Last updated: May 20, 2016 5:27 pm

Trump stands by casino scandal claim

Gary Silverman in New York

©Getty

Donald Trump, the Republican party presidential candidate, says he was “100 per cent right” when he claimed that the spread of Native American casinos in the US would lead to scandal.

Indian gaming boomed after President Ronald Reagan signed a 1988 law that paved the way for Native American tribes to compete against the two casino centres of the time — Nevada in the west and Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the east.

Mr Trump, as the owner of three Atlantic City casinos, emerged as a vociferous opponent of the deregulation of gambling, arguing that Native American tribes would be unable to police their casinos as well as he and other established operators did.

In 2000, Mr Trump and his associates — without admitting guilt — agreed to pay a $250,000 civil penalty after New York regulators uncovered evidence that he had secretly funded advertisements that attacked a Native American tribe called the St Regis Mohawks that was seeking to open a second casino in the state.

The broadsides claimed the tribe had a long history of drug dealing, smuggling and other the crimes. “Are these the new neighbors we want?” one asked. “The St Regis Mohawk Indian record of criminal activity is well documented.”

Mr Trump’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment for an FT report this week on his battles with Native American casino rivals. After the story appeared online, Mr Trump, who has retreated from the gambling business in recent years, fired back in an email sent by his spokeswoman, Hope Hicks.

“I was 100 per cent right about this — it was the Jack Abrahamoff scandal,” Mr Trump said on Thursday night.

Jack Abramoff, as his name is spelt, was a powerful conservative lobbyist in Washington who served more than three years in prison after pleading guilty in 2006 to federal charges arising from his work for Native American tribes. Prosecutors claimed that Mr Abramoff corrupted public officials and defrauded Native American tribes that were either operating casinos or seeking to do so.

As late as the early 1990s, I believe, justice department wiretaps captured organised crime figures attempting to infiltrate Indian casinos. However, organised crime was not very successful

- Professor Kevin Washburn, University of New Mexico

The scandal ensnared politicians including Bob Ney, a Republican member of the House of Representatives who pleaded guilty to criminal charges after admitting he accepted gifts from Mr Abramoff that included a $160,000 Scottish golfing trip with two of his aides.

Although Mr Trump claimed that the spread of Native American casinos would foster criminality, he failed to predict so many of the perpetrators would be political power-brokers from the party he now hopes to lead.

Mr Trump’s warnings focused on traditional organised crime. In 1993 testimony before a House subcommittee, he said he doubted “an Indian chief is going to tell Joey Killer to please get off his reservation”.

“Organised crime . . . is rampant on the Indian reservations,” Mr Trump said at the time. “It will be the biggest scandal ever or one of the biggest scandals since Al Capone in terms of organised crime.”

Kevin Washburn, a University of New Mexico law professor who formerly served as general counsel for the federal agency that regulates Indian gaming and as assistant secretary of the interior for Indian affairs, said concerns that mobsters in the Capone mould would penetrate Indian casinos have faded in recent years.

“As late as the early 1990s, I believe, justice department wiretaps captured organised crime figures attempting to infiltrate Indian casinos,” he said. “However, organised crime was not very successful. By the very early 2000s, the Department of Justice stopped mentioning organised crime in its testimony before annual congressional oversight hearings on Indian gaming.”

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8ebc3112-1ea2-11e6-a7bc-ee846770ec15.html

Thank Walter Brooks for this gem!

Ex-Rep. Bill Delahunt: Three-county pot dealer?

He is the president of Medical Marijuana operations in Mashpee, Plymouth and Taunton

Article | Politics, Etc. | November 26, 2013 - 12:00pm | By Walter Brooks

 

Longtime United States Congressman heads a three-county pot shop

Plans Medical Marijuana operations in Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth Counties

He was a county prosecutor for years and the United States Congressman for Cape Cod, the South Shore and the Islands for almost two decades until he retired amid questions about his handling of the Amy Bishop murder investigation.

You might assume that Bill Delahunt was quietly walking off stage with his double-pension and lobbying agency income, but apparently not.

Former Congressman Bill Delahunt is now looking to open three medical marijuana centers. A born hustler, Delahunt has several jobs now that he's retired and receiving a huge taxpayer-paid pension.

He runs The Delahunt Group, his own government relations firm, and he’s a "special counsel" at Eckert Seamans’ Boston office.

Now, according to the Boston Business Journal, Delahunt, who is president of Medical Marijuana of Massachusetts, is planning on opening three separate marijuana operations in three different counties, Barnstable, Bristol and Plymouth.

As the State Department of Public Health released a list of 100 applicants who are now in the second phase of a quest for medical marijuana dispensary licenses shows, Delahunt's Cape Cod marijuana operation is planned for Mashpee. His other pot shops are planned in Plymouth and Taunton.

A longtime "double-dipper"

In 1997, in his first term as our congressman, Delahunt was a major player in the legislative push back to give district attorneys like himself special pension deals which meant a $54,081 pension on top of his $174,000 congressional salary.

During his last ten years on the public dole he railed against government incentives for offshore wind, but he earmarked and tapped into federal money for wind turbines that would be much closer to shore than Cape Wind, and got paid off by the town of Hull for doing so.

As a member of congressional committees, he used his connections the minute he left office to set up his own public relations firm and represent the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe in their efforts to get a casino, and got a annual pay-off of $140,000 from the tribe.

As the Political website AllGov reported:

"In what may be the first of its kind, a congressman who once earmarked money for a local alternative energy project is financially benefiting from the very same project, now that he has left office.

 

William Delahunt (D-Massachusetts) served in the House of Representatives for 14 years. Less than two months after leaving office in January 2011, he founded a lobbying company called the Delahunt Group. He had no problem finding clients, starting with the casino-seeking Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which had previously been represented by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. While in office, Delahunt had arranged earmarks worth $400,000 for the tribe.

 

Delahunt also secured a contract with the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman’s Association, for whom, in 2010, he had helped arrange a federal loan.

But for Delahunt the big bucks are coming from a wind energy research project in the town of Hull, Massachusetts, to which he directed $1.7 million in taxpayer money. Today, the Delahunt Group is being paid $15,000 a month by the project’s leadership to help it continue its development.

 

Read the past stories about this 9-term U.S. Congressman here.

Related Content:

Hypocrisy thy name is Delahunt

What took you so long, Mr. Delahunt?

Romney, Delahunt, Hugo Chavez and wind money

Beatty says terrorists would eat people like Delahunt for breakfast

The killers William Delahunt failed to prosecute

Lobbyist Delahunt makes his move; Sandwich 2nd-hand dealer bylaw faces fight; Raccoon rabies progam this week; Dennis CCRTA wind turbine saving a bundle already

 

http://www.capecodtoday.com/article/2013/11/26/22941-ex-rep-bill-delahunt-three-county-pot-dealer

 

 

Columnist papers over Norquist's corruption

The willingness of Americans to support fiscal policies that work against their best interests are stunning in many ways. Easily blamed on poor education, a desirable political consequence, Grover Norquist's success to sell our Democracy is impressive - as are his connections to Jack Abramoff.

Grover Norquist

Abramoff
Abramoff

Interesting editorial --

Columnist papers over Norquist's corruption
Written by Elliott Ozment

I almost never respond to conservative op-eds; after all, they have a right to their opinion. But columnist Richard J. Grant’s big wet kiss for Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform (Aug. 7) went too far for me to keep my silence.

In describing ATR as “providing a service that gives voters useful information,” Dr. Grant is like the history student who simply describes Attila the Hun as a king that ruled over Europe, totally ignoring his cruelty and barbarism.

For those who don’t know, Norquist is widely reputed to be the single most powerful man in Washington aside from the president. In fact, Norquist and ATR are the shining example of what’s most wrong and corrupt about Washington.

ATR is itself a misnomer; no one knows who the “Americans” are in this organization because ATR, although tax-exempt, does not disclose its members or donors. Our only information comes from congressional investigations; according to People for the American Way, ATR is heavily funded by corporate backers, with tobacco, gambling and alcohol industries figuring most prominently in 1999.

That year, it received $685,000 in donations from Philip Morris, and $360,000 from the “Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians” (represented by now-convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff), as a conduit to finance “grass-roots lobbying campaigns” (nowadays known as “soft money,” which is extremely hard-to-track political funding).

ATR is also misnamed because the last thing it wants is “tax reform” — it wants “tax status quo.” ATR and Norquist are the reason why we can’t get rid of corporate loopholes like corporate jet deductions and Big Oil subsidies to companies that pay zero taxes.

Norquist says that Congress cannot vote for these reforms without applying that revenue to lower corporate tax rates. But can’t we use that revenue to pay down our national deficit? Forget it!

How did Norquist acquire so much power? It’s through that no-tax-increase pledge that Dr. Grant is so proud of. It starts out: “I ... pledge to the taxpayers of (my state), and to the American people ...” Funny, I must have been gone when Tennessee voters elected Grover Norquist to negotiate tax policy on our behalf with our own elected representatives.

Dr. Grant characterizes the “pledge” as a “simple statement” which “is a promise to taxpayers and voters.” No, it’s not. It’s a diabolical club which, when signed by any office-holder, gives Norquist a weapon with which to bludgeon that lawmaker to his political death if he dares to step out of line 1 inch.

Here’s how it works: In 2010, Norquist spent $4.1 million on federal elections: $3.4 million against Democrats and $332,170 against Republicans (FEC, 4/25/11). According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he spent over 10 percent of his entire campaign war chest in a direct-mail and phone-bank operation against Lincoln Davis in Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District. Result: Davis lost to Scott DesJarlais.

Now guess who from Tennessee has signed Norquist’s no-tax pledge: Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker and U.S. Reps. Phil Roe, John Duncan, Chuck Fleischmann, DesJarlais, Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn and Stephen Fincher.

The next time we need to close corporate tax loopholes to pay down our national deficit, will these guys listen to you or to Grover Norquist? Like Esau of old, these “representatives” have sold their vote and your trust for a bowl of stew.

Do you see now why S&P lowered our nation’s credit rating? Are you mad yet?

Elliott Ozment is a Nashville attorney who specializes in immigration law.

Cha Ching Murray does it again!

Senate President Therese "Cha Ching" Murray is quoted by casino cheerleader, Boston Herald as saying ---

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“I’m told that gambling brings certain types of crime, such as money laundering and gang activity. We want to make sure that we have the regulatory authority to oversee whatever comes out of the Legislature.”
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Oohhh?
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Is that the first you've heard of crime -- after forming a well researched and informed decision to embrace expanded gambling? [insert sarcasm emoticon]

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Can someone please tell "Cha Ching" about Jack Abramoff?
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"Cha Ching" Murray proclaims that she has been meeting behind closed doors to discuss an issue that deserves and requires public input and transparency.

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But it goes far beyond that. The Attorney General included in her statement, presented to Senator Spilka's casino love fest, that many of the laws that should be changed or have to be changed, should happen regardless of gambling.

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Does that mean we have legislators too "...[fill in the blank]..." to amend the laws to conform with technological changes who seek a "quick fix" with gambling? What's the appropriate adjective if laws that should be changed are being ignored?

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What is clearly revealed is the arrogance of leadership on Beacon Hill that got us to this place. Big Dig anyone?

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It's difficult to be respectful when "Cha Ching" treats the residents of the Commonwealth like Mushrooms.

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It's time for change. It's time to open the process to public scrutiny, facts and unbiased reports.

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Truth to Power called for a Blue Ribbon commission -- free from casino money to report on the MONEY -- an accurate accounting of more than revenues -- the expenses including regulation, enforcement, prosecution, public safety, local impacts including schools and infrastructure.

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"We believe that once you examine the facts, the revenue and expenses, and give casino/slots a fair examination, they should be opposed because we simply can't afford to subsidize wealthy investors."

Enterprise: Half Right!

The Mashpee Wampanoags have maintained that there will be a "Carcieri Fix," to which the Brockton Enterprise was referring - the SCOTUS decision in Carcieri v Salazar, but that's not the nail in the Indian Casino Coffin.

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Here's what the editorial said --
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The U.S. Supreme Court also threw up a major obstacle in February, ruling that newly recognized tribes — which include the Wampanoags — have no right to “sovereign” land.
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The Hawaii decision was joined by 29 other states -- 30 states opposed the LIT process and were supported by SCOTUS. Quick fix? Don't bet on that one!

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A report commissioned by neighboring Halifax has questioned the Wampanoag tribe’s claim to historical ties to Middleboro.

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Huh? As carverchick points out, the Tribe included Mashpee 265 times, but Middleboro ZERO when seeking recognition. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe NEVER owned the land.

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Lynch's (Halifax) report is 91 pages long, refutes Grabowski statement by statement with research and annotations. But casino opponents have stated this from the beginning.

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Shawn Hendricks stated publicly the Middleboro location was chosen because of the land. Not heritage. Not roots.

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When you build a House of Cards on a foundation of political payoffs, felons, corruption and allow yourself to be blinded by casino glitter without facts or a democratic process, nothing else can be expected.

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It's good the Enterprise finally figured that part out.

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What makes Beacon Hill believe NOW is the time for gaming as a source of revenue? Blinded by Casino Glitter?

The Abramoff Net

In case you were wondering who Todd Boulanger was, Unheard No More explains and includes this curious statement --

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Boulanger is linked with Kevin Ring former legislative director for former Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA). Ring was indicted in September 2008.
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Some names keep popping up in reference to the Mashpee Wampanoag pursuit of Tribal recognition and casino gold, like Jack Abramoff .

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Glenn Marshall’s Bad Plan predated Marshall's guilty plea --
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....Kevin Ring and Michael Smith, still work with the Mashpee. On the hectic morning of [investor] Len Wolman’s visit,.....
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Len Wolman is part owner of Twin River, a Rhode Island slot parlor and dog track that has filed for bankruptcy to rid itself of dog racing, increase operating hours to 24/7 over the strong opposition of the host community and reduce the percentage of slot revenue paid to the state. A plausible argument might be made that his participation in the Mashpee Wampanoag deal was intended to prevent competition since it was previously done in Rhode Island to prevent Harrah's from conducting gambling, as well as England.

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The Mashpee have also benefited from the largesse of Michigan real estate developer Herb Strather, who bankrolled the $1.76 million purchase of the 125-acre spread in Middleborough where the casino will be built.
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...in the mid-1990s Strather...led the push to bring casino gambling to Detroit in the form of the MotorCity Casino, only to suddenly back away from the project shortly before it opened in 1999 after state gaming regulators noted concerns about his past real estate dealings. (The Michigan Gaming Control Board never made public any findings on Strather, but apparently raised enough worry to convince him he wouldn’t qualify for the gaming license he would need to stay on as an investor in the venture.)
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Massachusetts Attorney General Coakley argued for the need to create the appropriate legal framework before consideration is given to expanded gambling.

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Remember, this is the state in which Dianne Wilkerson stuffed a cash bribe in her bra to spend at Foxwoods Casino.

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The article concludes with the following statement --
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Would you expect anything less with casinos involved?


Other articles --
The Abramoff Net

The Gambling Man

Campaign Contributions

An Invitation to Corruption?

An Invitation to Corruption?

In 1998, Casino and Gambling interest contributed $6,385,318.
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In 2008, contributions totaled $16,946,417.
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Do you think it means anything?
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(Indian Gaming contributions broken out separately.)
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Recipients in the 2008 election cycle were revealing, with top gambling money recipient, Harry Reid (D-NV) garnering $433,150. Give 'em Hell Harry!

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Open Secrets includes the following background statement:

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This big-bucks industry occupies a tenuous position in the minds of some politicians weighing a potential boost in tax revenue and tourist dollars against concerns about gambling’s moral legitimacy and the negative perception that gambling can lead to addiction, abuse and illegal behavior. As such, various groups within the industry donate large amounts of money to federal officials partly in an attempt to help these politicians make up their minds. As gambling has expanded beyond Las Vegas since the early 1990s, the industry’s political giving at the federal level has grown dramatically—despite the fact that most gambling regulations are made at the state and local levels.

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In 2006, Richard Pombo (R-CA) was top House recipient with $245,731. In case memory doesn't serve, Wikipedia provided highlights of the sordid tale: Richard Pombo and Jack Abramoff. Omitted were many details, like the Mashpee Wampanoag connection for those with a local interest.

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Abramoff and Wampanoag Connections...Again!

Glenn Marshall

Casino Corruption

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Attorney General Coakley stressed the urgency to address the surrounding legal issues BEFORE the Massachusetts Legislature careens into approving slot parlors (at Greyhound Tracks), Racinos (to bail out the failing horse racing tracks) or Casinos (that we euphemistically call "Resort Casinos"). As political contributions and corruption convictions escalate, considering the cost might be wise as well.

A New Day Has Dawned

I have received a large volume of emails and phone calls, not all fully reviewed as yet, regarding the issues unfolding and my inexplicable silence.
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If you have a comment regarding the Town, please don't hesitate to post it. I simply haven't had time to compose a blog entry and frankly, there's not much to say.
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Having gone door to door to collect signatures for the Recall, rest assured that I have heard far more than will ever be made public about the local cast of characters.

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Did we ever believe the sordid dealings of Jack Abramoff would live in Middleboro?
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Please feel free to post comments, but also consider that what we need to move forward and deal with future issues is a resolve to pay attention and encourage others to do so as well. We need to participate, ask questions, inform ourselves.
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We watched the unfolding saga of Abramoff from a distance, believing we were unaffected by the sleaze and the payoffs, disregard of the laws, money laundering for gambling, the hypocrisy of the 'anti-gambling' likes of Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed.

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The sordid episode of Glenn Marshall's indictment and the pending indictments of others as yet unnamed, has enveloped our Town because we weren't vigilant.
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Rather than participating in the current hysteria of missteps and misconduct by a Board of Selectmen that is incompetent and incapable of governance, and rather than participating in the daily soap opera, there are several observations offered.

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Although I hate to say "I told you so," the handwriting of the Abramoff connections was clearly writ.

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That the Middleboro Board of Selectmen fails to recognize the impact on the IGA defines their incompetence as a whole.

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Having no privileged information, but having watched these unfolding sagas elsewhere, what seems a consistent pattern is that when one person is indicted, others step forward with additional information.

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What I anticipate is that there will be local indictments that will instill a backbone in some to step into the light and speak out.

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There will be no quick process, as the Marshall indictment proves, but justice will be served.

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As friend and fellow blogger, Gladys Kravitz pointed out, you have the right to insist that local activities be investigated. And you have a right to complain.

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Office of Attorney General

Martha Coakley

One Ashburton Place

Boston, MA 02108

Office of the Attorney General

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Secretary of the Department of the Interior

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street, N.W.

Washington DC 20240

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Department of the Interior

1849 C Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20240

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Massachusetts Ethics Commission

One Ashburton Place

John W. McCormack Building

Room 619 Boston, MA 02108

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Board of Bar Overseers

99 High Street

Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Glenn Marshall and The Tizzy!

The issues surrounding the corruption of Jack Abramoff and the Government For Sale period in which he operated are complex and convoluted.

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It was announced today that (link)

The former head of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe was charged today with making illegal campaign contributions to members of Congress, embezzling funds from his tribe, filing false tax returns and fraudulently receiving Social Security disability benefits all in connection to efforts to win official U.S. recognition of tribal status.

Glenn A. Marshall, 59, who recently pushed for a controversial casino-gambling deal for the tribe in Middleborough, was accused by the U.S. Attorney’s office with violating campaign laws, as well as engaging in alleged tax, wire and Social Security frauds.

Fellow bloggers have done a great job covering the indictment --

Marshal indictment documents

Marshall indicted

Glenn Marshall Indicted

Merry Christmas

Late to the Game: Ex-Chief Pleading Guilty

The casino plot thickens

Corruption charges cloud Middleborough casino

Need I tell you?

Lingering questions remain about the validity of Tribal recognition and the validity of the Agreement with the Town of Middleboro. Did the Town negotiate an Agreement with a legitimate Tribe that will withstand the court challenges sure to follow?

Abramoff had his sticky fingers wherever government was available at bargain prices. The indictments have taken years to reach fruition, but the Feds dedication to seeking the truth and prosecuting the offenders has been worthy of notice.

The impact of Glenn Marshall's indictment will require time to resolve the implications, but of greater importance is this trickle down level of corruption that impacts local communities.

Is this the element we, as a Town, want to get into bed with?

Below, are previous links, but a large number of articles are no longer archived. Posting will be done as time permits.

Georgia Pits and Republican Election Fraud Clarified

A Banana Republic (Abramoff Again Included)

Sitting Back and Watching .....

Abramoff, Casino Gambling, Political Corruption

Abramoff and Wampanoag Connections...Again!

A Banana Republic (Abramoff Again Included)

Rolling Stone offers an indepth commentary on Election Fraud perpetrated by the GOP: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast on GOP Vote Blocking. Read the article in its entirety, excerpts below ---
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(Greg Palast, who broke the story on Florida's illegal voter purges in the 2000 election, is the author of "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.")

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... from the start, HAVA was corrupted by the involvement of Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, who worked to cram the bill with favors for his clients. (Both Abramoff and a primary author of HAVA, former Rep. Bob Ney, were imprisoned for their role in the conspiracy.)

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Suppressing the vote has long been a cornerstone of the GOP's electoral strategy. Shortly before the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, Paul Weyrich — a principal architect of today's Republican Party — scolded evangelicals who believed in democracy. "Many of our Christians have what I call the 'goo goo' syndrome — good government," said Weyrich, who co-founded Moral Majority with Jerry Falwell. "They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. . . . As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

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Since 2003, according to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, at least 2.7 million new voters have had their applications to register rejected. In addition, at least 1.6 million votes were never counted in the 2004 election — and the commission's own data suggests that the real number could be twice as high. To purge registration rolls and discard ballots, partisan election officials used a wide range of pretexts, from "unreadability" to changes in a voter's signature. And this year, thanks to new provisions of the Help America Vote Act, the number of discounted votes could surge even higher.

The Bush administration's main point person on "ballot protection" has been Hans von Spakovsky, a former Justice Department attorney who has advised states on how to use HAVA to erect more barriers to voting. Appointed to the Federal Election Commission by Bush, von Spakovsky has suggested that voter rolls may be stuffed with 5 million illegal aliens. In fact, studies have repeatedly shown that voter fraud is extremely rare.

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Since 2004, the Bush administration and more than a dozen states have taken steps to impede voter registration. Among the worst offenders is Florida, where the Republican-dominated legislature created hefty fines — up to $5,000 per violation — for groups that fail to meet deadlines for turning in voter-application forms. Facing potentially huge penalties for trivial administrative errors, the League of Women Voters abandoned its voter-registration drives in Florida. A court order eventually forced the legislature to reduce the maximum penalty to $1,000. But even so, said former League president Dianne Wheatley-Giliotti, the reduced fines "create an unfair tax on democracy." The state has also failed to uphold a federal law requiring that low-income voters be offered an opportunity to register when they apply for food stamps or other public assistance. As a result, the annual number of such registrations has plummeted from more than 120,000 in the Clinton years to barely 10,000 today.

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...a recent survey... found that as many as 20 percent of discrepancies between voter records and driver's licenses in New York City are simply typing mistakes made by government clerks when they transcribe data. But under the new rules, those mistakes are costing citizens the right to vote. In California, a Republican secretary of state blocked 43 percent of all new voters in Los Angeles from registering in early 2006 — many because of the state's failure to produce a tight match. In Florida, GOP officials created "match" rules that rejected more than 15,000 new registrants in 2006 and 2007 — nearly three-fourths of them Hispanic and black voters. Given the big registration drives this year, the number could be five times higher by November.

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Prior to the 2000 election, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris and her predecessor, both Republicans, tried to purge 57,000 voters, most of them African-Americans, because their names resembled those of persons convicted of a crime. The state eventually acknowledged that the purges were improper — two years after the election.

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All told,

states reported scrubbing at least 10 million voters from their rolls

on questionable grounds between 2004 and 2006.

Colorado holds the record: Donetta Davidson, the Republican secretary of state, and her GOP successor oversaw the elimination of nearly one of every six of their state's voters. Bush has since appointed Davidson to the Election Assistance Commission, the federal agency created by HAVA, which provides guidance to the states on "list maintenance" methods.

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In 2004, election officials discarded at least 1 million votes nationwide after classifying them as "spoiled" because blank spaces, stray marks or tears made them indecipherable to voting machines.

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Sitting Back and Watching .....

Sometimes, when events swirling around make no sense, it makes sense to sit back and watch and they'll make sense when the matter stops swirling.

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And sometimes, those events clearly seem to have pieces missing or pieces deliberately tossed into the mix that make even less sense.

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It all gets too confusing to untangle.

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Such is the case with the recent "Let's negotiate a state Compact" swirl.

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The media was preoccupied with the draft, the exclusion of the host community and the Guv's thanks, but no thanks response.

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And everyone was in a tizzy of the law, the pending Supreme Court Case, new IGRA regs, the reasons the mega casino will never come to pass, to a dizzying effect.

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Fellow bloggers, linked on the right of this site have blogged about the surrounding issues.

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One can only speculate that since indictments are known prior to the surrounding publicity and the indictment and pleading of Kevin Ring was published on Monday, September 8, 2008 (handed down September 5), there could be a connection.

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Anyone who has followed this pathetic soap opera of corruption, knew who was being investigated. And anyone who followed, knew Kevin Ring's phone was about to ring.

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Purely hypothetical telephone call from Scott Ferson to Shawn Hendricks:

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Scott: Shawn, Kevin Ring is about to be indicted and this MR person keeps raising the connection between Abramoff and you guys. And people are actually reading that stuff. We need to end the connection, deny everything. And we've decided that you need to distract the media by hand-delivering a letter to Deval asking to negotiate a Compact with your guys. I'll FAX a draft that will exclude Middleboro, give Adam the heads up to protest and raise a little cane with hurt feelings. Got it?

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Shawn: Got it.

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Scott: Now, Shawn, I'll send you what I want you to say to the media when they call, first about the letter to Deval, and then I'll tell you what you need to say when this Ring indictment comes down. Got it?

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Shawn: Got it.

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And so, when the story broke in SacramentoBee , Boston Herald, FindLaw, Washinton Post, Cape Cod Times and other outlets, the missing pieces fell into place.

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It wasn't about a Compact at all. It was about distracting from the corruption created by Abramoff that swirls around the Mashpee Wampanoag and swirls ever closer to the Tribe and its leadership.

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Where's the media coverage now as the corruption cloud moves closer? Good move, Scott!

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And maybe it was about the shunning of members who asked about Tribal finances because they smelled something rotten.

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The Indictment: 1 2

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Previous Abramoff blogs

Abramoff, Casino Gambling, Political Corruption

The Washington Post, the newspaper credited with initially breaking and reporting Jack Abramoff's complex web of corruption, commented on his sentencing: Abramoff Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Corruption.

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... Abramoff did not always have his clients' best interests at heart. He has admitted that he and a former associate, Michael Scanlon, a onetime press aide to DeLay, concocted a kickback scheme that defrauded the Indian tribes of millions of dollars. The effort involved Abramoff suggesting that the tribes hire Scanlon's public relations firm at hugely inflated prices. The men then split the profits.

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Abramoff's empire came crashing down in January 2006, when he pleaded guilty in Washington to charges of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. The next day, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Miami to fraud and conspiracy charges tied to his purchase of a fleet of casino boats.

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A reader forwarded No More Abramoffs from Common Cause:
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Who can forget Jack Abramoff? The former Washington lobbyist, currently serving a prison term for his role in a fraudulent Florida casino boat deal, is set to be sentenced tomorrow on charges of conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion.

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Abramoff's sentencing reminds us what can happen when wealthy donors and special interests wield too much power in our political system.

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Let's make sure that our elected officials put the public interest ahead of the big-money interests by supporting a system of Fair Elections.

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CREW reminds us of Revisiting McCain's Keating 5 History and raises issues that have been raised elsewhere about Palin.

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Previous comments:
Abramoff and Wampanoag Connections...Again!
Abramoff Corruption and Mashpee Wampanoags
To Talia: Casino Corruption #4
To Talia: Another Abramoff Buddy Bites the Dust!
To Talia: Casino Corruption #3
To Talia: Glenn Marshall and the Abramoff Corruption Connection
To Talia: Glenn Marshall and the Abramoff Corruption Connection

Abramoff and Wampanoag Connections...Again!

The unfolding soap opera of Abramoff with its ingredients of riverboat gambling, Native American casinos, lavish trips, mob murder, bankruptcy, campaign contributions for votes and corruption, uncovered by a Washington Post investigative reporter who waded through the public bankruptcy filings in Florida, was a fascinating saga of tangled political webs that involved large sums of money from online gambling, casino gambling and Native American Tribes.

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It also involved Glenn Marshall and the Mashpee Wampanoags and I have previously blogged about the connection.

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Ralph Reed, a born-again hypocrite who opposed gambling, accepted gambling money laundered through Grover Norquist. and subsequently lost an election because of his gambling ties.

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That a Presidential Candidate of either party would in any way directly connect himself to the tangled web of corruption created by Jack Abramoff is surprising. That Senator John McCain would do so, as he represents himself as opposed to that conduct is reprehensible.

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Here's what's reported (link):

McCain will attend a fundraiser with Abramoff crony Ralph Reed in Atlanta on August 18, despite pressure from watchdog groups. McCain's own Senate committee obtained e-mails clearly linking Reed and Abramoff during its investigation. The Hill reported [1]:

The Senate probe discovered $4 million in payments Reed accepted to run a bogus anti-casino campaign aimed at reducing gambling competition. An Indian tribe with a competing casino made payments to Reed, which according to the Senate investigation's final report,
were "passed through" Abramoff's firm, Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, and another organization, Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.

The following are some earlier blogs that commented on the Wampanoags' connections at the request of a regular reader (additional posts were deleted, but there's plenty on information available online):

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Abramoff Corruption and Mashpee Wampanoags

To Talia: Casino Corruption #4

To Talia: Another Abramoff Buddy Bites the Dust!

To Talia: Casino Corruption #3

To Talia: Glenn Marshall and the Abramoff Corruption Connection

To Talia: Glenn Marshall and the Abramoff Corruption Connection