[Mb-civic] Christian Coalition leader says he influenced effort to shut casinos.

[Michael Butler]

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    In E-mails, Consultant Claims Link to Cornyn
    By Suzanne Gamboa
    The Associated Press

    Saturday 12 November 2005

    Christian Coalition leader says he influenced effort to shut casinos.

    Washington - Former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed claimed in a
2001 e-mail to a lobbyist that he choreographed John Cornyn's efforts as
Texas attorney general to shut down an East Texas Indian tribe's casino.

    The lobbyist was Jack Abramoff, who is under federal investigation,
along with his partner Michael Scanlon, on allegations of defrauding six
Indian tribes of about $80 million from 2001 to 2004. The e-mail, along with
about a dozen others, was released last week as part of the investigation.

    In 2001, Abramoff was working as a lobbyist for the Coushatta Tribe of
Louisiana to prevent rival gaming casinos from siphoning off its Texas
customers. He paid Reed as a consultant, and Reed lobbied to get the
Alabama-Coushatta and Tigua casinos closed in Texas.

    In the Nov. 30, 2001, e-mail, Reed told Abramoff that 50 pastors led by
Ed Young, of Second Baptist Church in Houston, would meet with Cornyn to
urge him to shut down the Alabama-Coushatta tribe's casino near Livingston.
He said Young would back up the request in writing.

    "We have also choreographed Cornyn's response. The AG will state that
the law is clear, talk about how much he wants to avoid repetition of El
Paso (where the Tigua casino was) and pledge to take swift action to enforce
the law," Reed wrote. "He will also personally hand Ed Young a letter that
commits him to take action in Livingston."

    Cornyn, now a Republican U.S. senator, had filed a lawsuit in 1999 to
shut down the casino operated by the Tigua tribe in El Paso, saying it
violated the state's limited gambling laws. In 2002, federal courts
shuttered the Tiguas' casino and Cornyn used that ruling to shut down the
Alabama-Coushattas' casino.

    Cornyn, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has denied knowing
Abramoff. He also has said he was unaware of Reed's work with Abramoff.

    He said he did not remember receiving a letter from Young or Reed, or
providing a letter to Young; he acknowledged meeting with the minister.

    "Their efforts were irrelevant to what I was doing," said Cornyn, who
was elected to the Senate in 2002. "It's kind of eye-opening to me that
apparently people make money claiming credit for something I decided to do
under the law."

    The Senate Indian Affairs Committee blocked out references to Cornyn in
the e-mails it released last week. But in previous Reed e-mails released by
the committee, Cornyn's name was not removed.

    The previously released e-mails showed that in 2002, Abramoff and
Scanlon secretly funneled millions to Reed to help fund the campaign to get
the Tigua casino shut down. The lobbyists then persuaded the Tiguas to hire
them to reopen it.

    A Reed spokeswoman refused to respond directly to questions about
whether Reed had copies of or had seen Young's letter, or details about how
he "choreographed" a response from Cornyn.

    "No one should take credit for state Attorney General John Cornyn's
actions and the faith community's support," Reed's spokeswoman Lisa Baron
said. "Ralph Reed never has and never will."

    She said Reed did not learn the Louisiana Coushattas were Abramoff's
clients until 2002, and he was not aware that the tribe contributed to "our
efforts" until 2004.

    But Reed's e-mails suggest Cornyn's work was instrumental to Abramoff in
fending off competition for his client.

    Members of the Louisiana Coushatta tribal leadership testified last week
that Abramoff used the threat of the Alabama-Coushatta casino in Texas to
get more lobbying business.

    Young said he met Cornyn for the first time at a pastors' meeting in
late November 2001, where Cornyn spoke to about 15 to 20 pastors. Young also
said he did not remember any exchange of letters occurring at the meeting as
Reed said in the e-mail.

    Cornyn "told us the situation. He was filing affidavits. We said we
support you" because of the pastors' concerns about gambling, Young said.

    Young dismissed Reed's suggestion that Cornyn needed him for support in
the 2002 Senate race. He said he stays neutral because his church attracts
Democrats and Republicans.