Indianz.Com > News > Blog: Tribes knew what they got with Abramoff

Blog: Tribes knew what they got with Abramoff
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Filed Under: Abramoff Scandal | Politics

"A caucus of American Indian political leaders in Denver is considering a resolution that ties convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff to Republican presidential candidate John McCain — through the person of Ralph Reed.

Here’s the problem. Basically, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by McCain, found that Indian tribes — who were operating high-dollar casinos — knew exactly what they were getting when they hired Reed to turn out evangelicals to beat down gambling competition in nearby locales.

In other words, Tribe A was out to sabotage the livelihood of Tribe B. And this is one of the reasons, perhaps, why Reed was not called to testify. This kind of inter-tribal warfare wouldn’t have been a pleasant site.

McCain’s committee also found that Abramoff’s cheating of the tribes began after the lobbyist had cut his friend out of the money. In essence, Abramoff and an accompliced faked the services that Reed had been supplying in actuality."

Get the Story:
Political Insider: Reed, Abramoff and McCain the target of American Indians in Denver (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 8/26)
Sam Dealey: Abramoff Sentences Looming? (US News and World Report 8/26)

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