Republican U.S. Senate candidate David Vitter, a vocal critic of a failed plan to build an Indian casino near Lake Charles, was helped by a group with an anti-gambling name that actually had ties to reservation casinos.
The Committee Against Gambling Expansion sent out a mailer supporting Vitter and allowed him to use its name in a phone bank. Vitter said he only recently became aware that the group was actually tied to gambling. In 2002, then-Gov. Mike Foster reached an agreement with Jena Choctaws that would have allowed the tribe to establish a reservation casino at Vinton, closer for Texas gamblers than a popular reservation casino operated by the Coushattas at Kinder. Vitter campaigned against the proposal, which was later struck down by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. In August 2004, it was revealed that Ralph Reed, the one-time head of the Christian Coalition, and his firm, Century Strategies, had raised money and support for the Committee Against Gambling Expansion.
Reed, now the southeastern regional chairman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said his involvement was designed ''to stop casino gambling, pure and simple.'' But Jay Stewart, an attorney for the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, said the coalition was designed to stop casino projects in Louisiana and elsewhere that threatened to cut into the profits of tribes that already had casinos.
Stewart said tribal leaders have told him the group was created with financing from Michael Scanlon, a public relations executive hired by the tribe. ''The tribe understood it to be part of the effort by Scanlon on behalf of the Coushatta to protect market share,'' Stewart said. After a seven-month investigation, the staff of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee concluded that Scanlon and Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff charged six tribes in six states -- including the Coushattas -- $66 million for lobbying and may have manipulated at least two tribal elections to ensure they would get contracts with tribes.
The business dealings of Scanlon, a former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Abramhoff are being investigated by a federal grand jury in Washington.
Summoned before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Sept. 29, Abramhoff invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. During that hearing, committee Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell, R-Colo., quoted from e-mails in which Abramhoff called tribal clients ''morons,'' ''monkeys'' and ''stupid idiots.''
On Friday, Abramhoff spokesman Peter Mirijanian said: ''Mr. Abramoff did not organize, nor has he ever been a member of or had any role in, the management of the Committee Against Gambling Expansion. Mr. Abramoff has no knowledge of the committee's relationship with Congressman Vitter.''
Andrew Koneschusky, a spokesman for the Louisiana Democratic Party, voiced skepticism that Vitter could align himself with the coalition without knowing its ties to gambling.
Vitter said Democrats are trying to divert attention away from casino ties of U.S. Rep. Chris John, who is running against Vitter for the Senate as a Democrat.
The Center for Responsive Politics reported that John has received $42,810 in gambling industry contributions in this election, including $13,310 from the Las Vegas-based MGM Mirage. Vitter said he has returned any gambling contributions he has received.
During Vitter's campaign against the Vinton Casino, the Committee Against Gambling Expansion mounted a direct-mail campaign lauding the congressman's efforts to oppose the Jena Choctaw project. At the time, Vitter was running for governor, but later dropped out of the race. ''Congressman Vitter stood up to the gambling lobby for Louisiana families,'' a card sent to Louisiana residents said. ''Louisiana does not need another casino to drive up crime, divorce and corruption.''
Vitter said he didn't coordinate with the committee or pay for the mailing, but he did later seek permission to use the group's name in his own phone bank operation to defeat a bill in the state Legislature to prohibit him from transferring $700,000 from his congressional campaign account to a possible run for governor.
According to a transcript of the calls obtained by The Times-Picayune, the phone bank callers identified themselves as being with the Committee Against Gambling Expansion and said the legislation was designed to ''punish'' Vitter.
Vitter said he was unaware at the time that the committee was financed by money from Indian tribes that run casinos.
The bill passed, but not before Vitter transferred the money to a gubernatorial account.
|