Ralph Reed's connection to Abramoff

[CornField]

Just a bit of history for those who didn't know:

Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, public relations consultant Michael Scanlon, and Southern Regional Chairman of the Bush-Cheney Campaign Ralph Reed hatched a scheme to bilk American Indian Tribes out of millions of dollars in fees and more funds in Republican campaign contributions.

Abramoff and Scanlon hired Reed and his consulting company, Century Strategies, at the tune of $4.2 million dollars to form a coalition with his Christian contacts to sway public opinion in relation to casinos. When casinos were shut down, key tribal members would then be approached by Abramoff and Scanlon. Opposition would be smeared so that those same key tribal members could win council seats and, in turn, hire both Abramoff and Scanlon in multi-million dollar contracts to try and re-open the closed casinos.

It's been estimated that this scheme cost the tribes an estimated $66 million in fees and additional costs in Republican campaign contributions.

E-mails, obtained by the Senate Indian Affairs Committe, which is investigating the scheme, show that the partners in crime held little affinity for those being duped. Abramoff in e-mail refers to tribal members and leaders as "idiots" and "troglodytes."

[panichol]

1. Ashamed to say

I must apologize to everyone......it was such a shock to me when I realized that Ralph Reed was a serious contender in Georgia. It is incomprehensible to me that anyone here would consider voting for him. And yet, there he is.......

[Lindsay]

3. Welcome to DU, panichol.

I hope this mess with Abramoff, Scanlon and Reed gets the media and public attention it deserves. They all need to be in jail for the rest of their lives, not running for office.

[newyawker99]

4. Hi panichol!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[VaYallaDawg]

2. Real big Christian. Yeah, right.

[Peter Frank]

5. Kick...

:kick: