serve him a subpoena, said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., the committee’s chairman.

...

At the behest of Abramoff and Scanlon, Milanovich said the tribe also contributed $300,000 for skyboxes in Washington sports stadiums, including FedExField where the Washington Redskins play. Native Americans have long protested the use of ethnic slurs for sports team names.

...

Milanovich and senators also were troubled by e-mail between Scanlon and Abramoff that described their Indian clients as "monkeys," "morons" and "troglodytes."

more
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040930004411.shtml

[Tempest]

1. Link?

Thanks.

[seemslikeadream]

2. Sorry fixed the link and here's a bit more

Major players in probe of alleged bilking


Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist who joined the Greenberg Taurig law firm in Washington in 2001. He resigned under pressure in March after reports started surfacing of huge fees he and Michael Scanlon, a political consultant, were charging newly rich gaming tribes. Greenberg Taurig is conducting its own investigation of Abramoff.

Abramoff, a Brandeis University grad, was the chairman of the College Republican National Committee from 1981-85, helped launch conservative Ralph Reed’s career and was consistently listed as one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington. The Los Angeles-raised Abramoff lobbied for Ronald Reagan’s agenda in 1985 and produced a feature film titled "Red Scorpion."


Michael Scanlon, a former press secretary for House Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Texas. Scanlon’s public relations firm, Capital Campaign Strategies, specialized in grass-roots campaigns. He was paid millions by Indian tribes that hired the firm at the urging of Abramoff, according to Senate documents.


The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which operates casinos in Rancho Mirage and Palm Springs, paid Abramoff and Scanlon more than $10 million for lobbying and political campaigning. Most of the work surrounded renegotiating state tribal compacts, including gaining more slot machines.

more
http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040930004411.shtml

GD discussion
DeLay cronies on trial referred to Native Americans as "monkeys,"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2428591&mesg_id=2428591

[saigon68]

3. "monkeys," "morons" and "troglodytes."

ITS THE OLD--- "KISS EM BEFORE YOU SCREW EM" ---ROUTINE.

[MrBenchley]

4. Wonder how much money got funneled to the GOP?

I'll bet Ben Nighthorse Campbell loved that last part...didn't he get dressed in tribal apparel recently for something on the House floor?

[seemslikeadream]

7. Yes MrBenchley Nighthorse did get all dressed up

For the dedication

Thanks again for the story, I was looking all morning for one.

[MrBenchley]

9. Any time...

The open corruption of this wretched bunch is breathtaking...

[dweller]

5. self delete

nm, i thought it read tom delay was being sought by us marshalls

wishful thinking.
dp

[bif]

6. Funny bit on NPR this morning

They asked one of the defendants if they had their pictures taken with members of the White House staff. The guy played dumb and said "Like...?"
The questioner repeated the question.
Finally the guys said, in a stupid tone of voice: "Well, we had our picture taken with the president.' The room erupted in laughter.
(Yeah pal, the president would count as White House staff)

[Ernesto]

8. Aw yes, a timely little look into the heart & soul of the GOP.

I can just imagine the repuke stampede to diss-own their political brethren that were just unlucky enough to get caught being "good" republicans.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Unbearable back-stabbing actions described at the end of the article

The Tigua Indians of Texas,which had their Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso shut down in February 2002 when a federal court sided with state officials in ruling the casino violated state anti-gambling laws. The Washington Post reported that Abramoff and Scanlon, representing a rival tribal casino in Louisiana, quietly worked with former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed to build public sentiment against the Tiguas, then persuaded the Tiguas to hire them to try to get the casino reopened.
(snip)

Can you BELIEVE this kind of vicious nastiness? I would think this alone would win them spots in the Republican Hall of Fame.

Check this drivel written about scuzzbucket Jack Abramoff, written around a year and a half ago:

“I’m the only lobbyist who took a 90 percent pay cut to join the lobbying field,” a smiling Abramoff said in his downtown office this month. But he doesn’t expect sympathy — with the Republicans now in control of the White House, House and Senate, and his friend Tom DeLay (R-Texas) controlling the House agenda, Abramoff does not have to look far to find clients interested in his services.

But, he stresses, being a leader in Republican fundraising and strategy doesn’t guarantee success for his clients.

“I think it’s a very different administration … compared to the Clinton days,” Abramoff said of George W. Bush’s White House. “They’re going to go out of the way to make sure that they are not courting special favors to lobbyists and to special interests. They’ll only agree to things on strict merits.

“From a good government point of view, that’s very refreshing. From a lobbying point of view, it’s obviously more of a challenge.”

Because of that, he says, many lobbyists are turning more and more to members of Congress rather than executive agencies. “What people have done is probably tried to utilize the congressional legislative route on many more things than they would have otherwise done,” Abramoff added. “In the past, I think you could have gone to the Clinton administration and gotten an administrative or executive fix on something that now people have to go to Hill and try to seek redress there.”
(snip)

http://www.thedesertsun.com/news/stories2004/local/20040930004411.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pathetic imitations of human beings, these Republicans. The resemblance is only superficial.

[Tansy_Gold]

11. "The resemblance is only superficial."

Yeah, underneath that human-looking surface, they're really monkeys, morons, and troglodytes.

Tansy Gold, with all apologies to any monkeys, morons or troglodytes she may have unintentionally offended

[seemslikeadream]

13. Thanks JudiLyn for ALWAYS being here

Memos!


"I think all of us know this is the most extraordinary pattern of abuse to come before this committee in the 18 years I've served here," said Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), who described the pair's conduct as "scuzzy" and "outrageous."



The e-mails show that just before the 2002 Agua Caliente tribal elections, Scanlon asked Abramoff: "How much do you want me to spend on the AC race -- I gotta get a team out there ASAP -- Then rotate a new team in after that -- So travel is gonna run about 20K and materials like 5-10K. Should we go for it?"
Abramoff replied: "Yes, go for it big time."

The panel subpoenaed Chris Petras, former legislative director of the Saginaw Chippewas, who was a liaison to Abramoff and Scanlon. Petras said that he could not recall any discussions about the pair becoming involved in tribal elections and that he was not convinced they had done anything wrong.

An e-mail from Abramoff to Scanlon in the fall of 2001 suggested otherwise. "I had dinner tonight with Chris Petras of Sag Chip. He was salivating at the $4-5 million program I described to him . . . He is going to come in after the primary with the guy who will be chief if they win (a big fan of ours already) and we are going to help him win. If he wins, they take over in January, and we have millions."

After the Saginaw Chippewa election, Scanlon congratulated his staff and Abramoff for the victory of seven of eight candidates running as "The Slate of Eight." "We had less than three weeks to take 8 guys who never met before and get them elected. It was a great plan, and great execution by a great team. . . . We now control 9 out of the 12 seats on the council . . . hopefully we will be doing some more work for the tribe in the near future."

...

On Oct. 10, 2002, Scanlon sent Abramoff a news clipping about horse racing bills in the Michigan legislature, with the message: "Here we go! This could kill Saginaw!"
Abramoff responded: "Chris thinks this is not going anywhere. Can you call him and scare him?"

On Dec. 10, 2002, Abramoff appeared to do just that in an e-mail to Petras. "Chris, I am getting worried about this. Last night we opened Stacks and there were some WH guys there. . . . They told me that there is a hearing coming up on this immediately, and they have heard that this is going to happen!!! . . . where is Scanlon on this? . . . We need to get him firing missiles. How do we move it faster? Please get the council focused on this as soon as you can."

Abramoff sent a copy to Scanlon, who messaged back: "I love you."

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60780-20...

go to google news to access the rest of the story without subscription

This hearing was televised I saw part of it yesterday, I thought on CSPAN but can't find it.

[fishnfla]

12. This stinks to high heaven

Been hearing about this on NPR--glad to see it here.

[AspenRose]

14. This is disgusting

:grr:

[Moderator]

15. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=873883

Please try to avoid dupicates. Duplicates are by topic.