The Players - Finances

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Ralph Reed

Former Executive director of the Christian Coalition;

GOP

operative and

Grassroots Lobbyist

; Founder and President of Century Strategies; Close

associate of Jack Abramoff

Ralph Reed is the P

ied Piper of the Religious Right

ne of

Abramoff's oldest friends and closest business associates

since

College Republican National Committee in the early 1980s.

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ack Abramoff

Lobbyist and Republican politic

an activist ; a

protégé

of Tom DeLay and

Karl Rove.

Jack Abramoff is a former American political lobbyist, a

Republican

political activist and businessman who was a central

figure in a series

of high-profile political scandals. Jack Abramoff

was named in the

McCain Congressional investigations of Indian

Affairs as the recipient

of 13 million dollars to funnel from the

Mississippi Choctaw Indian Tribe

to Alabaman politicians to

defeat Don S

gelman and the lottery in

Alabama.

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Edwin A. Buckham - The U.S. Family Network

DeLay's former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated

in the

1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to

be a

nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost

entirely by

corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack

Abramoff, according to

tax records and former associates of the

group.

During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised

$2.5

million

but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by

The

Washington Post,

shows that $1 million of its revenue came

in a single

1998 check from a

now-defunct London law firm

whose former

partners would not identify the

money's origins.

Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham said Buckham told

them

the

funds came from Russian oil and gas executives.

Abramoff had

been

working closely with two such Russian

energy executives on their

Washington agenda, and the lobbyist

and Buckham had helped

organize a

1997 Moscow visit by

DeLay (R-Tex.).

In March 1999, after the [Choctaws] had paid a substantial sum

directly

the U.S. Family Network, Buckham expressed his

general gratitude

Abramoff in an e-mail. "I really appreciate

you going to bat for us.

Remember it is the first bit of money that

is always the hardest, but

means

the most," Buckham said,

according to a copy. He added: "Pray

for God's

wisdom. I really

believe this is supposed to be what we are

doing to

save

our

team

During this period, a fundraising letter on the U.S. Family

Network

stationery was sent to residents of Alabama,

announcing a petition

drive to

promote a cause of interest to

Abramoff's Indian gambling

clients in

Mississippi and Louisiana,

including the Choctaw casino that

drew many

customers from

Alabama: the blocking of a rival casino

proposed by the

Poarch

Creek Indians on their land in Alabama.

"The American family is under attack from all sides: crime,

drugs,

pornography, and one of the least talked about but

equally as

destructive --

gambling," said the group's letter, which

was signed by

then-Rep. Bob

Riley (R), now the Alabama

governor. "We need your

help today . . . to

prevent the Poarch

Creek Indians from building

casinos in Alabama."

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Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007
<feedb ack>
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Who are the Players?
FINANCING

photo: conservapedia

Ralph Reed took millions from Indian
Casinos to fight other Indian Casinos
under the banner of family values.

photo: TIME magazine

Jack Abramoff, political lobbyist for the
Bush White House, was central to a
series of high-profile political scandals.