Tribe keeps on giving

By Mark Ranzenberger
Phoenix Sun

If nothing else, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff got the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe into the habit of giving big to politicians, a habit they've kept, even though the Tribe fired Abramoff more than two years ago.

Data released by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics shows the Saginaw Chippewas have given more than $983,000 to politicians, political parties and political leadership committees since the start of the 2000 election cycle. The rate of giving took a big jump after Abramoff took over as the Tribe's lobbyist in late 2001.

As Abramoff pleaded guilty to a second set of felony charges in as many days, this time in Florida, politicians began scrambling to get rid of cash that might have the scent of some connection to the former lobbyist.

Officials said President George W. Bush's 2004 re-election campaign intended to give up $6,000 in donations from the lobbyist, his wife and the Saginaw Chippewas.

A political action committee controlled by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said it planned to return $2,000 it received from the Saginaw Chippewas.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, facing legal problems of his own, took similar steps to give back money from other Abramoff clients. So, too, his leadership successor, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, and Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia, another member of the GOP leadership.

Others announcing plans to give up Abramoff-related donations included Reps. Bud Shuster and Melissa Hart, both Pennsylvania Republicans.

Rep. Dave Camp, R-Midland, is looking carefully at his campaign finance records to determine if he, too, may give back some campaign cash or give it to charity, according to Camp spokesman Sage Eastman.

"It's all under review," Eastman said. "We're going through the whole record."

Eastman said he doubted Camp would return any of the $20,000 given by the Saginaw Chippewas to the Camp campaign and a political action committee Camp controls.

"The Saginaw Chippewas are constituents, not a Jack Abramoff client," Eastman said. But Camp's committees also received $15,500 from four other Abramoff clients: the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of California, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, and the Tigua Indian Reservation of Texas. Abramoff also personally gave Camp $500 in 2002, according to campaign finance records.

Eastman said Camp, whose district includes both the Isabella Reservation and reservation of the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, had long been active in supporting Native rights. He said Tribes could be seen as legitimate supporters.

"Dave never had any interaction with Jack Abramoff," Eastman said.

Before Abramoff signed on as the Tribe's lobbyist, the Saginaw Chippewas gave cash to the Democratic and Republican parties, Camp, Rep. Dale Kildee, R-Flint, then-Rep. David Bonior, D-Mount Clemens, and then-Sen. Spencer Abraham, R-Mich.

The Tribe also supported politicians such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz., and Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis. All have influence in Congress over decisions affecting Native affairs.

The Saginaw Chippewas under then-Chief Maynard Kahgegab hired Abramoff in December 2001, and the Tribe immediately began handing out more cash. The Tribe gave nearly $226,000 in the 2002 elections to a range of recipients from Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., to Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn.

In the 2004 election, donations increased to $527,000 to politicians ranging from conservative Pennsylvania Republican Sen. Rick Santorum to New York Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The spending didn't stop when the administration of former Chief Audrey Falcon took over in late 2003. The Falcon administration fired Abramoff and began to cooperate with federal investigators looking into Abramoff's machinations, but the checks continued to flow from the Tribal Operations Center.

In the first nine months of 2005, the Saginaw Chippewas gave $115,000, mainly to politicians with direct influence over Native affairs. But a memo from the Tribe's current lobbyist, Larry Rosenthal of Ietan Consulting, leaked to Tribal dissidents, outlines a plan to give another $321,000 to politicians, their committees and their parties this year.

It's not clear if the Tribe plans to follow the plan in the memo.

If it does, that would bring Tribal political donations to $1.3 million since the start of the 2000 elections. That's substantial, but pales in comparison to the nearly $9 million the Tribe spent in support of 2004's Michigan Proposal 1, which made it more difficult for commercial casinos to expand and for horse-racing tracks to add slot machines.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.