GOP Circulates Jack Abramoff Internet Gambling Memo

Poker News Daily has obtained a copy of a memo circulated by Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill in the United States entitled “Legalized Internet Gambling: A Final Legacy for Team Abramoff???” The Washington Post newspaper published an article about the document last week.

The memo points out several purported facts about Jack Abramoff’s ties to internet gambling, including noting that the embattled lobbyist and his team received $4.7 million for their efforts between 2001 and 2004 to combat “various pieces of legislation designed to curtail or shut down [internet gambling] operations.” The document candidly adds, “Given Abramoff’s level of dishonesty, it is likely the sums received from these interests are significantly higher than reported.” The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was passed in late 2006. Earlier in the year, Abramoff pled guilty to several misgivings, including fraud, and is currently behind bars.

The GOP memo explains that “a group of payment servicers for internet gambling websites” paid “Team Abramoff” $520,000 and the Vancouver-based Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) kicked in $620,000. Sportingbet, the London-based parent company of the popular site Paradise Poker, reportedly paid Abramoff over $1 million for lobbying during the three-year period.

The memo doesn’t stop at Abramoff, however. Its text also calls out current members of “Team Abramoff” still lobbying on Capitol Hill. Among them is Eddie Ayoob, a former staff member for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) who now serves as a lobbyist for the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). The GOP documents claims that the PPA pays Ayoob $120,000 per year for his services. Also highlighted are Diane Blagman and Alan Slomowitz, whom the IGC allegedly pays $600,000 per year “to lobby for HR 2267 and related bills.” HR 2267, introduced by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), outlines a full licensing and regulatory framework for the internet gambling industry in the United States.

The Washington Post article mentions Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), the Minority Whip. The news outlet claims that Cantor, among others, has “scheduled floor statements condemning the [pro-internet gambling] legislation, while GOP aides began circulating the Abramoff-related memo and other attacks.” However, Citizens for Ethics reported that Cantor received $12,000 in campaign donations from Abramoff in 2003 and 2004 and purportedly failed to pay a $1,700 bill at a fundraiser at a deli owned by the former lobbyist.

Whether approval of a bill like Frank’s HR 2267 would fulfill Abramoff’s legacy like the GOP memo suggests remains in doubt. The timing of the circular has raised eyebrows, as the deadline for financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the UIGEA is now just six weeks away on June 1st. Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman told Poker News Daily, “Clearly, this is an indication that some Republican leaders feel movement on Chairman Frank’s regulatory bill is inevitable. I can’t think of another reason why they would discuss this issue at this time.”

Frank is the Chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, but was forced to postpone a hearing last Friday on HR 2267 and HR 2266, the latter of which postpones mandatory compliance with the UIGEA rules by one year. A prior commitment in Massachusetts was cited as the reason for the delay of the hearing, which has not yet been rescheduled.

Among those who have already fired back at the memo is the IGC, whose Deputy Director, Keith Furlong, told the Post that the organization had “never retained Jack Abramoff in any capacity. We did retain others at his firm at the very end of his tenure there, and we continue to do so, but we have never had a relationship with him.” The document also calls out Americans for Tax Reform, Traditional Values Coalition, Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, International Interactive Alliance, Starnet Communications International, Bowman International, Rakisons, and the E-Commerce Payment Coalition.

The story broke one day after the PPA held a charity poker tournament in Washington, D.C. benefiting Ante Up for Africa.

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