Huh. Imagine That

Updated!! Man, this stuff just keeps rolling in. Jack helps out the Coushatta tribe from Lousiana. Washington Post (03.13.05), via The Moose and his good friends at TheVastRightWingGamingConspiracy^®:

"When a ragtag band of Louisiana Indians won their governor's support for a casino three years ago, they never could have fathomed the powerful cast of characters who would collaborate to flatten them. Jack Abramoff, one of Washington's most prominent Republican lobbyists, tapped into the gambling riches of a rival tribe to orchestrate a far-reaching campaign against the Jena Band of Choctaws -- calling on senior U.S. senators and congressmen, the deputy secretary of the interior and evangelical leaders James Dobson and Ralph Reed." Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying

As you read this, and you have to read it, keep this handy: "The Players". Just like a scorecard, it'll help you keep track. Oh where, oh where, did the donations go? Oh where, oh where can they be? MSNBC (March 21 issue):

"The FBI is trying to trace what happened to $2.5 million in payments to a conservative Washington think tank that were routed to accounts controlled by two lobbyists with close ties to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, NEWSWEEK has learned. The payments to the National Center for Public Policy Research were meant for a PR campaign promoting Indian gaming, center officials said. But internal e-mails obtained by NEWSWEEK show the lobbyists, Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, DeLay's former press secretary, never documented any work performed or explained what they did with the money despite repeated requests." Money: So Where Did It Go?

Bet Tom DeLay is just happier than hell about all this. "'I wish those moronic Tiguas were smarter in their political contributions,' (Jack) Abramoff wrote in one e-mail. 'I’d love to get our mitts on that moolah.'" Jack worked with the Choctaw too. Washington Post (03.12.05):

"An Indian tribe and a gambling services company made donations to a Washington public policy group that covered most of the cost of a $70,000 trip to Britain by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R - TX22), his wife, two aides and two lobbyists in mid-2000, two months before DeLay helped kill legislation opposed by the tribe and the company. The sponsor of the week-long trip listed in DeLay's financial disclosures was the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research, but a person involved in arranging DeLay's travel said that lobbyist Jack Abramoff suggested the trip and then arranged for checks to be sent by two of his clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery Inc." Gambling Interests Funded DeLay Trip ()

Background on Mr. Abramoff, a "power broker for offshore sweatshops and for American Indian casinos in the 1990s. A self-described ultraconservative Orthodox Jew, Abramoff is a longtime pal of Bush brain Karl Rove, antitax guru Grover Nordquist, and religious-right leader Ralph Reed." July 16, 2004: "Ex-Lobbyist Is Focus of Widening Investigations" September 29, 2004: "'Cesspool Of Greed' D.C-Style" November 17, 2004: "Indian Tribe Files $32 Million Lawsuit Against Lobbyist Jack Abramoff" November 18, 2004: "Papers Show Tribe Paid to Try to Sway Bill" November 19, 2004: "K Street Croupiers - How Two of Tom DeLay's Players Beat the House at the Grand Coushatta Casino" March 3, 2005: "WiFi fight involves Abramoff" (Hell, here's all The Hill's articles, to date that is). December, 2004: "Ralph Reed's Other Cheek" December 29, 2004: "Hayworth didn't report value of skybox gifts" "To be honest Jack, I think you're fucked."