I was over catching up at Josh Marshall’s place (both TPM and TMP Muckraker) a short while ago. Now, I think Josh and crew are the top of the heap when it comes to their knowledge base on the “culture of corruption” as epitomized by the Delay, Abramoff and Cunningham scandals. But one thing I noticed when surfing through TPM’s “reference section” is that Josh tends to emphasize Abramoff’s connections with Capitol Hill politicians and their staffs.
Like most American Indians, however, I tend to be more Executive-centric when it comes to the day-to-day policies which impact the million plus federally-recognized Indians living on reservation lands in the US. If you need something big enough that you’re willing to wait years and years, you go to Congress; for everything else, you go to Interior.
I can almost guarentee Abramoff’s tribal clients felt the same way. While they might have been moderately impressed with Abramoff’s influence in Delay’s office, the meat and potatoes of the matter was Secretary Norton. Abramoff’s promise of “juice” at Interior was why his clients forked over millions of dollars to Abramoff, or laundered it through his many front groups such as CREA. The thousands here or there which padded Congressional coffers and PACs were pin money compared to what they were willing to pay for direct access to Norton’s office.
Much of Josh Marshall’s very critical research on the Abramoff scandal, besides SunCruz, focused initially on the Northern Marianas Islands and Guam influence (and election) buying scandals. In those cases, Congressional oversight matters, particularly since issues were legislation-based, e.g., minimum wage laws. But tribal relations with the federal government over such things as gaming and land-in-trust issues are much more complicated, particularly under the IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act). So while some of Abramoff’s clients, such as the Sag-Chip, wanted earmarks in Appropriations bills for their own pet projects, most paid the big bucks for lobbying on issues where the Secretary and her Interior minions had the final say.
The fact is, just as Abramoff had his fingers in multiple pots, those separate pots had their own lobbying targets. For SunCruz and the Northern Marianas, it was Congress; for most tribal gaming clients, it was interior. There are probably other targets we haven’t uncovered as of yet.
Unfortunately, not comprehending this duality has almost cost the Left dearly its message of “culture of corruption”, as Republicans have attempted to portray tribal contributions to Senators and Representatives as “bipartisan”. If we understand the true motivation behind Abramoff’s tribal clients, there is no shirking the responsibility of the Republicans – this is the Bush Administration, and the appointees who head up the Interior Department are Bush’s appointees and no other. Unfortunately, Norton and Dep. Sec. Griles have slipped the noose, at least while holding the reigns of power. But indictments of either, or both, would still have a staggering impact on public sentiment towards the Administration, and the GOP in general.
(X-posted at Wampum, but I said last week I’d be hanging out more in the Pond once the Koufaxes were done.)
