Wanted in NDN Country: Jack Abramoff & Michael Scanlon

Something tells me that we won't find these boys fortyninin' on the Pow Wow Highway anytime soon...

--ryan

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Two men allegedly bilked Indian tribes



Two men allegedly bilked Indian tribes

By Maria Recio
Knight Ridder Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell has laid out a tale of greed and corruption by a lobbyist and a public-relations consultant who charged six Indian tribes $66 million over the past three years for no clear tribal benefit while boasting of important connections in Washington.

Campbell, R-Colo., chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public-relations executive Michael Scanlon were looking to profit from tribes newly rich from gaming income.

The two had even engineered tribal elections to obtain lucrative lobbying and marketing contracts, and insisted that tribes make tens of thousands of dollars in political and charitable donations to the pair's pet projects, Campbell said. Meanwhile, Abramoff and Scanlon wrote derogatory e-mails about their clients.

"It is a story of greed run amok," Campbell said Wednesday during an investigative hearing of the committee. "It is a story of two already powerful, wealthy men lining their own pockets with the hard-earned money of people whom they held in contempt and disregard. . . Read the rest here