SUSAN BRADFORD
INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS
Lobbyist Representing Obama Fundraiser Pushes False Abramoff Narrative
A representative of a key tribal fundraiser for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, Carlyle Consulting lobbyist and professional saboteur Tom Rodgers, continues to push the false narrative against former Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Rodgers has cynically exploited the politics of race by falsely accusing Abramoff of victimizing Indians to hide the truth surrounding the contrived scandal liberal special interests afflicted on Abramoff and to provide cover for key Obama appointees and fundraisers.
Among the newspapers which continues to smear Abramoff, condemn and mischaracterize the superlobbyist’s book, Capitol Punishment, and demand that the superlobbyist “apologize” to the Indians for exploiting Indians is Indian Country Today.
This newspaper is owned by Oneida Nation Enterprises, a division of the Oneida Nation which is represented by Akin Gump, a prominent fund raiser for Sen. John McCain which employs the Senator’s personal attorney; and Rodgers’ firm, Carlyle Consulting. Among the Akin Gump lobbyists representing the tribe are Michael Rossetti, a former attorney for Secretary of Interior Gale Norton who testified against Deputy Secretary Stephen Griles in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings.
In 2011, the Oneida Nation paid Akin Gump and Carlyle Consulting $300,000 and $150,000 in lobbying fees respectively.
Akin Gump not only represented a former Abramoff client, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, in the hearings, but it claimed at least two of his clients afterward – including Tyco International and this tribe.
Abramoff’s contacts at Tyco, incidentally, were highly influential within the Bush Administration’s Department of Justice which prosecuted the superlobbyist and secured his wrongful conviction. The multinational’s lead counsel, George Terwillger, III, represented Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez in litigation over the partisan firing of prosecutors, and Abramoff’s chief contacts at Tyco, Tim Flanigan, served as deputy to Gonzalez in the White House.
The federal prosecution of Abramoff which was pushed by gaming interests to block the superlobbyist’s efforts to stall the proliferation of casinos was based upon false information Rodgers pushed in the media through tribal dissidents who coveted power in their respective tribes—most prominently, the Louisiana Coushtta Sickey brothers, and Saginaw Chippewa SubChief Bernie Sprague.
The Sickeys leaked au audit to the American Press that allegedly revealed that Abramoff’s fees were so excessive that the tribe was forced to dip into sacred funds for the care of Indians in order to pay him.
The reporter, Shawn Martin, who broke that story, independently researched the allegations against the superlobbyist and found them wanting such that days after the original story ran, theAmerican Press reported that the Tribal Council condemned the “politically motivated” efforts of the Sickeys to create an “illusion of crisis.” The Sickeys even admitted to the paper that they had been misinformed about Abramoff’s fees.
And yet those very allegations, despite being false, were reiterated in the hearings and immortalized in the Final Report, which summarized the Committee’s findings.
The Washington Post‘s Susan Schmidt, whom Rodgers was feeding false information about the superlobbyist through dissidents he advised, also ran with the original allegations while failing to notice the retractions which followed thereafter.
Rodgers’ false narrative also ran in the Morning Sun newspaper, which covers the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. A leading Sunreporter, Mark Razenberger, who broke the Abramoff scandal in Michigan, uncritically reported the lies purported by Sprague, who was advised by Rodgers.
Recently, Razenberger appeared with Rodgers and representatives of the Oneida Nation at a National Press Club-sponsored panel discussion which featured Abramoff and a representative of the reform group Public Citizen where the former superlobbyist offered his insight on how to reform the federal government and eliminate corruption.
Rodgers was called on during the Q&A period.
Instead of simply asking a question, Rodgers used the opportunity for political posturing.
His contribution to the discussion involved a ten minute prepared rant, which demanded the superlobbyist “apologize” to the Indians he allegedly victimized and asked him whether he had paid reporters to write stories on policy issues they supported.
Rodgers’ confrontation was covered by the Indian Country Todaywhich posting alongside the article a picture of Abramoff appearing to choke or strangle himself at the sight of Rodgers while the Carlyle Consulting lobbyist proceeded to slander and denigrate him.
In actuality, Abramoff did not choke at the sight of Rodgers but answered his rather inane line of questioning with grace, authority, and calm. After the exchange concluded, Rodgers bolted from the room with his arms flailing alongside him.
Rodgers’ PR stunt was then followed up demands in the media for Public Citizen to cease working with Abramoff and to apologize to the Indians.
That Rodgers would try to interfere with Abramoff’s reform efforts is further suspect given that he admittedly fed his false Abramoff narrative to Melanie Sloan at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a reform group which was created for the sole purpose of driving House Majority Leader Congressman Tom DeLay, Abramoff’s leading congressional ally, out of power.
Prosecutors dismissed the federal charges and allegations against DeLay as frivolous and unfounded.
The lies purported against Abramoff are clearly embarrassing for all concerned and threaten the high minded rhetoric of the Obama Presidency as one of the founders of CREW, Norman Eisen, bundled $200,000 and $500,000 to the Obama’s 2008 presidential run.
In addition to his fund raising efforts, Eisen developed education policy for the Obama campaign and has also advised the Obama Administration on ethics reform. He is largely credited with crafting a broad ethics reform plan for the Obama Transition Team, which banned registered lobbyists from holding office within the Administration. Once Obama secured the presidency, Eisen was also appointed Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform in the Obama Administration.
Despite Eisen’s recommendations, the Obama Administration hired at least 40 former lobbyists to fill top jobs, including three Cabinet secretaries, the Director of Central Intelligence, and a number of senior White House officials.
While Obama pledged not to take money from lobbyists, he has relied upon prominent individuals working in top lobbying shops on behalf of special interests to raise money for his re-election campaign.
In January of 2012 representatives of Oneida, among other tribal leaders, met President Barack Obama in the White House to raise money for his second presidential run, reflecting what Indian Country Today described as a “sign of our growing tribal political clout.”
According to the newspaper, 70 Indian officials attended the “first-ever Native specific campaign.”
Among the attendees were Ray Halbritter, the CEO of Oneida Nation Enterprises, Tunica-Biloxi Chairman Earl Barbry, whose tribe was represented by Sen. Bennett Johnston and Scott Reed, who worked behind the scenes to unseat Abramoff; Kimberly Teehee, a former aide to Congressman Dale Kildee who is now a senior advisor for Native American Affairs, Democratic National Committee Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and “tribal lobbyists.”
“If each tribal donor contributed the maximum amount, the president made $2.5 million from an event he attended for less than 30 minutes,” Indian Country Today reported. “More tribal money went Obama’s way in October, when Vice President Joe Biden hosted a similar event with Natives….It’s believed that no similar fund-raising event with tribal donors was held during Obama’s 2008 campaign for president, and the White House won’t say if more are on the horizon.”
The mere mention of Abramoff’s name threatens to unravel this newfound fortune from Indian Country for the Obama Administration which was built on a foundation of Rodgers’ lies.
Susan Bradford is the author of Lynched! The Shocking Story of How the Political Establishment Manufactured a Scandal to Have Republican Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff Removed from Power.
© 2012 Susan Bradford
Oneida Indian Nation’s Registered Lobbyists in 2011:
http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientlbs.php?id=D000036389&year=2011
Oneida Indian Nation’s connection to Indian Country Today:
http://www.oneidaindiannation.com/enterprises/Indian-Country-Today-Media-Network-118842374.html
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