Nov 2, 2005 at 6:52 PM by Political Chase
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee heard testimony today from Louisiana Coushatta tribal leaders today alleging they paid lobbyist Michael Scanlon, a partner of Jack Abramoff, $870,000 in an effort to gain political protection for their Louisiana gambling casinos.
Scanlon and Abramoff have been associated with senior Bush administration officials and Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX).
The AP reports that, according to the tribal leaders, Scanlon and Abramoff,
“[E]xaggerated the threat of competing casinos opening in Texas and Louisiana to siphon millions from the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and then used the money to pad coffers of personal charities and political allies.”
"They preyed on our political insecurities, economic insecurities and insecurities about each other."
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee was quoted as saying Abramoff and Scanlon viewed the Coushatta as their “money train.”
In October 2001, the tribe paid Michael Scanlon $870,000 to create a grass-roots political structure in Texas because it was told Texas was on the verge of legalizing gambling and that would devastate the Coushatta casino, which relies on customers from Houston, the Senate panel was told.
"Our vulnerability simply provided an opportunity to steal and they hit the jackpot with us," Sickey said of lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Scanlon, his partner.
The Senate committee has been investigating Abramoff and Scanlon, a public relations specialist who formerly was a spokesman for ex-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the more than $80 million they were paid between 2001 and 2004 by six American Indian tribes with gaming casinos.
McCain plans for the investigative committee to issue a report of their findings in January.
As to the Bush administration connections:
McCain said the committee also had subpoenaed Italia Federici, head of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, a group that Interior Secretary Gale Norton helped found before she joined the Bush administration.
Federici did not respond to the subpoena, McCain said. Federici’s group received at least $250,000 in contributions from the Coushatta, but McCain said the committee could not find anything the group did for the tribes.
Another former Bush administration official, David Safavian, who was chief of staff of the General Services Administration, the government’s procurement arm, was charged this fall with making false statements and obstructing a federal investigation of a 2002 golf outing to Scotland that Abramoff took with Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and others.
False statements and obstruction – that has a familiar ring.
Nov 2, 2005 at 4:06 PM by Political Chase
The Washington Post has a piece in today’s edition on the recent discovery of secret CIA prisons. The post reveals the CIA has been “hiding and interrogating some of its most important al Qaeda captives at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe.” The Post would not publish “the names of the Eastern Eurpoean countries involved in the covert program” for the obvious reasons of disrupting counterterrorism operations.
There are obvious and valid reasons for über covert operations. The problem is, the Bush administration’s history has given more than enough reason for distrust: the indictment of Scooter Libby last week provided damning evidence of valid reasons to not trust the administration. Not to lessen the significance of Libby’s indictment, but his alleged crimes are a mere grain of sand in the overall picture.
The renditons and detainee abuse that rose to public awareness many months ago; the purposeful misleading of reasons to invade Iraq; the scandal, corruption, and crime that surround the White House – when mixed together or even held separately, it is impossible to know what to believe, what to question or when to accuse.
As I said previously, a significant problem resulting from the Plame-Wilson matter, and the falsehoods employed to lead us into war, the administration can no longer be trusted. Now, do we accept by default that the CIA operations exposed in the Post are points of concern or acceptable CIA operations?
The answer resides in the fact that the Post ran the piece. The operations could be appropriate, but we are compelled to dig deeper for the truth and in the end that does effect counterterrorism operations. It’s like answering the question, when did you stop beating your wife. And, whose fault is that?
The administration’s answer and defense (valid or invalid) for every event or disclosure is the war on terrorism. Where does that begin and end? Where should it begin and end? And, how much of that should continue to be the autonomous privilege of the president. The Constitution provided Congress the power of declaring war, not the president. It is time for Congress to step in and take control of their responsibilities and limit the power of the president to his constitutionally provided authority. Mabye, yesterday’s demand of a closed session is the beginning.
Nov 2, 2005 at 6:47 AM by Political Chase
For the past two days I have been researching a tip, which has kept me from keeping the information flow going here. The tip, if well grounded, is well timed with the events happening in Washington now, but the necessity to keep things going here is equally as important. I have decided I need an additional person to help keep things balanced.
I haven’t had time to thoroughly think through the requirements, but I can make a general statement. I would like to find someone who is willing to be a partner; terms negotiable - will consider merger.
The second option, not necessarily in terms of priority, is an associate. Assist with publishing - staying on top of current events, research developing stories, etc. The associate role will be 10 - 15 hours a week (flexible and more if wanted). This would be an internship or apprentice type role, with a focus on the future. The associate role is not a paid position, but has the potential for partnership. Web development or minor programming skills would be helpful, but is not a minimum requirement. In other words, someone who has a developing passion for current events, and wants to make a difference.
If interested, let me know by using the Send Comments in the navigation bar (top right corner of page).
—- David Pleasant
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