Abramoff Whistleblower: Lobbyists Told Me-Elect Bush & Get Rewarded

[kpete]

Abramoff whistleblower: 'I had lobbyists tell me we worked
hard to get elected and we expect a reward...'

Whistleblower says Bush officials traded Abramoff favors

David Edwards
Published: Thursday June 22, 2006


In an interview with CBS News Wednesday evening, Wayne Smith, a Sioux tribal member whose grandfather was an Indian chief and previously led oversight of Indian gaming for the Bush Adminstration, said he was unprepared for the "raw political opportunism" that he witnessed as a member of the Administration.

"I had lobbyists flat out tell me that it was 'our time to make some money in Indian gaming -- the Indian arena -- we worked hard to get this president elected and we expected to be rewarded for it' -- to make a killing inside the BIA ," Smith says in the interview.

Smith asserts Abramoff and other lobbyists redefined "access and influence" inside the Bush Administration. He also blows the whistle on Steven Griles, described as Abramoff's 'point man' inside the Department of the Interior. Watch the video below.

VIDEO AT:
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Whisteblower_exposes_Bush_officials_traded_Abramoff_0622.html