http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2005/11/05/house-speaker-rep-dennis_n_10175.html
November 5, 2005
In June 2003, House Speaker Dennis Hastert sent a letter to Secretary
of the Interior Gale Norton urging her to act in favor of clients of
the scandal-plagued lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported yesterday that investigators
believe that Abramoff and his staff provided the congressmen with the
letter's text.
Three other representatives, including former House Majority leader
Tom DeLay and the current majority leader Roy Blunt, co-signed the
letter.
Both DeLay and Blunt have close ties to Abramoff and have received
thousands of dollars from his clients.
The letter endorsed a view of gambling law that would block the Jena
Band of Choctaw Indians from opening a casino nearby one owned by the
Coushattas, an Abramoff client.
In September 2004, the Washington Post quoted V. Heather Sibbison, a
lobbyist at the time for the Jena Band:
"I have never seen a letter like that before. It was incredibly
unusual for that group of people, who do not normally weigh in on
Indian issues, to express such a strong opinion about a particular
project not in any of their home states."
Accoring to FEC reports, since 1999 Hastert has taken $49,000 from
American Indian tribes while they were Jack Abramoff's clients.
On June 3, 2003, Hasteret held a fundraiser at Signatures, a
Washington restaurant owned by Abramoff.
He did not pay for the space until more than two years later, when
Business Week began an in-depth investigation into use of Signatures.
Developing...
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Well, you knew ole Denny hadda have his hand in this somehow.
Harry
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