JAN 19 20101. Governor Bob Riley Gambling with Alabama Politics
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1. Governor Bob Riley Gambling with
Alabama Politics
By Rebecca Abrahams for Huffington Post
According to a 2002 US Senate Indian Affairs Committee report,
disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff boasted the Choctaw tribe spent
$13 million to elect Riley in 2002. The report states Abramoff told
William Worfel, the former Vice Chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of
Louisiana, that Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin spent the
money to protect the Choctaw's gaming enterprise.
- "to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of
Alabama so it wouldn't hurt . . . his market in Mississippi."
Riley's former congressional press secretary, received $4.5 million
over two years to protect the Choctaw's gaming interests through the
scheme known as "Operation Orange."
Records show in October 2002, Scanlon sent $500,000 to Riley
during his gubernatorial campaign. The funds were filtered through
the Republican Governors Association and the Republican National
State Elections Committee. Documents indicate the funds were
increased to $600,000 when Riley received payment.
Clearly Scanlon benefited from the Mississippi Choctaw casino
revenues and since millions were spent to elect Riley, there's no way
the Governor could ever allow gambling in Alabama, which is only an
hour away from the Mississippi Choctaw casinos.
Riley continues to deny such allegations despite recent charges by
his former cabinet member Bill Johnson that hid did accept money
from the Choctaws during his gubernatorial election.
Johnson, a Republican candidate for Governor, says in 2002, Riley's
Chief of Staff Dan Gans, told him that he was coordinating the
Mississippi Indian contributions for Riley's campaign. Johnson says it
wasn't until the Governor formed his anti-gambling task force and
began raiding bingo halls across the state that he began to realize
that outside money could be influencing public policy in Alabama.
"I knew about the Abramoff stuff and knew about Mike Scanlon when
the Congressman (Scanlon) was wrapped up in all of that but it never
seemed like it was getting close to the Governor until it started to
become quid pro quo."
Gans denies ever taking the meeting with Johnson and Riley's office
denounced Johnson as a low level employee who could not
conceivably be close enough to the Governor to have such
knowledge. Yet Johnson has clearly touched a nerve. He's received
several death threats and most recently, the Republican leadership in
his home county filed a resolution banning him from addressing
members of his party.
<source>
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| Jack Abramoff's corrupt gambling interests seem to guide Alabama gambling policy today. |
