Probe of lobbyist expands to charity Abramoff

[seemslikeadream]

Senate committee wants to know why tribes paid into sportsmanship charity

Doug Abrahms
Desert Sun Washington Bureau
March 18, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Senate Finance Committee has asked for charity records from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, expanding the investigation of the Washington insider who collected at least $66 million from several Indian tribes that operate casinos.

The committee sent a letter Wednesday to the Capital Athletic Foundation, a charity set up by Abramoff to promote sportsmanship. Most of that charity's $2.6 million budget went to fund Eshkol Academy, a Jewish high school set up by Abramoff, according to tax records.

The committee wants to know why tribes such as the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians donated $1 million and the Saginaw Chippewas of Michigan donated $25,000 to Abramoff's foundation.

...


The Agua Calientes of Palm Springs paid Abramoff and his associate Michael Scanlon more than $10 million for their services in trying to secure a new state gambling contract with then-Gov. Gray Davis.

more
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050318/NEWS06/503180337/1003

[seemslikeadream]

1. Vitter fund-raiser put on by lobbyist Backer faces probe of charges to tri

Thursday, March 17, 2005
By Bill Walsh
Washington bureau

...

Vitter, however, didn't deny Wednesday knowing that Abramoff organized the fund-raiser for him on Sept. 9, 2003. He also acknowledged knowing at the time that the lobbyist was representing Indian tribes operating casinos. Both Vitter and Abramoff opposed a proposed Choctaw Indian casino in Jena, but Vitter said the fund-raiser was not a reward for services.

...

In 2002, a group set up by Abramoff's business associate, Michael Scanlon, funded a direct-mail campaign benefiting Vitter. The group, called Committee Against Gambling Expansion, sent out mailers in the state touting Vitter's antigambling credentials. Vitter later used the group's name in a phone-bank operation. He said he didn't find out until much later that the group was connected to gambling interests.

...

Two months after the fund-raiser, Vitter inserted language into an appropriations bill designed to block the Jena Choctaw casino. Vitter had attempted to add similar language a year earlier, but was unsuccessful. He had also written to the Interior Department seeking to block the casino project. After the federal government opposed it, the casino was never built.

Roll Call reported earlier this month on one other connection between Vitter and Abramoff. It said that when Vitter was drafting legislation to insert into the Interior Department appropriations bill, he turned to Abramoff's law firm for assistance. Vitter said he sought assistance from the firm because it had expertise in Indian gambling issues.
more
http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/washington/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1111043349302230.xml

[starroute]

2. This has been kicking around for months

Foundation's Funds Diverted From Mission
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55283-2004Sep27.html

In its first four years of operation, the charity has collected nearly $6 million. A gala fundraiser last year at the International Spy Museum at one point attracted the Washington Redskins' owner as its chairman and was to honor the co-founder of America Online.

But tax and spending records of the Capital Athletic Foundation obtained by The Washington Post show that less than 1 percent of its revenue has been spent on sports-related programs for youths.

Instead, the documents show that Jack Abramoff, one of Washington's high-powered Republican lobbyists, has repeatedly channeled money from corporate clients into the foundation and spent the overwhelming portion of its money on pet projects having little to do with the advertised sportsmanship programs, including political causes, a short-lived religious school and an overseas golf trip.

See also "K Street Croupiers"
http://www.mollyivins.com/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1800