John Cornyn
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) led an effort to close two tribal casinos in Texas in 2000 while he was Attorney General there. Jack Abramoff, acting on behalf of his clients the Louisianna Coushatta, worked to make sure Cornyn was successful.
He is considered to be a very close ally of President Bush.
Key Points:
As Texas Attorney General, Cornyn played a key role in Abramoff's Tigua tribe anti-gambling scam.
In 2002, Abramoff and Scanlon worked with Ralph Reed to help the state of Texas shut down the Tigua Indian tribe's Speaking Rock Casino near El Paso, Texas. As Attorney General of Texas, Cornyn led the state effort to shut the casino down, and Abramoff, Scanlon, and Reed worked together to build grassroots public support for Cornyn's campaign. Abramoff and Scanlon paid Reed to build support for Cornyn's effort through Reed's conservative Christian lobbying and his connections to churches.
The casino was successfully shut down in February 2002, at which point Abramoff exploited the financial crisis he had helped create by convincing the Tigua tribe to pay him and Scanlon for $4.2 million.
Cornyn denied any contact with Abramoff, Scanlon, or Reed on the Tigua issue.
Cornyn's office filed the lawsuit, charging the tribe with violating the anti-gambling terms of a law giving them federal recognition, in September 1999, before Abramoff and Scanlon entered the Tigua fray. Cornyn claims he was unaware of Reed's involvement in the efforts to shut down the casino and was never in contact with Abramoff or Scanlon.
E-mails refute Cornyn's denial.
Ralph Reed claimed in a November 30th, 2001 e-mail to Abramoff that he choreographed John Cornyn's efforts as Texas attorney general to shut down the casino. Several other e-mails would seem to refute Cornyn's claims of obliviousness to Abramoff and Reed:
- Nov. 12, 2001: Reed to Abramoff: "I'm scheduled to talk to Cornyn today. He has also been called by Ed Young, pastor of second Baptist, a good friend who he is counting on big time in the Senate race."
- Nov. 12, 2001: Reed to Abramoff: "get me the details so i can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him."
- Nov. 13, 2001: Reed to Abramoff: "I strongly suggest we start doing patch-throughs to perry and cornyn. We're getting killed on the phone."
- And Jan. 7, 2002 (with victory apparently in sight), Reed to Abramoff: "I think we should budget for an ataboy for cornyn."
Cornyn received a $1,000 campaign contribution from Abramoff.
When Cornyn ran for Senate in 2002, Abramoff contributed $1,000, the maximum amount legally allowed.
Research by Ben Craw
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