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Lobbyists, PAC's, and Financial Backing
Lobbyists, PAC's, and Financial Backing
Jack Abramoff
Lobbyist and Republican politican activist ; a protege 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 Seigelman and the lottery in Alabama.
<link to source Wikipedia>
The Indian Lobbying Scandal
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a political scandal
relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack
Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael
Scanlon on behalf of Indian casino gambling interests for an
estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly
overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multimillion-dollar
profits. In one case, they secretly orchestrated lobbying against
their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying
services.
In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists are accused of illegally giving
gifts and making campaign donations to legislators in return for votes or
support of legislation.
<link to source at Wikipedia>
<more at the Washington Post>
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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 to
the U.S. Family Network, Buckham expressed his general gratitude to
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."
<link to source - Washington Post>
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