Scanlon ‘is hiding out’Federal marshals cannot find former aide to DeLay

[seemslikeadream]

By Josephine Hearn

Michael Scanlon, a public-relations consultant and former aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) now under investigation for his business dealings with Indian tribes, failed to show up to testify before a Senate panel yesterday after federal marshals were unable to serve him with the committee’s subpoena.

“The U.S. marshals tell us Mr. Scanlon is hiding out in his house with the blinds drawn,” said Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, after the hearing. “But we’re going to him again. He will be before the committee one way or another. … I want to ask him questions. He is going to have to duck and dodge.”

Scanlon was scheduled to testify before the committee yesterday in a hearing about allegations that he and lobbyist Jack Abramoff had misused up to $66 million in fees paid to them by six Indian tribes made wealthy by gaming revenue.

Scanlon’s lawyer, Stephen Braga, did not return a call for comment. Abramoff appeared at the hearing but invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to respond to questions.

Yesterday’s hearing focused on the pair’s dealings with two of the tribes, Michigan’s Saginaw Chippewa and the Agua Caliente of California. A future hearing, addressing two of the four remaining tribes, could occur as soon as November, if the Senate reconvenes after the elections, Campbell said.

more
http://www.thehill.com/news/093004/scanlon.aspx


"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...


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4049563
Senate Panel to Query Lobbyists on Casino Ties
All Things Considered audio

All Things Considered, September 27, 2004 · This week, a Senate committee holds a hearing on two Republican lobbyists who collected large fees from Indian tribes with casinos. The pair apparently made $50 million from various tribes in less than three years, promising access to top Republicans in Washington. NPR's John Ydstie reports.




UpInArms (1000+ posts) Wed Sep-29-04 06:20 PM
Response to Original message

2. also involved in this scandal is Ralph Reed

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/29/opinion/meyer/main646298.shtml
excerpt:

Today, Abramoff took the 5th in front of a Senate committee. He did it lots of times actually.

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is investigating allegations that Abramoff and a colleague, Michael Scanlon, who once served as House Majority Leader Tom Delay’s press secretary, fleeced several Indian tribes looking for help on casino issues out of at least $50 million. Abramoff and Scanlon were renowned for their ties to Delay; Delay is renowned for trying to make paying clients use friendly, Republican lobbyists.

Today, Senator Byron Dorgan told the committee Abramoff and Scanlon lurked in a “cesspool of greed.” A Washington grand jury, the FBI and a task force of five different federal agencies are also looking into the cesspool. That’s why Abramoff took the 5th.

<snip>

E-mails first published by the Post, seem to show that Abramoff and Scanlon paid a company run by Ralph Reed $4.2 million from 2001 to 2003 to help shut down casinos that might be competition for their clients or, in some cases, to prevent new ones from opening.

What’s especially interesting is that Reed now the southern regional chairman of President Bush’s reelection campaign. He was once the executive director of the Christian Coalition and is one of most influential figures on the Christian right.

In one of several egregious cases, Abramoff and Scanlon hired Reed to bring evangelical wrath unto the Tigua tribe’s Speaking Rock Casino in El Paso, Texas and shut it down. The plan was for Abramoff and Scanlon to vulture down to snag the Tigua tribe as a new client.

<snip>

"Some stupid lobbyists up here who do Indian issues. We'll find out and make sure all our friends crush them like bugs," Abramoff e-mailed back.

...keep reading - this shit's so thick it doesn't stir...

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


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/2004...

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/2004...


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

ACTION ALERT! House Ethics Commitee meeting 9/30 re DELAY!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2431013

[MrBenchley]

1. And White House guys tipped them off?

Wow....that's certainly criminal as well....

[DebinTx]

2. Geez...

republicans are scum. The depths that they will stoop to for money.....it's sickening.
More bad PR for DeLayed...that part's good.