Internet Gambling Prohibition Act
Encyclopedia
The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) was a 1999 bill in the US Senate
to ban Internet gambling
. Passage of the bill was defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of Jack Abramoff
. The bill was supported by Christian conservative
groups such as Focus on the Family
, Moral Majority
, and the Christian Coalition.
A new version
of this legislation was attached to the SAFE Port Act
and became law in 2006.
In 1999, eLottery, inc. hired Jack Abramoff
's lobbying firm, Abramoff's firm, Preston Gates & Ellis
, to represent their effort to block the bill. ELottery, an Internet
-based firm, intended to sell state lottery tickets online, and this business venture was threatened by the IGPA. Abramoff recruited Ralph Reed
, his College Republicans
cohort, and Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition
to oppose the legislation. Although Reed was a former Director of the Christian Coalition which now supported the bill, Abramoff suggested a strategy for opposing the bill on the basis of exceptions in the bill for horse racing
and jai-alai. Reed and Sheldon later claimed that they did not know that they were effectively doing this work on behalf of a gambling corporation. These claims contradict email exchanges between Abramoff and Reed which discuss eLottery and its parent company
, eLot in 2000 and 2001.
In June 2000, Susan Ralston
helped Jack Abramoff pass checks from eLottery to Lou Sheldon
's Traditional Values Coalition
(TVC
) and also to Grover Norquist
's Americans for Tax Reform
(ATR
), in route to Ralph Reed
's company, Century Strategies
Abramoff directed his client, eLottery, to direct $25,000 in payments to Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, and also checks totalling $160,000 to Grover Norquist
's Americans for Tax Reform
.
Abramoff then directed Norquist to receive his checks and write another check for $150,000 to Faith and Family Alliance, a Delaware-based political advocacy
group started by Reed.
The check was received by Robin Vanderwall, then Director of Faith and Family Alliance, who claimed Reed called him and directed him to write a check for an equal amount to Century Strategies, Reed's political consultancy.
"I was running a shell", Vanderwall later claimed. "I regret having had anything to do with it."
Abramoff was working closely with Tony Rudy
, then Majority Whip Tom DeLay
's Chief of Staff
. In numerous emails, Rudy delivered inside information on the status of discussions of IGPA within the House Republican Caucus, and suggested strategies to defeat it. DeLay was normally a staunch opponent of gambling, but had not taken a position on the bill.
Reverend Sheldon worked publicly to oppose the bill, holding numerous press conferences
. On July 13, 2000, Sheldon met privately with DeLay. DeLay later announced his opposition to the bill.
While the bill was under consideration in the House, a letter began circulating among congressman opposing the legislation, signed by Florida Governor Jeb Bush
. The letter caused confusion amongst the Republican Caucus, but was later shown to be a forgery.
Abramoff's firm had hired Shandwick Worldwide, based in Tampa, Florida
to lobby Jeb Bush and other leaders for letters showing opposition to IGPA. Months later, a Florida man, Matthew Blair, told authorities in a plea bargain
agreement that he was hired by Shandwick to obtain the letter, but created a forgery when he failed to get a real one. Shandwick denied any complicity in the forgery.
DeLay voted against IGPA, and used his powers as Majority Whip to place the bill on the suspension calendar, a House procedural maneuver which bans amendments and limits debate. The bill's sponsor, Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) agreed, as he expected the bill to pass.
The bill failed to meet the two-thirds majority
required by the suspension calendar, and was rejected on July 18.
The bill's original supporters, such as James Dobson
's Focus on the Family
, immediately demanded that the House leadership revive the bill. Abramoff realized that he would not be able to muster support to reject the bill in an ordinary majority vote
. Abramoff used Sheldon to target 10 Republican House members in vulnerable districts, using Sheldon to carry out a media campaign and Reed to carry out a direct-mail campaign accusing the members of being 'soft on gambling' if they supported the bill. In a fax to eLottery on August 18, Abramoff wrote, "please get me a check as soon as possible for $150,000 made payable to American Marketing Inc. This is the company Ralph[Reed] is using."
Abramoff also directed eLottery to write a check for $25,000 to Toward Tradition
, a Seattle, Washington-based foundation formerly chaired by Abramoff, and then chaired by Rabbi Daniel Lapin
. Toward Tradition later employed Tony Rudy's wife, Lisa Rudy for work allegedly related to an Interfaith conference to be held in September 2000. Lapin claimed that Lisa Rudy's company, Liberty Consulting, was paid over $25,000 for "ground work" related to the conference.
Toward Tradition also received $25,000 in funding from Abramoff's client Magazine Publishers of America. According to the MPA, this donation was given at the direction of another Preston Gates
employee, not Abramoff. Tony Rudy had also aided Abramoff in lobbying Tom DeLay on a postal-rate increase opposed by the magazine publishers. The FBI interviewed Toward Tradition in 2005 regarding this apparent money laundering.
Due to the campaigns manufactured by Reed and Sheldon, the targeted members reported to DeLay's office that they were being pressured by constituents to vote against the bill. Tony Rudy used his position as Chief of Staff to exaggerate these concerns in reports to Tom DeLay. DeLay eventually convinced other members of the House Republican leadership that passing the bill could cost the Republican caucus 4 seats, at which point the other leaders agreed not to put the bill to a vote in that session of Congress.
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
to ban Internet gambling
Online gambling
Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...
. Passage of the bill was defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of 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...
. The bill was supported by Christian conservative
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
groups such as Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
, Moral Majority
Moral Majority
The Moral Majority was a political organization of the United States which had an agenda of evangelical Christian-oriented political lobbying...
, and the Christian Coalition.
A new version
Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 is United States legislation regulating online gambling. It was added as Title VIII to the SAFE Port Act which otherwise regulated port security...
of this legislation was attached to the SAFE Port Act
SAFE Port Act
The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment...
and became law in 2006.
In 1999, eLottery, inc. hired 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...
's lobbying firm, Abramoff's firm, Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington...
, to represent their effort to block the bill. ELottery, an Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
-based firm, intended to sell state lottery tickets online, and this business venture was threatened by the IGPA. Abramoff recruited Ralph Reed
Ralph 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,...
, his College Republicans
College Republicans
The College Republican National Committee is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States...
cohort, and Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition
Traditional Values Coalition
The Traditional Values Coalition is a conservative Christian organization that represents, by its estimate, over 43,000 Christian churches throughout the United States of America...
to oppose the legislation. Although Reed was a former Director of the Christian Coalition which now supported the bill, Abramoff suggested a strategy for opposing the bill on the basis of exceptions in the bill for horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
and jai-alai. Reed and Sheldon later claimed that they did not know that they were effectively doing this work on behalf of a gambling corporation. These claims contradict email exchanges between Abramoff and Reed which discuss eLottery and its parent company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, eLot in 2000 and 2001.
In June 2000, Susan Ralston
Susan Ralston
Susan Bonzon Ralston , is the President of SBR Enterprises, LLC, a government affairs, public relations and business consulting firm in the United States...
helped Jack Abramoff pass checks from eLottery to Lou Sheldon
Lou Sheldon
Louis P. Sheldon is an American Presbyterian pastor and chairman of the social conservative organization, the Traditional Values Coalition...
's Traditional Values Coalition
Traditional Values Coalition
The Traditional Values Coalition is a conservative Christian organization that represents, by its estimate, over 43,000 Christian churches throughout the United States of America...
(TVC
Traditional Values Coalition
The Traditional Values Coalition is a conservative Christian organization that represents, by its estimate, over 43,000 Christian churches throughout the United States of America...
) and also to Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
's Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
(ATR
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
), in route to Ralph Reed
Ralph 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,...
's company, Century Strategies
- "I have 3 checks from elot: (1) 2 checks for $80K payable to ATR and (2) 1 check to TVC for $25K," wrote Ralston, "Let me know exactly what to do next. Send to Grover? Send to Rev. Lou?"
Abramoff directed his client, eLottery, to direct $25,000 in payments to Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition, and also checks totalling $160,000 to Grover Norquist
Grover Norquist
Grover Glenn Norquist is an American lobbyist, conservative activist, and founder and president of Americans for Tax Reform...
's Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform
Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
.
Abramoff then directed Norquist to receive his checks and write another check for $150,000 to Faith and Family Alliance, a Delaware-based political advocacy
Advocacy
Advocacy is a political process by an individual or a large group which normally aims to influence public-policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions; it may be motivated from moral, ethical or faith principles or simply to protect an...
group started by Reed.
The check was received by Robin Vanderwall, then Director of Faith and Family Alliance, who claimed Reed called him and directed him to write a check for an equal amount to Century Strategies, Reed's political consultancy.
"I was running a shell", Vanderwall later claimed. "I regret having had anything to do with it."
Abramoff was working closely with Tony Rudy
Tony Rudy
Tony Charles Rudy , an American lobbyist and an associate of Jack Abramoff. After serving as a staffer in the office of U. S. Representative Tom DeLay from approximately 1995 to 2001, and rising to deputy chief of staff, Rudy joined "Team Abramoff" at Greenberg Traurig. Rudy was implicated in the...
, then Majority Whip 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 Chief of Staff
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
. In numerous emails, Rudy delivered inside information on the status of discussions of IGPA within the House Republican Caucus, and suggested strategies to defeat it. DeLay was normally a staunch opponent of gambling, but had not taken a position on the bill.
Reverend Sheldon worked publicly to oppose the bill, holding numerous press conferences
News conference
A news conference or press conference is a media event in which newsmakers invite journalists to hear them speak and, most often, ask questions. A joint press conference instead is held between two or more talking sides.-Practice:...
. On July 13, 2000, Sheldon met privately with DeLay. DeLay later announced his opposition to the bill.
While the bill was under consideration in the House, a letter began circulating among congressman opposing the legislation, signed by Florida Governor Jeb Bush
Jeb Bush
John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
. The letter caused confusion amongst the Republican Caucus, but was later shown to be a forgery.
Abramoff's firm had hired Shandwick Worldwide, based in Tampa, Florida
Tampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
to lobby Jeb Bush and other leaders for letters showing opposition to IGPA. Months later, a Florida man, Matthew Blair, told authorities in a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
agreement that he was hired by Shandwick to obtain the letter, but created a forgery when he failed to get a real one. Shandwick denied any complicity in the forgery.
DeLay voted against IGPA, and used his powers as Majority Whip to place the bill on the suspension calendar, a House procedural maneuver which bans amendments and limits debate. The bill's sponsor, Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) agreed, as he expected the bill to pass.
The bill failed to meet the two-thirds majority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
required by the suspension calendar, and was rejected on July 18.
The bill's original supporters, such as James Dobson
James Dobson
James Clayton "Jim" Dobson, Jr. is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder in 1977 of Focus on the Family , which he led until 2003. In the 1980s he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesman for conservative social positions in American public life...
's Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
, immediately demanded that the House leadership revive the bill. Abramoff realized that he would not be able to muster support to reject the bill in an ordinary majority vote
Majoritarianism
Majoritarianism is a traditional political philosophy or agenda which asserts that a majority of the population is entitled to a certain degree of primacy in society, and has the right to make decisions that affect the society...
. Abramoff used Sheldon to target 10 Republican House members in vulnerable districts, using Sheldon to carry out a media campaign and Reed to carry out a direct-mail campaign accusing the members of being 'soft on gambling' if they supported the bill. In a fax to eLottery on August 18, Abramoff wrote, "please get me a check as soon as possible for $150,000 made payable to American Marketing Inc. This is the company Ralph
Abramoff also directed eLottery to write a check for $25,000 to Toward Tradition
Toward Tradition
Toward Tradition is a politically conservative non-profit organization founded by Rabbi Daniel Lapin based in Mercer Island, Washington, United States...
, a Seattle, Washington-based foundation formerly chaired by Abramoff, and then chaired by Rabbi Daniel Lapin
Daniel Lapin
Daniel Lapin is a political commentator and American Orthodox rabbi living on Mercer Island, Washington. He is the founder of Toward Tradition, a politically conservative Jewish-Christian organization. He once headed the Pacific Jewish Center in Venice, California. He is also the former head of...
. Toward Tradition later employed Tony Rudy's wife, Lisa Rudy for work allegedly related to an Interfaith conference to be held in September 2000. Lapin claimed that Lisa Rudy's company, Liberty Consulting, was paid over $25,000 for "ground work" related to the conference.
Toward Tradition also received $25,000 in funding from Abramoff's client Magazine Publishers of America. According to the MPA, this donation was given at the direction of another Preston Gates
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington...
employee, not Abramoff. Tony Rudy had also aided Abramoff in lobbying Tom DeLay on a postal-rate increase opposed by the magazine publishers. The FBI interviewed Toward Tradition in 2005 regarding this apparent money laundering.
Due to the campaigns manufactured by Reed and Sheldon, the targeted members reported to DeLay's office that they were being pressured by constituents to vote against the bill. Tony Rudy used his position as Chief of Staff to exaggerate these concerns in reports to Tom DeLay. DeLay eventually convinced other members of the House Republican leadership that passing the bill could cost the Republican caucus 4 seats, at which point the other leaders agreed not to put the bill to a vote in that session of Congress.
External links
- "Ralph Reed's Other Cheek", Mother JonesMother Jones (magazine)Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
, Nov-Dec 2004