Preying Upon the Faithful
Disgraced Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Recruited Bob Riley, Ralph Reed, The Christian Coalition and Others to Exploit Alabama Voters in Scheme to Protect Mississippi Indian Casino Profits
Jack Abramoff hatched the scheme to use Indian Casino money for political “contributions.” Abramoff was convicted of fraud and bribery and is now serving time in the Federal Pen.
Jack Abramoff hatched the scheme to use Indian casino money for political "contributions." Abramoff was convicted of fraud and bribery and is now serving time in the Federal Pen.
Bob Riley worked with an Abramoff “front” group (The US Family Network) that was funded by the Choctaw Indians in 1999 that opposed Poarch Creek Indian gaming in Alabama. Riley’s relationship with Abramoff and his business partner/former Riley staffer, Michael Scanlon, led to millions in “contributions” from Indian Casinos to Bob Riley’s campaign for governor in 2002.
OVERVIEW:
Now that it has been clearly and undeniably established that Bob Riley has direct ties to Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff, their Mississippi Choctaw Indian clients and the Indians’ millions of dollars in casino profits, it is necessary to see how other figures of influence have played a direct role in sabotaging gaming in Alabama along with Bob Riley.
The collaborative effort to undermine gaming in Alabama works like a well-oiled machine.
Bob Riley worked with an Abramoff "front" group (The US Family Network) that was funded by the Choctaw Indians in 1999 that opposed Poarch Creek Indian gaming in Alabama. Riley's relationship with Abramoff and his business partner/former Riley staffer, Michael Scanlon, led to millions in "contributions" from Indian Casinos to Bob Riley's campaign for governor in 2002.
The “fuel” that runs the machinery are the millions and millions of dollars in Indian casino profits. (Again, as was noted in the McCain Senate Committee report, Choctaw Indian Chief Phillip Martin claimed he had spent $13 MILLION “to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn’t hurt his market in Mississippi.”)
The machinery itself is made up of various “moving parts and levers”: the high-dollar lobbyists; the high-priced political professionals; the expensive and extravagant advertising campaigns; ambitious, two-faced politicians; and, all the various arm-twisters who operate inside the political “grassroots” community.
These assorted players are the connivers, schemers and deceivers who prey upon the voters in disgusting fashion. They are wolves cloaked as sheep. They spout pious ideals, misquote heavily from Scripture and demonize anybody who has an honest, differing view from their own. They utilize a very twisted “selective morality” to further their agenda.
The schemers’ favorite target to exploit is also the easiest: the “Faith Community.”
Let’s look in greater detail how the faithful are preyed upon…
Where to begin??? Insofar as the current gaming issues have connections to Bob Riley, we really don’t need to go back much further than the mid-1990’s.
To provide a little history for context, we must lean upon the McCain Senate Committee’s findings to help us understand how the Choctaws came to have the significant financial and influential ability to impact gaming here in Alabama.
[*Editor’s Note: You may find it helpful to refer to our "See the Tangled Threads" diagram to see pictures with summaries of some of the major figures presented in the report below.]
(The paraphrased information below is taken directly from McCain’s Final Report: “Gimme Five” Investigation of Tribal Lobbying Matters)
Mississippi’s Choctaws Strike It Rich in the Casino Industry…
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians is a federally-recognized Indian tribe of about 10,000 members, most of whom reside on eight reservation communities located on trust lands scattered over a five-county area in East-Central Mississippi.
The Choctaw Indians are the descendants of those Choctaw people who resisted efforts by the Federal Government in the mid-1800’s to remove them to Oklahoma. Although the Choctaw chose to stay in Mississippi, they did not receive their initial reservation lands until 1944 and it was not until the following year that they were federally recognized.
For many years the Choctaw struggled to survive. By 1964, ninety percent of the Tribe’s population lived in poverty. The Choctaw’s situation improved when Chief Phillip Martin began a campaign to bring economic development to the reservation..
The Choctaw are unusual in their development because they first gained economic success through their non-gaming business ventures, before opening the Silver Star Hotel and Casino in 1994. In 2000, the Tribe announced an expansion to include another casino, the Golden Moon, and a shopping complex.
The Tribe became the third largest employer in Mississippi, employing nearly 9,200 people in 25 different enterprises including greeting card manufacturing, wiring harness production for the automotive industry, a nursing home, and a world renowned golf course, the Dancing Rabbit. The annual Tribal payroll was over $1,237,000 in 2005 and covered many non-member employees.
Enter High-Dollar Lobbyist, Jack Abramoff…
The Choctaw had long enjoyed a government-to-government relationship with the Federal Government, particularly with the United States Congress. In the beginning, Chief Martin of the Choctaw preferred to lobby Congress himself.
That changed in 1994. Either through retirement or defeat, many of the Members of Congress who provided the institutional memory on American Indian issues were gone. At the same time, the opening of the Choctaw’s Silver Star Hotel and Casino in 1994 gave rise to an array of new issues and concerns that required the Tribe to track and address them at the federal level.
Moreover, tribes apparently began to see a slew of proposed legislation they believed were inimical to their interests. One of the first major initiatives came from the U.S. House of Representatives, in a bill seeking to apply the unrelated business income tax (“UBIT”) to Tribal enterprises. Confronted with this legislation and a sea of unknown faces in Congress, the Choctaw decided to hire outside lobbyists.
Coincidentally, around the same time, Nell Rogers, the Tribe’s planner responsible for legislative affairs, was speaking with a friend in California who knew Jack Abramoff’s father. Aware that Abramoff had once been a Republican activist, Rogers’ friend suggested she speak with Abramoff.
After a brief telephone call, Abramoff traveled to the Choctaw reservation. There, he and an associate made a presentation about their firm’s capabilities and connections, and discussed the Tribe’s legislative concerns. Rogers was extremely fascinated by how Abramoff proposed mobilizing other groups to assist the Choctaw in its legislative battle: “I came away thinking this is really different and unusual. It was. It was an unusual approach that you would engage other groups to help you in a campaign to say ‘these are good guys.’”After the meeting, Chief Martin and Rogers concluded that the Choctaw needed to educate the new members of Congress about Indian Country and the issues it faced.
They therefore hired Jack Abramoff. The issues on which Abramoff and his firm, Preston Gates, would lobby were not limited to the UBIT. At the time, Rogers recalled, there seemed to be daily issues emerging that adversely affected tribes, a “sea change of proposals” that were “hostile to the tribes.”
Abramoff Cohort, Grover Norquist, Enters the Scene …
To help the Choctaw in its campaign to educate the new Members of Congress, Abramoff mobilized his friends and colleagues at various think tanks and grassroots organizations. The Preston Gates team recast the issue from an Indian issue into a tax issue. Abramoff then enlisted the aid of his long term friend and anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and his organization Americans for Tax Reform (“ATR”), which, according to its website, “opposes all tax increases as a matter of principle” and serves as “a national clearinghouse for the grassroots taxpayers movement.”
According to one document in the Committee’s possession, Abramoff described ATR as “an effective conduit of support for other groups which have provided assistance to Indian gaming’s efforts to fight the tax proposal.” The Choctaw apparently paid ATR a total of $60,000 in 1996 to oppose the UBIT tax. Abramoff and his colleagues at Preston Gates eventually succeeded in their efforts, and the UBIT tax failed in the Senate.
Three years later, however, the Choctaw were still battling congressional attempts to tax its Tribal revenue. In so doing, in September 1999, the Choctaw paid ATR another $25,000. Rogers believed that the payment was in furtherance of ATR’s opposition to a sales tax issue at the time.
Other outside groups, not limited to grassroots organizations, were also recruited to assist in fighting the sales tax. Abramoff put together visits to the Choctaw reservation for reporters and public policy groups, with the goal of demonstrating the Tribe’s success in an environment unfettered by unnecessary government regulation.
The Choctaw’s campaign against the sales tax was ultimately successful. The UBIT and sales tax issues were only two among the many issues on which Abramoff and his team lobbied for the Choctaw. As time passed, and Abramoff and his team repeatedly succeeded in their lobbying efforts for the Choctaw, the Tribe developed a great deal of trust and confidence in Abramoff and his capabilities.
And As If Drawing a Moth to Flame…
Another Abramoff trait that engendered trust with the Choctaw was that he “always presented himself as a deeply religious person … his conversations were spiked with references to a good cause or working for a good cause. And he talked quite a bit about his religious beliefs and what he could and what he couldn’t do.”
It was during the UBIT battle that Abramoff assumed primary responsibility for the Choctaw account. In fact, he remained ultimately responsible for the account throughout his tenure at Preston Gates and, later, at Greenberg Traurig.
Bringing in Ralph Reed “Hey…I need to start humping in corporate accounts!”
As the Tribe’s trust and confidence in Abramoff grew, Rogers would often discuss withAbramoff issues affecting the Tribe, both at a local and national level. In 1999, Rogers and Abramoff discussed various legislative proposals in Mississippi and elsewhere that threatened the market share of the Choctaw’s casino operations, and which the Tribe wanted to somehow counter.
It just so happened that a few months earlier, Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition and one of Abramoff’s long-time friends, had reached out to Abramoff: “Hey, now that I’m done with electoral politics, I need to start humping in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts.” Abramoff saw an opportunity: he suggested a grassroots effort and recommended the Choctaw hire Reed to orchestrate an antigaming effort.
The Bob Riley Political Blueprint Starts…
The Tribe agreed to hire Reed to mobilize grassroots opposition to various legislative proposals throughout the Gulf Coast that would have increased gaming, thereby diminishing the Choctaw casino’s market share. No one from the Choctaw had any direct contact with Reed; rather, Abramoff served as the liaison with Reed and his firm, which eventually became a subcontractor to Preston Gates.
In March 1999, Abramoff and his associate, Shawn Vasell, spoke with Reed about theChoctaw’s grassroots needs. According to a draft engagement letter from Reed to Abramoff, Reed was hired to defeat a bill that had passed the Alabama House of Representatives “authorizing dog tracks in the state to install video poker and other casino-style games on their sites.”
Reed promised to “build a strong grassroots network across the state against the extension of video poker and [REDACTION].” He claimed that no firm had better relationships than his with the grassroots conservatives in Alabama, including the Alabama Christian Coalition, the Alabama Family Alliance, the Alabama Eagle Forum, the Christian Family Association, and “leading evangelical pastors such as Frank Barker of Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham.” Reed boasted that “Century Strategies has on file over 3,000 pastors and 90,000 religious conservative households in Alabama that can be accessed in this effort.”
Reed promised to leverage his contacts for the Tribe: “Working closely with your existing team at Preston Gates, we can play on [sic] operational role in building a strong anti-video poker grassroots structure that will leverage the considerable contacts and reputation of our principals within Alabama, the conservative faith community, and state elected officials.”
Reed proposed a $20,000 monthly retainer for his services, and ended his letter by writing, “We look forward to bringing about the desired results for you.”
After receiving Reed’s proposed engagement agreement, Abramoff responded, “Ralph, I spoke with Nell this evening. She wants much more specifics. They are not scared of the number, but want to know precisely what you are planning to do for this amount.”
When Reed told Abramoff he was devoting half his staff to the project for two weeks, butneeded the green light to begin, Abramoff directed: “Please page me with a page of no more than 90 words … informing me of your completion of the budget and giving me a total budget figure with category breakdowns. Once I get this, I will call Nell atChoctaw and get it approved.”
On April 6, 1999, Abramoff informed Reed that he “spoke with our managing partner [at Preston Gates] and he has approved the subcontractor arrangement” and instructed Reed to “get me invoices as soon as possible so I can get Choctaw to get us checks asap.”
When Abramoff believed he could not get money quickly enough to Reed, Abramoff suggested that the Choctaw pay Reed directly: “Ralph, I am not sure that I can get this wire moving fast enough today. Give me your wire info and I’ll do what I can.” Abramoff then asked, “Any chance that a wire from Choctaw directly would be OK?” Reed’s response is unknown; however, the Committee saw no evidence that the Choctaw paid Reed or his firms directly.
A Familiar Political Plan in Full Swing…
By mid-April, things were moving. In an e-mail entitled “Disbursement on behalf of Choctaw Indians,” Abramoff assured Reed that the money was on its way. Using the Choctaw’s money, Reed paid for grassroots activities including, telemarketing (patch-through, tape-recorded messages and call-to-action phone calls), targeted mail, legislative counsel and local management, rallies, petitions, “voter contact, television and radio production, the remainder of phones, the statewide fly-around, the pastor’s and activist rally, the church bulletin inserts, and other items.”
Reed also claimed that he was leveraging his contacts within the Christian community for the Choctaw’s benefit. Reed reported to Abramoff that there would be “a saturation statewide radio buy with a new ad by Jim Dobson that he will record tomorrow.”
Reed assured Abramoff, “We are opening the bomb bay doors and holding nothing back. If victory is possible, we will achieve it,” and, one day later, again promised, “All systems are go on our end and nothing is being held back.”
By May 10, 1999, the Choctaw had paid Reed $1,300,000 through Preston Gates, with another $50,000 outstanding. For reasons unclear to the Committee, in late 1999 the Tribe discontinued paying Reed through Preston Gates. Rogers recalled that there came a time when either Reed or Preston Gates (or both) became uneasy about money being passed through Preston Gates to Reed.
Abramoff thus searched for another conduit.
Norquist Gets His Share of the Anti-Gaming Action As A “Pass-Through” to Reed…
Abramoff turned to his long-time friend, Norquist, to have his group, Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), serve as a conduit for the Choctaw money.
Earlier, on May 20, 1999, Norquist had asked Abramoff, “What is the status of the Choctaw stuff. I have a $75K hole in my budget from last year. Ouch [sic].” Thus, in the fall of 1999, Abramoff reminded himself to “call Ralph re Grover doing pass through.”
When Abramoff suggested the Choctaw start using ATR as a conduit, the Tribe agreed.
In late 1999, the Choctaw paid ATR $325,000. In a 2005 interview with The Boston Globe, Norquist said that ATR had sent $300,000 of that $325,000 to Citizens Against Legalized Lottery (“CALL”). Norquist explained that he sent the money to CALL because the Tribe wanted to block gambling competition in Alabama.
Out of the Choctaw’s $325,000, ATR apparently kept $25,000 for its services. According to Rogers, Norquist demanded that he receive a management fee for letting ATR be used as a conduit: “But I remember when we discussed needing a vehicle for doing the pass-through to Century Strategies that Jack had told me that Grover would want a management fee. And we agreed to that, frankly didn’t know any other way to do it at that time.”
During a similar project in early 2000, Reed and Abramoff discussed using four groups instead of one as conduits to pay Reed.
On February 2, 2000, Abramoff informed Reed, “We’ll have $300K for Monday and more shortly thereafter.” This project apparently was centered on opposing a video poker initiative.
The Choctaw made the first of three $300,000 payments to ATR on February 7, 2000. Abramoff warned Reed, however, that “I need to give Grover something for helping, so the first transfer will be a bit lighter.”
During this time, Abramoff advised Reed that the Choctaw might be limited in the amount of money it could devote to his activities. In response, Reed assured Abramoff that he was also seeking money from “national anti-gambling groups, Christian CEOs, and national profamily groups.”
The Tribe was nevertheless able to continue funding Reed’s efforts. On February 17, 2000, Abramoff advised Reed that “ATR will be sending a second $300K today.” This money, too, came from the Choctaw. Norquist kept another $25,000 from the second transfer, which apparently surprised Abramoff.
On March 2, 2000, Abramoff told Rogers he needed “more money asap” for Reed, and requested “a check for $300K for Americans for Tax Reform asap.”
Abramoff Email Ties Alabama Christian Coalition to Choctaw Casino Money…
Abramoff’s executive assistant Susan Ralston asked him, “Once ATR gets their check, should the entire $300k be sent to the Alabama Christian Coalition again?”
Abramoff replied, “Yes, but last time they sent $275K, so I want to make sure that before we send it to ATR I speak with Grover to confirm.”
Rogers did not speak with anyone at Americans for Tax Reform about using ATR as a conduit. As far as Rogers knew, ATR was not involved and was not considering getting involved in any of the efforts the Choctaw ultimately paid Reed and others to oppose.
Based on everything Rogers knew, ATR simply served as a conduit to disguise the source of the Choctaw money ultimately paid to grassroots groups and Reed. Rogers told Committee staff that she understood from Abramoff that ATR was willing to serve as a conduit, provided it received a fee.
The Choctaw’s intent and understanding was that the money would pass through ATR and ultimately reach either Reed or a grassroots organization engaging in anti-gaming activities.. It was never intended as a contribution to support ATR’s general anti-tax work.
As far as Rogers was concerned, ATR was serving as a conduit on a project that had nothing to do with taxes and that was designed to oppose gaming.
At some point, Rogers recalled that Norquist apparently began getting nervous about his role as a pass-through. Rogers thought that part of Norquist’s discomfort derived from press accounts reporting that ATR was one of the largest contributors to an organization that was fighting against the expansion of gaming.
The question arises why the Choctaw paid money to Reed through various conduits, such as Preston Gates and ATR, rather than directly. Rogers told Committee staff, “I always assumed it’s because Ralph was more comfortable with that.”
Stealing a Page From the Riley Playbook…
Rogers understood from Abramoff that “Ralph Reed did not want to be paid directly by a tribe with gaming interests. It was our understanding that the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns.” Nevertheless, the work Reed and his company Century Strategies performed and for which they were paid through Preston Gates and ATR was on the Tribe’s behalf and for its benefit. The Tribe has no complaints about the quality of work Reed undertook on its behalf.
Once ATR ceased serving as a conduit, Abramoff and Reed looked for other conduits for the Tribe to route money to Reed’s Century Strategies. After he left Preston Gates for Greenberg Traurig in 2001, Abramoff suggested the Tribe pay into entities owned or controlled by Michael Scanlon.
In 2001, the Choctaw paid money into Scanlon’s American International Center (“AIC”), which Abramoff described as vehicle for passing money through to Reed. By the Committee’s accounting, the Tribe paid AIC $1,485,656 in 2001, and $1,170,000 in 2002.
OVERVIEW:
At this stage of Jack Abramoff’s scheme, he conspired with his new business partner, Michael Scanlon, to reap millions and millions of dollars from their growing client list of Indian Casino Tribes.
Ralph Reed’s participation began to diminish as Abramoff’s and Scanlon’s voracious greed increased. Why split the money three ways when two can do the trick?
Still, Abramoff and Scanlon needed Reed as an agent on the ground in the South, where his established network and proven tactics were most politically effective.
In one particularly reprehensible episode which occurred in late 2001, the three principals worked in concert by bringing the full force of state and national government power, along with Reed’s successfully manufactured public outcry, to close down an Indian casino in the state of Texas so as to preserve the profits of one of their Indian client’s casinos in Louisiana.
By re-engaging the victorious gameplan that he had used twice already in Alabama in 1999 and 2000, Reed got to work “ginning” up the opposition to the southeast Texas casino from his trusty network of pastors and church memberships there.
Abramoff, Scanlon and Reed hit the jackpot when their efforts were successful in closing down the Tigua Indian Tribe’s Speaking Rock Casino.
The account below details how Abramoff, Scanlon and Reed continued to manipulate the “Faith Community” in Texas—using the exact pattern they had perfected in Alabama.
Abramoff, Scanlon and Reed: A Triumvirate of Greed
Abramoff Brings Former Riley Staffer Scanlon to the Choctaw…
In late 2001, the Choctaw were again looking for a grassroots specialist to help with certain state issues.
Because of the Tribe’s and Rogers’ relationship with and trust in Abramoff, they asked him to recommend a grassroots specialist. This time, Abramoff did not turn to Reed; he instead introduced the Tribe to Scanlon, his partner in crime.
(Recall again that Michael Scanlon had worked as Bob Riley’s congressional Press Secretary before he left Riley’s office to take the same position with Texas Representative Tom Delay.)
Scanlon would resort to the same trickery and manipulation that Reed had employed, especially pushing the buttons of voters in the “Faith Community.”
Abramoff and Scanlon traveled together to Mississippi to meet with the Choctaw. Abramoff introduced Scanlon as an “independent consultant” and an “expert” in grassroots operations.
Abramoff claimed that Scanlon worked with the Christian community in grassroots campaigns, get-out-the-vote campaigns and public relations campaigns. He also said Scanlon was Congressman Tom DeLay’s former staffer and later described him as “DeLay’s dirty tricks guy.”
Abramoff recommended that the Tribe hire Scanlon. Abramoff did not recommend anyone else. Trusting in and relying on Abramoff, the Tribe did so. From the outset, the Tribe understood that Scanlon would hire vendors to perform much of the work, and that Scanlon and his company Capitol Campaign Strategies would provide the strategy, hire and coordinate the vendors, and make the contacts. Although the Tribe expected Scanlon would take a reasonable fee for his work, it intended that most of its payments to Scanlon would be used for grassroots activities such as polling, surveying, media, and analysis.
The Choctaw never intended that any of the money it paid Scanlon would go to Abramoff.
The Tribe, and in particular Chief Martin, were always concerned about how high Scanlon’s fees were. Rogers sometimes asked Scanlon for a reduced budget. To justify Scanlon’s charges, both Abramoff and Scanlon explained that the cost of Scanlon’s work was consistent with the cost of the work Reed had done for the Choctaw.They also explained that it was “the cost of operating under the radar.”
In addition to combating market threats, Scanlon promised to turn the Choctaw into a political powerhouse at the state level. And so, on October 16, 2001, Abramoff asked Scanlon, “By the way, even with this [project] done, don’t we have a large longer term project to do for them there? Remember we promised when we had dinner with the Chief that we would make them the most powerful folks in the state.”
Abramoff was referring to a grandiose plan Scanlon called “Operation Orange.” Part of this plan involved routing Choctaw casino profits in the form of political contributions to Bob Riley’s campaign for governor. In return, the Choctaws received Riley’s favor to fight off any attempts to expand gaming in the state of Alabama. Michael Scanlon’s own financial records, which were entered as evidence into the McCain Senate Committee’s findings, reveal as much. [Link]
The Tribe paid roughly $4,500,000 over two years for Scanlon’s efforts related to “Operation Orange.” Over the same two years, the Tribe also paid Scanlon another $1,000,000 for a separate project. Rogers understood that Scanlon and his companies were conducting polls, performing research, including opposition research, directly lobbying opinion makers, using third parties, and engaging in letter campaigns.
Scanlon told the Choctaw he was mobilizing Christian grassroots groups, such as Global Christian Outreach Network and Concerned Citizens Against Gaming Expansion. These were, in fact, bogus “front groups,” much like the ones that Ralph Reed was famous for using.
In earlier grassroots efforts to protect its market share, the Tribe had grown accustomed to sending payments through conduits at Abramoff’s direction. Abramoff and Scanlon continued the practice of directing the Tribe to route money through conduits.
Common among all of them was that they were all entities over which Abramoff or Scanlon exercised considerable control.
Ultimately, the Choctaw paid approximately $16,500,000 to companies owned or controlled by Scanlon. Unknown to the Choctaw, Scanlon secretly kicked back to Abramoff about $6,364,000—about 50% of his total profit from the Tribe.
Additionally, at Abramoff and Scanlon’s direction, the Tribe paid another $2,000,000 to non-profit organizations where Abramoff was a director.
The Tigua Casino Scam: Alabama Political Tactics in the Big State of Texas…
The McCain Senate Committee saw no evidence suggesting that Jack Abramoff, Michael Scanlon, or Ralph Reed had any influence over the State of Texas’ decision to file suit against the Tigua Tribe in 1999. In fact, it was not until 2001, after the suit was well under way, that Abramoff and Scanlon took an interest in the Tigua and its fight with Texas.
Abramoff and Scanlon’s mutual client, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (“Louisiana Coushatta”), long understood that legalized gaming in Texas would erode its casino’s customer base and revenue. The majority of the Louisiana Coushatta casino’s customers were from Texas, particularly the Houston area.
While the State of Texas was pursuing its case to close the Tigua’s Speaking Rock Casino, press reports indicated that another tribe, the Alabama-Coushatta, was considering opening its own casino in eastern Texas.
Abramoff and Scanlon were insistent with the Louisiana Coushatta Tribal Council that Texas was on the verge of legalizing gaming. Abramoff and Scanlon said that if the Tigua succeeded in its efforts to keep open its casino, the State of Texas would have no choice but to allow the Alabama Coushatta to have a casino.
The Tribe therefore authorized Abramoff and Scanlon to pursue anti-gaming efforts in Texas against the Tigua and the Alabama Coushatta.
To pursue a grassroots efforts against the Tigua, Abramoff turned once again to his longtime friend and business associate, Ralph Reed..
On November 12, 2001, Abramoff wrote to Reed: “Remember I mentioned the NIGC [National Indian Gaming Commission] today? We are going to get them on the Alabama Coushattas and I told our guy to get them on the Tiguas as well. Cornyn (then-Texas Attorney General) needs to get Indians to lead the way. Let us help with that.”
Reed replied, “great work. Get me details so I can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him.” Reed claimed he was already working with Ed Young, pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, to mobilize the top pastors in Houston to provide cover for the State’s anti-gambling efforts.
According to Reed, “[W]e have over 50 pastors mobilized, with a total membership in those churches of over 40,000 – that includes second baptist, which has 12,000 members.”
In its own effort to sway public opinion, the Tigua had earlier embarked upon a public relations campaign. Earlier that day, the Tigua had run articles in newspapers in Austin, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Fort Worth, imploring people to contact then-Texas Attorney General John Cornyn and “beg him to save our families.”
The Tigua also ran a similar fullpage ad in The Washington Post, in the form of a letter to President Bush.
Upon reading about the Tigua’s public relations campaign, Reed advised Abramoff, “i [sic] strongly suggest we start doing patch-throughs to perry and cornyn. [W]e’re getting killed on the phones.”
Apparently, Scanlon had already started that part of the operation.
Reed again claimed he had already mobilized 50 pastors to provide “moral support” to then-Texas Attorney General Cornyn.
On November 15, 2001, Isidro Garza, Chairman of the Kickapoo Tribe informed Abramoff that then-Texas Attorney General Cornyn was “fixing to get hammered in El Paso” and asked “are we prepared to have Ralph Reed move in?”
Abramoff replied, “Absolutely. Ralph and I spoke last night. Cornyn is supposed to call Ralph as soon as he can make it to a phone after El Paso. We should be in good shape.”
By December 2001, Reed apparently was not achieving satisfactory results. With respect to the Alabama Coushatta’s new casino, Abramoff wrote, “We are going to lose this client [Louisiana Coushatta] if we can’t get this thing closed. What can we do? What are they waiting for?”
Reed reported on everything he was doing to ensure the casino would be shut down, and added, “Let’s talk today about what else we might do. But if the client loses us in the meantime, they will not get anyone better to advance their cause.”
On January 7, 2002, Reed reported on his discussions with the Attorney General’s Office, adding “[h]ope these developments help with client”. Reed also reminded Abramoff that the information he had earlier passed on turned out to be true, and confirmed that he had gotten pastors riled up the week before to call the Attorney General’s office.
Reed purportedly continued to supply Abramoff with information from the Attorney General’s office, claiming he was having direct conversations with the Texas Attorney General himself.
While the trio worked to support the State’s legal efforts, evidence also suggests that Abramoff, Scanlon, and Reed worked behind the scenes in Texas to quash the Tigua’s attempts at a legislative solution.
In 2003, Abramoff boasted to a colleague: “A bill is moving (HB809) in the Texas state house which will enable the Indians in Texas to have totally unregulated casinos. It passed out of the house Criminal Jurisprudence Committee by a 6-2 vote. The current Republican Speaker Tom Craddick is a strong supporter.
“Last year we stopped this bill after it passed the house using the Lt. Governor (Bill ratcliff) [sic] to prevent it from being scheduled in the state senate.”
In fact, former Texas Lt. Governor Ratliff did refuse to schedule the legislation for a floor vote in the previous session, the state’s legal efforts succeeded, and the Tigua officially closed its casino on February 12, 2002.
It was a low point for the Tigua. According to Tribal representatives, the revenue generated by the Speaking Rock Casino had helped the Tribe lift its members out of poverty, had enabled the Tribe to provide education for its children and health care for its elders. It created hope where there was none.
Into their desperation and despair entered Abramoff and Scanlon.
I would love to see a Riley family reunion. In a courtroom with all of them in prison jumpsuits !!