AUGUST 29, 2005

Lobbyist referred to aid from Interior official

By Jon Kamman Republic found last spring that the In- in to open a casino The Republic ternal Revenue Service had no record that would compete with gambling op- of having granted tax-exempt status. erations by the Indians, a tribe A second case has come to light in which that paid Abramoff at least $30 million once-mighty lobbyist At Abramoff's direction, several of his for lobbying. asked a conservative environmental or- tribal clients issued at least $250,000 in ganization to prevail on a top-ranking contributions to CREA. E-mailing Federici about a Interior Department official to protect the congressman's support for the Jena plan, casino interests of Native American cli- The latest connections to come to light Abramoff wrote, "This will be a PR di- ents. among Abramoff, CREA and Griles in- saster as you can imagine, especially if volved attempts in late 2002 to stop a for some reason Interior agrees to ap- The head of the quasi-political Council band of Pottawattamie Indians in Michi- prove this deal. . . . This is going to get of Republicans for Environmental Ad- gan from opening a casino near Grand really ugly. Please let Steve know about vocacy, served as a go-between for Rapids that would compete with one this. Thanks so much Italia!" Abramoff to solicit help from J. Steven operated by the Saginaw Chippewa tribe. Griles, then deputy to Interior Secretary The Post also reported Sunday that in- Gale Norton, according to e-mails quoted "This is a disaster in the making," vestigators are looking into whether by . Abramoff wrote Federici in appealing for Griles, while dealing at least peripher- her to alert Griles, according to an e-mail ally with Abramoff's requests, may have The Interior Department oversees Indian cited by the Post. discussed going to work with him. Former affairs, including whether a tribe may associates of Abramoff said the lobbyist operate a casino. "This is the casino we discussed with was trying to recruit Griles. Steve (Griles), and he said that it would Abramoff and a partner, Michael not happen. It seems to be happening! Federal laws prohibit government ex- Scanlon, have been under criminal inves- The way to stop it is for Interior to say ecutives from negotiating for a job while tigation by a federal task force for more they are not satisfied with the environ- involved in a matter of interest to the than a year while a parallel investigation mental impact report. Can you get him prospective employer. has been conducted by the Senate In- to stop this one asap? They are moving dian Affairs Committee, whose chairman fast. Thanks Italia. This is a direct as- CREA is an outgrowth of an organiza- is Arizona GOP Sen. John McCain. sault on our guys, Saginaw Chippewa." tion founded by Norton and tax-reform advocate in 1998. In addition, the Interior Department's Shortly after, in another e-mail, Abramoff inspector general has been looking into wrote, "I believe Griles has committed Federici, who had worked on a Norton possible improprieties in how agency to do" the environmental tactic. campaign in Colorado, took it over when officials dealt with lobbyists. Norton became Interior secretary. The casino ultimately was approved 2 The council's president is , 1/2 years later, in May this year. Federici has refused requests by The who has described Griles as a friend. Republic to openly discuss her group's Her organization has claimed it is a tax- Abramoff also turned to Federici as plans funding, her involvement with Abramoff exempt interest group, but The Arizona progressed for the Jena Band of and Griles, and why an organization os- tensibly concerned with environmental issues would intercede on behalf of In- dian gaming issues.

Non-profit organizations are allowed to do limited lobbying on issues related to their mission, but political advocacy groups are supposed to register as such and disclose the source and use of their funding.

Abramoff, a Republican insider who raised at least $100,000 for Bush's 2000 campaign, was indicted with an associ- ate this month on charges unre- lated to lobbying. A federal accused the two of falsely claiming to have made a $20 million payment when the pair bought a line of casino boats.

The Post said that Griles, who left the Interior Department this year and opened a consulting business, said through a spokeswoman that he never had anything to do with the Michigan band's casino issues.

Reporter Billy House and the Washing- ton Post contributed to this article