Capitol Campaign Strategies
Encyclopedia
Capitol Campaign Strategies was a public relations firm run by Michael Scanlon
, Tom DeLay
's former press secretary, which Scanlon used in coordination with Jack Abramoff
to redirect about $40 million in lobbying contributions from Indian tribes to Scanlon, Abramoff, and their associates, as well as funding bribes to Republican politicians such as Bob Ney
. Scanlon and Abramoff have pleaded guilty for their activities
. After Abramoff left Preston Gates and went to Greenberg Traurig
in January 2001, Scanlon formed Capitol Campaign Strategies. Its official location was 611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE in Washington D.C., which is a maildrop. Scanlon also formed the dummy organizations American International Center
and Atlantic Research Analysis aka Atlantic Research & Analysis, used to receive and distribute CCS money.
Their criminal scheme worked as follows: Abramoff directed his tribal clients to pay CCS for political services without disclosing his ties to Scanlon; the clients were grossly overbilled; Scanlon and Abramoff split the profits fifty-fifty in a scheme known to the two as "Gimme Five". Public relations firms are not under the same disclosure requirements as registered lobbyists such as Abramoff.
was split $500,000 to CCS and $450,000 to Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation
, and $50,000 to repay an Abramoff loan).
According to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, six tribes gave CCS a total of $66 million.
As stipulated in Scanlon's and Abramoff's pleas, CCS received net profits of approximately $39,397,300 from the first four tribes listed below. Of this amount, Scanlon kicked back approximately $19,698,644 to Abramoff.
The four tribes hired Scanlon's firm mainly for state-level work, including efforts to prevent other tribes from opening rival casinos.
In 2002 the Coushatta tribe gave CCS $13.7 million. Tribal chairman Lovelin Poncho and council member William G. Worfel of the Coushatta Tribe used CCS to spy on other tribes and fellow Coushattas, approving gigantic invoices with only the description "professional services." The largest single invoice was $3,405,000 on March 13, 2002.
CCS helped put together a "Slate of Eight" for the 2001 tribal council election of the Saginaw Chippewa. Soon after the new council entered office, they paid him $1.8 million. It is a federal offense for individual tribe members to use casino profits for their own benefit.
Michael Scanlon
Michael Scanlon, AKA "Sean Scanlon", is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal...
, Tom DeLay
Tom DeLay
Thomas Dale "Tom" DeLay is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of criminal money laundering charges in...
's former press secretary, which Scanlon used in coordination with Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist and businessman. Convicted in 2006 of mail fraud and conspiracy, he was at the heart of an extensive corruption investigation that led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine...
to redirect about $40 million in lobbying contributions from Indian tribes to Scanlon, Abramoff, and their associates, as well as funding bribes to Republican politicians such as Bob Ney
Bob Ney
Robert William Ney is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned...
. Scanlon and Abramoff have pleaded guilty for their activities
Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon...
. After Abramoff left Preston Gates and went to Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig LLP and Greenberg Traurig PA is an international law firm based in Miami, Florida.The firm has approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its founding office is in Miami, Florida with its largest office in...
in January 2001, Scanlon formed Capitol Campaign Strategies. Its official location was 611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE in Washington D.C., which is a maildrop. Scanlon also formed the dummy organizations American International Center
American International Center
The American International Center LLC was a front organization established in 2001 by Michael Scanlon as part of his conspiracy with Jack Abramoff to receive and redistribute funds given by their clients for personal and political gain...
and Atlantic Research Analysis aka Atlantic Research & Analysis, used to receive and distribute CCS money.
Their criminal scheme worked as follows: Abramoff directed his tribal clients to pay CCS for political services without disclosing his ties to Scanlon; the clients were grossly overbilled; Scanlon and Abramoff split the profits fifty-fifty in a scheme known to the two as "Gimme Five". Public relations firms are not under the same disclosure requirements as registered lobbyists such as Abramoff.
Money in
About $53 million in fees from four tribes to Capitol Campaign Strategies, either directly or through other Abramoff-controlled organizations (e.g. a $1 million from the Choctaws for "professional services" to the National Center for Public Policy ResearchNational Center for Public Policy Research
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a self-described conservative think tank in the United States. Its president since its founding has been Amy Ridenour. David A. Ridenour, her husband, is vice president, and David W. Almasi is executive director...
was split $500,000 to CCS and $450,000 to Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation
Capital Athletic Foundation
The Capital Athletic Foundation is a 501 charity organization founded in 2000. The organization's nominal purpose was to provide needy youths with athletic opportunities. The organization has been used by its founder, Jack Abramoff, as a front group for channeling money into his own political...
, and $50,000 to repay an Abramoff loan).
According to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, six tribes gave CCS a total of $66 million.
As stipulated in Scanlon's and Abramoff's pleas, CCS received net profits of approximately $39,397,300 from the first four tribes listed below. Of this amount, Scanlon kicked back approximately $19,698,644 to Abramoff.
| Tribe | Moneys received | Kick-back to Abramoff | Time period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi Choctaws | $14,765,000 | $6,365,000 | June 2001-April 2004 |
| Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana | $30,510,000 | $10,944,000 | March 2001-May 2003 |
| Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan | $3,500,000 | $540,000 | June 2002-October 2003 |
| Tigua Tribe of Texas Ysleta del Sur Pueblo Ysleta del Sur Pueblo is a Puebloan Native American tribal entity in the Ysleta section of El Paso, Texas, comprising a formerly Southern Tiwa-speaking people who were displaced from New Mexico in 1680 and 1681 during the Pueblo Revolt against the Spaniards.-Tigua:In Spanish the people and... |
$4,200,000 | $1,850,000 | March 2002 |
| Sandia Pueblo of New Mexico Sandia Pueblo Sandia Pueblo is a tribe of Native American Pueblo people inhabiting a 101.114 km² reservation of the same name in the eastern Rio Grande Valley of central New Mexico, located three miles south of Bernalillo off Highway 85 in southern Sandoval County and northern Bernalillo County, at... |
$2,750,000 | $1,175,000 | March 2002 |
| Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Agua Caliente Indian Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.-Reservation:... |
? |
The four tribes hired Scanlon's firm mainly for state-level work, including efforts to prevent other tribes from opening rival casinos.
In 2002 the Coushatta tribe gave CCS $13.7 million. Tribal chairman Lovelin Poncho and council member William G. Worfel of the Coushatta Tribe used CCS to spy on other tribes and fellow Coushattas, approving gigantic invoices with only the description "professional services." The largest single invoice was $3,405,000 on March 13, 2002.
CCS helped put together a "Slate of Eight" for the 2001 tribal council election of the Saginaw Chippewa. Soon after the new council entered office, they paid him $1.8 million. It is a federal offense for individual tribe members to use casino profits for their own benefit.
Money out
- $1.8 million plus $2.3 million from Scanlon's front organization American International CenterAmerican International CenterThe American International Center LLC was a front organization established in 2001 by Michael Scanlon as part of his conspiracy with Jack Abramoff to receive and redistribute funds given by their clients for personal and political gain...
to Abramoff's college friend Ralph ReedRalph E. Reed, Jr.Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr., is a conservative American political activist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the Republican nomination for the office of Lieutenant Governor of Georgia but lost the primary election on July 18, 2006,...
in 2001 and 2002 to assemble anti-gambling coalitions in Louisiana and Texas. Abramoff and Scanlon later took on the Tigua Tribe of Texas whose casinos were blocked by the coalition as clients. - $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association before the 2002 election (in two contributions of $250,000 each on October 17 and 22). The payment was not disclosed until the association filed amended reports on April 27, 2004. In January 2006 Gov. Mitt RomneyMitt RomneyWillard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
said the association would donate $500,000 to American Red Cross chapters in the hurricane areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida and Alabama. - $125,000 to Team AbramoffTeam Abramoff"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians...
member Kevin Ring (through KAR LLC, based at Ring's home) with monies from the Pueblo of Sandia Tribe of New Mexico in 2002 - $20,000 each to Team AbramoffTeam Abramoff"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians...
members John Van Horne and Michael Smith in 2002 (contrary to Greenberg Traurig policy; Horne and Smith were asked to resign in 2005) - An example of the Abramoff kickback: more than $12 million to Abramoff’s Kay Gold Inc. in 9 months in 2002 [Roll Call, 3/23/04], including a $2,266,250 check on September 12, 2002
- An example of an actual lobbying expense: $50,000 to lobbying firm Lunde & Burger to lobby Senator Dodd
- $120,000 to the Alexander Strategy GroupAlexander Strategy GroupAlexander Strategy Group was an American lobbying firm involved in the K Street Project, founded by Ed Buckham and his wife Wendy. Buckham is a former chief of staff of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and the firm openly promoted its access to DeLay. Its chief lobbyist was Paul Behrends.In...
in 2002 - $950,000 via Scanlon's front organization Atlantic Research Analysis to Capital Athletic Foundation in 2003
Employees
A few mostly young people were employed by CCS in a townhouse on Capitol Hill. Some include:- Christopher Cathcart, later executive director of the Maryland Republican Party for a year, then on to business school
- Aaron Stetter
Quotes
According to assistant attorney general Alice Fisher:
Scanlon and Abramoff agreed to defraud their tribal clients in a scheme they jokingly referred to between themselves as the "Gimme Five" program.
Let me explain to you how this program worked. As described in the court papers filed today, Abramoff would recommend that his tribal clients hire a company run by Scanlon, Capitol Campaign Strategies, or CCS, to perform grassroots or public relations services on behalf of the tribes.
But the tribes weren't getting the whole picture. Abramoff did not refer tribal clients to CCS solely to further the interest of the tribe. Rather, he did so to further his own interest and to line his own pockets in ways which were fraudulent and illegal.
As they have both now admitted, Abramoff and Scanlon agreed that Scanlon would pay secret kickbacks of 50 percent back to Abramoff each time a tribal client hired CCS. These secret kickbacks ran into the millions of dollars and were never disclosed to the clients.