Senate Minority Leader Accused of Casino- Related Impropriety

Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid may be the latest in a series of legislators who stand to lose their heads in the Jack Abramoff casino lobbying scandal. Reid, who is a Democrat from Nevada, has asked the Senate Ethics Committee to review his actions in order to clear him of any impropriety in dealings with casino donations to his campaign fund.

From 1989 to 2005, Reid received over $870,000 in campaign funds from casino companies, including $158,450 from MGM Mirage, $130,100 from Mandalay Resort Group, and $93,100 Harrah's Entertainment, in addition to several hundred-thousand dollars from other casino- related lobbying associations. $66,000 in contributions can be traced to tribes and foundations associated with disgraced casino lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Reid is accused of having let those casino campaign contributions influence his legislative actions. For example, on March 5, 2002, Reid wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton asking her to veto an agreement between the Jena tribe of Choctaw Indians of Louisiana, and the state of Louisiana, that would have allowed the tribe to open a casino on its tribal lands in that state.

Immediately after Reid sent the letter, the Coushatta tribe of Louisina, which was a client of Abramoff's, sent the Reid- run Starlight Leadership Foundation a $5,000 thank you- gift. The Coushatta tribe runs a casino, and would have faced significant competition from a new Jena casino.

Reid said that his attempt to stop the Jena tribe from opening a casino was completely in line with the interests of his constituency. Reid, who represents Nevada, said that it is in his state's best interests to curtail the booming Indian casino industry. Nevada itself, he pointed out, has no Indian casino sites, and those in neighboring states can only serve to take business away from Las Vegas and Reno casino destinations.

In a December 14th letter to the Ethics Committee, Reid and co-author Sen. John Ensign (R.-Nev.) sought to clarify his position. The letter read: "In urging rejection of the Jena Compact, we sought to defend the goals of the [Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988] and protect the economic interests of our constituents."

"The purpose of our communication with the Interior Department with respect to the Jena Compact was to defend the interests of Nevada businesses by insisting that their would-be competitors abide by federal law, which largely prohibits gaming outside of historical reservations," wrote the legislators. "As senators from the state with the largest non-tribal gaming industry in the nation, we have long opposed the growth of off-reservation tribal gaming throughout the United States."

"In sum, our communications with the Interior Department in this instance was entirely appropriate and consistent with our duties as Nevada senators."