Abramoff Bribery

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Link to Abramoff Deal and Dems Screaming

Link with Dems in on this too.

Bush seems to have taken $6000 from the guy.

Among those named by the NRSC as the worst examples of "Democrat hypocrisy" for taking money from Abramoff and his associates are: Sen. Byron Dorgan, (D-N.D.) who received at least $79,300; Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who received at least $45,750; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who received at least $68,941 and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who received at least $6,250.

Dorgan is among the lawmakers who have already returned campaign donations or given those donations to charity.

Bush campaign

President Bush's re-election campaign plans to give away $6,000 in campaign contributions from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Associated Press reported.

Abramoff reportedly raised at least $100,000 for Bush's re-election campaign, earning himself the honorary title of "pioneer."

The White House said Bush does not know Abramoff personally, but it's possible the two met at holiday receptions.

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For the most part, the general public is not paying much attention to this.

If this investigation can clean up this type of thing on both sides of the aisle, I am all for it. If it is just a witch hunt for one (either) party, then no.

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For the most part, the general public is not paying much attention to this. 

If this investigation can clean up this type of thing on both sides of the aisle, I am all for it.  If it is just a witch hunt for one (either) party, then no.

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:clap:

If it gets one crook out of Washington DC it was worth it.

I kept wondering where I knew his name. The Indian swindling with Bruce Babbit. That was it. 1995 and 1996. Int Sec Babbit screwed over some tribes for millions in lobbying fees and attorney costs. Man, glad they finally got the SOB.

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Yeah, they kept them on the "hook" for several years.

Hey Chief, we are working on things for you, but we need a little more $$$$! You know how slow things work in DC.

Bruce Babbitt:

Man Without Shame

No better case for cynicism about politics is currently available that the career of Bruce Babbitt, Interior Secretary in Clinton time, an era now bodied forth by major green groups in their fundraising material as a time when stewardship of the nation's natural resources can contrast finely with the pillage supposedly ushered in by the Cheney-Bush crowd.

Before leaving the Department of Interior, Babbitt promised that he wouldn't cash in on his years of government service by becoming a high-priced DC lawyer. Then he promptly took a job with Latham and Watkins, a big Washington law firm whose clients include some of the roughest environmental pillagers in the business. Babbitt defended his about-face by saying that he needs to make money to pay off his legal bills stemming from an independent counsel investigation into whether or not he committed perjury when he said did not try to shake down Indian tribes for campaign contributions.

Within days of landing his new job as a counsel in the firm's Environmental Litigation shop, Babbitt could be found at the annual gathering of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the $3 billion lobbying arm of the nuclear industry, cheerleading for the planned Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Dump, on Western Shoshone lands in Nevada. The Clinton administration opposed the dump, acting more out of a desire to keep Nevada Sen. Harry Reid happy than any sudden seizure of ecological conscience. "It's a safe, solid geologic repository," Babbitt proclaimed, evoking a standing ovation from the massed nukers, something even Dick Cheney had failed to do when he spoke to the NEI earlier that morning.

Among Babbitt's present clients are two of the biggest developers on The California coast: Washington Mutual, developers of the Ahmanson Ranch in Ventura County and the Hearst ranch at San Simeon below Big Sur. In his last year as interior secretary Babbitt resisted protective measures for the endangered red-legged frog and San Fernando spineflower as endangered species. The spineflower, an ankle high plant with delicate white flowers that resemble baby's breath, was declared to be extinct in 1929, until botanists found several thousand plants growing on the south slope Laskey Mesa, where many of the shops and homes in the 5,500 Ahmanson ranch development are scheduled to be built. The red-legged frog similarly flourishes on Ahmanson property. If Babbitt's Interior Department had rated the species as requiring critical habitat it would been another serious block against development plans.

On April 15 of this year the New York Times published an op-ed by Babbitt arguing for an easing of classification procedures involving endangered species. Neither he not the NYT felt it necessary to disclose that as a lawyer working for Washington Mutual and the Hearsts, Babbitt was a highly interested party.

Babbitt's association with the Hearst Ranch presents an equally unattractive picture of yesterday's supposed protector of the environmental abetting a scheme either to wreck the coastline below Hearst castle south of Big Sur, or extort staggering sums from the feds and the state of California for leaving it alone, at least for the time being until, twenty five years down the road, the costly conservation easements are forgotten and development begins.

During his tenure at Interior, Babbitt ushered through hundreds of complex lands swaps and federal buyouts of private property where potential development plans had been stymied by environmental restrictions. The deals often ended up with the developers getting much more money than their land is worth. The most high profile example was the Headwaters Forest bailout, where corporate raider Charles Hurwitz ran off with more than $480 million for land that an Interior Department land appraiser concluded had a market value of less than $100 million.

A news story by Kenneth Weiss and John Johnson in the Times earlier this week described how lawyers for the Hearst family are taking advantage of a new entirely legal scam whereby 19th century records known as certificates of compliance can be used for such purposes as creating ocean-front parcels and subdivisions, over-riding existing zoning restrictions, even though the original parcels may have been inland and worthless terrain. As the news story made clear, developers have been using the law as leverage to extort huge sums from conservation groups as the price for easements protecting the land.

Hearst lawyers have amassed a parcel of documents that could allow the corporation to chop the 83,000-acre ranch into 279 parcels and create oceanfront subdivisions. According to the Los Angeles Times, Steven Hearst has suggested that the Hearst Corporation may be willing to forego such plans if the government will pony up $300 million or more to buy them out.

Babbitt defends the use of certificates of compliance to maximize the value of the land. "I would advise any client who is considering alternative uses to perfect their rights," he told the Times. "It's good, proper and correct to do that." Yes, this is the Interior Secretary who, with vice president Al Gore, railed against developments eroding America's natural treasures. Is there a better argument than Babbitt for the Naderites' case that on the practical level the two parties are one, and the despoliation continues whether Babbitt or Gale Norton run Interior or which one of them spins through the revolving door and go to work for a firm like Latham and Watkins.

http://www.counterpunch.org/babbitt2.html

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Among those named by the NRSC as the worst examples of "Democrat hypocrisy" for taking money from Abramoff and his associates are: Sen. Byron Dorgan, (D-N.D.) who received at least $79,300; Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who received at least $45,750; Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who received at least $68,941 and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), who received at least $6,250.

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Business interests tend to give to key legislators from both parties on the committees that affect their interests the most, e.g. GE will give to both parties. These tribes were not different in that regard. But the statement "taking money from Abramoff and his associates" is false. Abramoff did not give money to Democrats.

Look to the sham "charities" he set up and where the money went. Look to whose family members were on his payroll. That should tell you how this scandal tilts.

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Abramoff did not give money to Democrats.

Maybe true but only by a technicality. The sham charities directed by him gave tons of cash to Democrats.

From an Indian Charity News Site.

Some of the returned donations included:

• Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), $15,000 to charities

• Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenessee), $2,000 to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe

• Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), $4,000 to three tribes

• Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), $2,000 to the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society

• Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota), $8,250 to Running Strong for American Indian Youth

• Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Illinois), $2,000 to Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

• Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), $500 to the Tigua Tribe

• Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), nearly $19,000 to Montana's seven tribal colleges

• Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), about $150,000 to Native American charities and refunded to tribes

• Sen. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), $3,750 to North Dakota's tribal colleges

• Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), $1,000 to the American Indian College Fund

Again, Abramoff may not have "given" the Dems money, he just got his people and clients to donate tons of cash to the Dems.

Sen. Baucus returns Abramoff campaign donations

WASHINGTON (AP) — A second senator involved in the congressional investigation of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff is giving away campaign donations connected to the lobbyist, including money used for a 2001 fundraiser in Abramoff's skybox.

Montana Sen. Max Baucus, ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is donating $18,892 he once received from Abramoff's clients and associates to seven tribal colleges in his state. The committee is part of a wide-ranging congressional investigation of Abramoff's activities.

Included in the total is an estimated $1,892 that was never reported for the use of Abramoff's skybox at the MCI Center in downtown Washington, D.C., in March 2001.

Spokesman Barrett Kaiser said that Baucus has never met Abramoff and never took any contributions directly from him.

“He thought it was the right thing to do on principle,'' he said.

North Dakota Sen. Byron Dorgan, ranking Democrat on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, returned $67,000 in donations earlier this month. That committee is also investigating Abramoff.

Montana's other two members of Congress, Republican Sen. Conrad Burns and Republican Rep. Denny Rehberg, returned their own Abramoff-related contributions last week. Burns returned an estimated $150,000, while Rehberg returned almost $20,000.

Abramoff, already charged with fraud in a separate Florida case, is at the center of a federal probe that has entangled at least a half dozen lawmakers and Bush administration officials. The Justice Department is investigating whether he won any undue influence through donations and favors.

Kaiser said that one of Abramoff's associates, Ronald L. Platt, threw the skybox fundraiser for the senator but then failed to provide the required expense report. The Baucus campaign then made an error in not following up and reporting the fundraiser, Kaiser said.

In a Dec. 15, 2005 letter, Platt told the Baucus campaign he would personally reimburse the Mississippi Choctaw Tribe, a former client of Abramoff's who also had a stake in the skybox and was charged for several events there, for the full amount of the fundraiser. Platt said in his letter that the tribe was ``the primary funding source'' for the cost of the suite.

That money will be reported as an in-kind contribution to Baucus and donated to the tribal colleges, Kaiser said.

Documents the Senate released show Abramoff charged the Choctaws $223,679 to underwrite use of the skybox in 2001, even though the tribe very rarely used it.

The Associated Press has reported that Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, received a total of $62,000 in Abramoff-related donations. He also sent a 2002 letter urging that Interior Secretary Gale Norton reject a request for a new casino considered a threat to some of Abramoff's tribal clients.

The AP has also reported that Burns, who is seeking re-election next year, and his staff met Abramoff's lobbying team on at least eight occasions in 2001 and collected $12,000 in donations around the time that Burns took legislative action favorable to Abramoff's clients in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Burns is chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and is a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, both of which were considering legislation important to Abramoff's clients.

Link to Washington Times Article

Senate Democrats also 'ensnared' in scandal

By Amy Fagan

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

January 5, 2006

The National Republican Senatorial Committee said yesterday that almost all Senate Democrats have accepted money from scandal-plagued lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his associates or his Indian tribe clients.

    "I think Democrats might want to be a little bit careful before they start pointing fingers," said Sean Spicer, spokesman for the House Republican Conference. "This is something that has ensnared both parties."

    The Senate campaign committee said 39 of the Senate's 44 Democrats, plus Democrat-leaning independent James M. Jeffords of Vermont, have taken funds from Abramoff, directly or indirectly.

Tex, there are literally hundreds of articles that prove this is bogus. But if you are trying to make the case that he didnt give the Dems cash DIRECTLY, well I could cut you some slack on that for a short while. He gave money to dozens of Dems either from his or another's wallet. Either way, he controlled and steered it.

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Abramoff did not give money to Democrats.

Maybe true but only by a technicality. The sham charities directed by him gave tons of cash to Democrats.

From an Indian Charity News Site.

Some of the returned donations included:

• Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), $15,000 to charities

• Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenessee), $2,000 to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe

• Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Arizona), $4,000 to three tribes

• Sen. John Thune (R-South Dakota), $2,000 to the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society

• Sen. Tim Johnson (D-South Dakota), $8,250 to Running Strong for American Indian Youth

• Rep. Donald Manzullo (R-Illinois), $2,000 to Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

• Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), $500 to the Tigua Tribe

• Sen. Max Baucus (D-Montana), nearly $19,000 to Montana's seven tribal colleges

• Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Montana), about $150,000 to Native American charities and refunded to tribes

• Sen. Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota), $3,750 to North Dakota's tribal colleges

• Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio), $1,000 to the American Indian College Fund

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Read this more closely. Several Senators are giving what they got from tribes, as I previously indicated, to charities. They did not get those funds from the "The sham charities directed by him."

Here's one of them:

Abramoff arranged for the hiring of several Congressional wives, including Christine DeLay, wife of the Majority Whip. (Christine DeLay took four years to research the favorite charity of each member of Congress, for which she was paid $115,000. Nice work if you can get it.) Abramoff frequently used his D.C. charity, Capital Athletic Foundation, as a pass-through organization to run lobbying efforts and to pay for expenses, including retaining the services of a firm owned by Republican California Rep. John Doolittle's wife Julie, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc. Abramoff is also accused of misusing his charity to fund activities like an Israeli sniper school on the West Bank.

Abramoff also allegedly misused a conservative D.C. think tank on whose board he served, the National Center for Public Policy Research. The group was allegedly used to launder $50,000 to pay for a May 2000 trip by DeLay, his wife, Rudy, and another DeLay aide to Scotland. Two months later, DeLay helped kill a anti-gambling bill, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, opposed by Abramoff clients. In 2002 the Choctaw tribe, a client of Abramoff's, donated $1 million to the center and in 2003 Greenberg Traurig gave $1.5 million in "grants" that originated from an Abramoff client. In 2003, the National Center paid $1.275 million for consulting services to Kaygold, an LLC controlled by Abramoff.

Former Preston Gates colleague David Safavian, who had been appointed by Bush as head of the General Services Administration, was arrested in September 2005 and charged with lying and obstruction of justice in conjunction with an investigation into Abramoff's seeking of favors from Safavian while he attempted to buy land from the federal government. Abramoff is also being investigated for having illegally paid for three Scotland golf trips and trips to Moscow and London for DeLay, and a 2002 Scotland trip for then-DeLay aide Tony Rudy, Safavian, Norquist, and Republican Ohio Rep. Robert Ney.

http://www.alternet.org/story/29827/

Still, what we the public knows now is limited. I say root out the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

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Still, what we the public knows now is limited. I say root out the truth and let the chips fall where they may.

I totally support that statement. If they are bad, get rid of them all.

But Tex, the "Returned Donations" implies or admits that the Dems know or acknowledge that they are involved with getting money from him too. This is going to get real messy. I for one welcome it. While I dont as a rule trust many things in the Dem Party, I also very straight forwardly tell you that many Reps are NOT doing what they said they would when they got elected. I fully expected fiscal restraint and a balanced budget. I did not expect them to look like Tip O'Neill's HOR. So anything that gets rid of the spend at will congress is fine with me.

May this take down all the Pork-Barrel Polka Kings and Queens.

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But Tex, the "Returned Donations" implies or admits that the Dems know or acknowledge that they are involved with getting money from him too.

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Not necessarily. The Republican Senator from Montana originally said he would not return any money-- he had received about 150K-- b/c he had not done anything improper. I don't know if that it true or not, but he reversed himself b/c he was concerned with the appearance. Some Dems aren't returning the money, claiming they did nothing wrong. It is a can't win situation.

Some things seem rather obviously wrong, such as paying Mrs. Tom Delay $115,000 to compile a list of charities. What else will get sorted out, I don't know. But if you study Abramoff's history and associations, he was clearly committed to consolidating Republican power since his days running the College Republicans. Whether or not some Dems got dirty in the process, I guess we'll find out. But the Republican spin on this is misleading, and often flat out wrong.

It is interesting that Bush only returned the $6,000 that Abramoff personally gave the campaign. Not the $5000 he gave to the recount fund or the $100,000 he raised as one of Bush's top fundraisers. Abramoff was able to get his guy appointed by Bush as the head of the General Services Administration. How far will Alberto Gonzalez allow this to investigation to go? It will be interesting to watch.

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All true but Abramoff was the Indian Counsel while Babbitt was screwing them up front and personal. Heres hoping they all rot in Jail. Babbitt is now just this side of Satan in most Tribes eyes. He took more money and scammed them more than anyone in US history since 1900. Babbitt and Abramoff were working toe to toe back in the 90s with the Indians. Now, Abramoff owns the company that owns the Casinos the Indians were wanting to build. He was fighting the Indians while taking money from them, as directed by Babbitt, and then sending the cash to legislators who were diametrically opposed to the Casinos being built. Yet, he now owns the Casinos that were built but not by the Indians. Babbitt was just taking cash from them and NOT SIGNING the paper work that the Indians needed to start building. That allowed SunCruz, etc to step in and build them first.

Hope they all burn in Hell, Dem Babbitt, Abramoff and anyone associated with them, Dem or Rep.

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All true but Abramoff was the Indian Counsel while Babbitt was screwing them up front and personal. Heres hoping they all rot in Jail. Babbitt is now just this side of Satan in most Tribes eyes. He took more money and scammed them more than anyone in US history since 1900. Babbitt and Abramoff were working toe to toe back in the 90s with the Indians. Now, Abramoff owns the company that owns the Casinos the Indians were wanting to build. He was fighting the Indians while taking money from them, as directed by Babbitt, and then sending the cash to legislators who were diametrically opposed to the Casinos being built. Yet, he now owns the Casinos that were built but not by the Indians. Babbitt was just taking cash from them and NOT SIGNING the paper work that the Indians needed to start building. That allowed SunCruz, etc to step in and build them first.

Hope they all burn in Hell, Dem Babbitt, Abramoff and anyone associated with them, Dem or Rep.

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I'm not arguing with it at this point, but do you have a link for all of this?

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All true but Abramoff was the Indian Counsel while Babbitt was screwing them up front and personal. Heres hoping they all rot in Jail. Babbitt is now just this side of Satan in most Tribes eyes. He took more money and scammed them more than anyone in US history since 1900. Babbitt and Abramoff were working toe to toe back in the 90s with the Indians. Now, Abramoff owns the company that owns the Casinos the Indians were wanting to build. He was fighting the Indians while taking money from them, as directed by Babbitt, and then sending the cash to legislators who were diametrically opposed to the Casinos being built. Yet, he now owns the Casinos that were built but not by the Indians. Babbitt was just taking cash from them and NOT SIGNING the paper work that the Indians needed to start building. That allowed SunCruz, etc to step in and build them first.

Hope they all burn in Hell, Dem Babbitt, Abramoff and anyone associated with them, Dem or Rep.

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I'm not arguing with it at this point, but do you have a link for all of this?

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Try this link.

link

And there are plenty of others.

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All true but Abramoff was the Indian Counsel while Babbitt was screwing them up front and personal. Heres hoping they all rot in Jail. Babbitt is now just this side of Satan in most Tribes eyes. He took more money and scammed them more than anyone in US history since 1900. Babbitt and Abramoff were working toe to toe back in the 90s with the Indians. Now, Abramoff owns the company that owns the Casinos the Indians were wanting to build. He was fighting the Indians while taking money from them, as directed by Babbitt, and then sending the cash to legislators who were diametrically opposed to the Casinos being built. Yet, he now owns the Casinos that were built but not by the Indians. Babbitt was just taking cash from them and NOT SIGNING the paper work that the Indians needed to start building. That allowed SunCruz, etc to step in and build them first.

Hope they all burn in Hell, Dem Babbitt, Abramoff and anyone associated with them, Dem or Rep.

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I'm not arguing with it at this point, but do you have a link for all of this?

209531[/snapback]

Try this link.

link

And there are plenty of others.

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Yeah, I had read that, but it didn't support what David was asserting in this post. I have no affinity to Babbit, just curious about what is true and what isn't.

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All true but Abramoff was the Indian Counsel while Babbitt was screwing them up front and personal. Heres hoping they all rot in Jail. Babbitt is now just this side of Satan in most Tribes eyes. He took more money and scammed them more than anyone in US history since 1900. Babbitt and Abramoff were working toe to toe back in the 90s with the Indians. Now, Abramoff owns the company that owns the Casinos the Indians were wanting to build. He was fighting the Indians while taking money from them, as directed by Babbitt, and then sending the cash to legislators who were diametrically opposed to the Casinos being built. Yet, he now owns the Casinos that were built but not by the Indians. Babbitt was just taking cash from them and NOT SIGNING the paper work that the Indians needed to start building. That allowed SunCruz, etc to step in and build them first.

Hope they all burn in Hell, Dem Babbitt, Abramoff and anyone associated with them, Dem or Rep.

209513[/snapback]

I'm not arguing with it at this point, but do you have a link for all of this?

209531[/snapback]

Try this link.

link

And there are plenty of others.

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Yeah, I had read that, but it didn't support what David was asserting in this post. I have no affinity to Babbit, just curious about what is true and what isn't.

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One thing that is true is that he screwed the Indians big time. Which makes me think it probably was not the first time he put the shaft to someone.

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http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article4105.html

http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=4867

WESTERN ROUNDUP - March 15, 1999

Indian money: Where is it?

by Greg Hanscom

A federal judge raked Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt over the coals last month, when he held Babbitt in contempt of court in a lawsuit over unaccounted-for Indian money. Babbitt’s department "engaged in a shocking pattern of deception of the court," said Federal District Court Judge Royce Lamberth. "I have never seen more egregious misconduct by the federal government."

http://enzi.senate.gov/pringam.htm

Senator cautions Babbitt on Indian gambling

"Bruce Babbitt and the department have been accused of favoring one tribe over another in exchange for campaign contributions. There also have been allegations that in other states Babbitt and Interior officials have not properly enforced current laws that apply to Indian gambling," said Enzi. "You would think this is the last area they would want to increase their involvement."