January 11, 2006 7:42 AM

I'm shocked...SHOCKED...to discover that there is corruption taking place here

DeLay tried to force closure of Indian-owned casino

DeLay led bid to close Livingston casino

You knew DeLay would have a hand in this one, right?

Using Christian conservatives for fun and profit

Cornyn Corruption Watch

WASHINGTON - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tried to pressure the Bush administration into shutting down an Indian-owned casino that lobbyist Jack Abramoff wanted closed - shortly after a tribal client of Abramoff’s donated to a DeLay political action committee….

Gee, what a shock…Tom DeLay taking action based on what a lobbyist, who also calls DeLay his “best friend”, wants him to do? Gee, whodathunkit?…government for sale…what a novel concept.

This sort of thing would be shocking, except that it’s Tom DeLay we’re talking about- the best Congressman money can buy. Now that the truth about him and his sleazy, corrupt tactics are beginning to come out, those of us who have known all along what DeLay was all about are stifling the desire to play the “told you so” card…and it ain’t easy, let me tell you.

This all gets rather complicated, so I’ll just spare you the twisted gory details. What I do find interesting, and hopefully you will as well, is that DeLay and John Cornyn, along with Ralph Reed, founder of the Christian Coalition, were able to work this situation to Abramoff’s advantage- AND they could in the endpaint this episode as a victory in the war against casino gambling. Wow…these guys are GOOD, aren’t they?? Yes, they are….

I, as attorney general of Texas, filed an injunction to enforce Texas law against casino gambling. We prevailed because the law was in our favor, and then after the fact, apparently, there were these e-mails I had no knowledge of where Reed and Abramoff were somehow claiming credit and then bilking their Indian clients for millions of dollars, apparently. And I certainly disapprove of that, did not know anything about it.

  • Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

This particular story is fascinating, because not only does it feature Niccolo Machiavelli Tom DeLay’s willingness to throw his political weight around on behalf of one of his cash cows friends, it also features the involvement of John “Box Turtle” Cornyn, now a US Senator from Texas, but then the Texas Attorney General. This story just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?

The Texas Republican demanded closure of the casino, owned by the Alabama-Coushatta tribe of Texas, in a Dec. 11, 2001 letter to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Associated Press obtained the letter from a source who did not want to be identified because of an ongoing federal investigation of Abramoff and members of Congress.

“We feel that the Department of Justice needs to step in and investigate the inappropriate and illegal actions by the tribe, its financial backers, if any, and the casino equipment vendors,” said the letter, which was also signed by Texas Republican Reps. Pete Sessions, John Culberson and Kevin Brady.

Sessions’ political action committee received $6,500 from Abramoff’s tribal clients within three months after signing the letter. A spokeswoman for Sessions said he considers gaming a state issue. She said the tribe was circumventing state law and Sessions signed the letter in defense of Texas laws.

Ashcroft never took action on the request. The Texas casino was closed the following year by a federal court ruling in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the state’s attorney general, John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator.

No quid pro quo? Please….

As the layers begin to peel from DeLay’s career and connections, I think we’ll begin to discover that this is only the tip of the iceberg…because Tom DeLay has always been the best Congressman that money can buy. And with eager tools like Abramoff and Cornyn at his disposal, DeLay has always been able to get what he wants in pretty much exactly the way he wants it. Absolute power is really rather enjoyable, don’t you think??

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 11, 2006 7:42 AM.

Or perhaps he really IS that stupid was the previous entry in this blog.

The intersection of politics and commerce doesn't have to be a place of Evil is the next entry in this blog.

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