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Abramoff Pal Michael Scanlon Wants Sentence Reduced Because Of 'Casino Jack' Film

Ryan J. Reilly | February 8, 2011, 10:48AM

Michael Scanlon and Jack Abramoff

Lawyers for Michael Scanlon -- one of the central figures in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal set to be sentenced on Friday -- say their client deserves less than the two years in jail the federal government requested since he "believed he was literally risking his life" by cooperating with the feds.

Scanlon's attorneys throw in everything but the kitchen sink while pointing out reasons why Scanlon shouldn't serve a full two years. One of them: an actor's portray of him in the recent flick "Casino Jack" starring Kevin Spacey has already soiled his reputation.

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Topics: Casino Jack, DOJ Public Integrity, Department of Justice, Jack Abramoff, Justice Department, Michael Scanlon

Jack Abramoff

Casino Jack Clip: How One GOP Rep Helped Jack Abramoff (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 3, 2010, 7:25PM

We recently brought you a review of the new Jack Abramoff documentary, Casino Jack. Now we have an exclusive clip of the film in which Republican Congressman Bob Ney -- who later did jail time in the scandal -- describes how he helped Abramoff.

In the clip, Ney aide-turned-Abramoff associate Neil Volz describes breaking the ban against lobbying one's former boss, in this case Ney, who agreed to do favors for an Abramoff client. The client was the Tigua Indian tribe in Texas, which was trying to get its casino, which had been shut down, reopened.

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Topics: Bob Ney, Casino Jack, Jack Abramoff, Texas

Jack Abramoff

Casino Jack Delivers Sweeping View Of Abramoff Scandal

Justin Elliott | April 22, 2010, 1:14PM

Early in the new documentary Casino Jack, a young Ralph Reed appears wearing a camouflage trucker hat, overcome with anti-Communist fervor at a rally in support of the Nicaraguan contras. Later on there is a beturbaned Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) posing with his mujahideen friends in Afghanistan in the late 1980s. And there is Jack Abramoff at a meeting of freedom fighters hosted by rebel leader (and human rights abuser) Jonas Savimbi in Angola.

The best part of Casino Jack is the archival footage that puts the disgraced super-lobbyist in the context of the conservative movement stretching back to his years at the helm of the College Republicans in the early 1980s.