Indian Casino Lobbyist Jack Abramoff Indicted for Defrauding Tribes

Casino lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax invasion in federal court yesterday.

The entire U.S. political world is awaiting the progression of the trial with baited breath, since Abramoff told prosecutors that he did not work alone; in exchange for a lighter sentence, the defendant has agreed to out all of the other players in his dirty game. According to the disgraced lobbyists, several members of Congress received money, meals, vacations, and other perks from Abramoff in exchange for promises to vote in a particular manner.

The charges involve Abramoff’s dealings with a series of Indian tribes, for whom he was a casino lobbyist. While portraying himself as a righteous man who campaigned for each Indian tribe’s right to establish a casino, Abramoff was actually stealing millions of dollars from the tribes.

Abramoff’s typical scheme was as follows: he would approach an Indian tribe that wished to build a casino and promise to lobby members of Congress to issue a casino permit. He would urge the tribe to pay his “associates,” the Capitol Campaign Strategies company run by his partner Michael Scanlon, while not revealing that he in fact would receive a large chunk of the fee. Scanlon, who is a former Tom DeLay press secretary, was indicted in a related case for fraudulent casino dealings.

Additionally, Abramoff told tribes that, in order to score a casino license, they would have to contribute significant amounts of money to public officials. Several dozen members of Congress received funds from tribes at Ambramoff’s suggestion. As the tale of the lobbyist’s wrongdoings surfaced, Congressmen began to return the funds. To date, at least two dozen members of Congress have returned the contributions. Senator Byron L. Dorgan (North Dakota- D.) returned $67,000, while Senator Conrad Burns (Montana- R.) returned $150,000.

To add insult to injury, a review of Abramoff’s emails to partners have revealed an utterly devastating attitude towards his clients. One email said, “I'd love us to get our mitts on that moola!! Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out," referring to tribal officials as “moronic.”

The Justice Department promised to carry out the investigation aggressively, regardless of the many prominent heads that may roll. Alice S. Fisher, who heads the Justice Department's criminal division made the following comments to reporters at a press conference: ''Government officials and government action are not for sale. The Justice Department will aggressively investigate and prosecute these types of cases, which have a devastating impact on the public's trust of government."

Abramoff first began lobbying for Indian casino -seekers in the late 1990s, when some members of Congress were pushing for a tax on Indian casino profits. Several tribes hired Abramoff to lobby against the measure.

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