TPMmuckraker reports on Congressional investigations targeting four of casino syndicator's "friends"

in its "Today's Must Read" post, TPMmuckraker reports the following "friends" of Detroit casino syndicator Michael J. Malik (and the Ilitch Family) are under investigation for ethics violations and other wrongdoings:

1. Congressman Don Young (R-AK 1st)
TPMmuckracker: Young's Scandals from Abramoff to Zachares

See these related posts at TheVerifiableTruth.com:

• Why did a Detroit-based casino syndicate with interests in Barstow front travel costs for Alaska's Rep. Don Young?
• Is the Gulfstream G-IV private aircraft pictured on this postcard co-owned by the Ilitch Family?
• Daniel Aronoff and Mike Malik have similar relationships with Rep. Don Young
• Michigan Developer directed political funds to Rep Don Young and got $20 million earmarked for Florida road project
• There can be no question why Michael Malik found Rep. Don Young to be such an attractive political figure
• Tribe hoped language slipped into 2004 Transportation Bill would grant approvals for Port Huron casino
• UPDATED: Tribal leader admits lobbyists were trying to sneak casino plans through Congress without alerting opposition
• You can tell a lot about a Capitol Hill lobbyist by the company they keep
• PoliticalMoneyLine: Rep. Don Young pays Akin Gump $25,000 & gets $100,000 GOP refund
• Rep. Young (R-AK) flying around in Detroit Casino Developers' private jet
• Rep. Don Young's Top 10 donor list includes prominent Great Lakes area families bankrolling 'off-reservation' casino projects
• Casino Developer who fronted travel & entertainment costs for Rep. Don Young (R-AK) did the same for former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
• Former congressional aide linked to Reps. John Doolittle and Don Young pleads guilty
• Ilitch & Troha families responsible for 70% of the money Rep Don Young (R-AK) took in on his best fundraising day of the entire 2006 campaign
• Casino developer indicted on charges he laundered political contributions via his family
• NewsMeat.com provides a snapshot look at Ilitch Family DC political contributions and bundling practices
• Do these people really believe Marian Ilitch is a "homemaker" or are they playing along with the game
• GOP Congresswoman received at least $74,000 in bundled funds from Ilitch Family sources after introducing bill for syndicator-backed Indian casino
• Six bills in Congress, over six years & political gifts in the six figures: That's what Ilitch Family has invested in Port Huron Casino deal
• Malik/Ilitch Contributions to Rep. Don Young

2. Congressman John Doolittle (R-CA )
TPMmuckraker: The Doolittle Investgations

See these related posts at TheVerifiableTruth.com:

• Family Affair: Members of Congress pay family members with political funds
• Ethics Issues Confront Crop of Calif. Congressmen
• Doolittle committee disclosure falsely reported young rookie lobbyist (son of a Doolittle political operative) as “retired”
• Rep. John Doolittle's longtime political operative maneuvering behind the scenes of Barstow casino project
• You can tell a lot about a Capitol Hill lobbyist by the company they keep
• Former congressional aide linked to Reps. John Doolittle and Don Young pleads guilty

3. Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ )
TPMmuckraker: Rick Renzi Under Investigation

See these related posts at TheVerifiableTruth.com:

• Rep. Renzi's committee, donor may have falsified disclosure records
• You can tell a lot about a Capitol Hill lobbyist by the company they keep

4. Congressman Jerry Lewis (R-CA )
TPMmuckraker: Lewis is under investigation

See these related posts at TheVerifiableTruth.com:

• Family Affair: Members of Congress pay family members with political funds
• You can tell a lot about a Capitol Hill lobbyist by the company they keep
• CleanUpWashington.org Hall of Shame The Story on Hall of Shame Candidate Rep. Jerry Lewis
• Rep. Lewis, Daughter used same PAC Lawyer Barbara Bonfiglio
• Controversial D.C .Lobbyists/PAC Treasurers Barbara Bonfiglio and Mark Valente III have ties to Team Ilitch; Reps J. Lewis, C. Miller, R. Pombo
• Ethics Issues Confront Crop of Calif. Congressmen
• Concerns raised about Malik & Bay Mills Tribe's Plastics Business long before $900k federal grant awarded
• Malik contributions to Jerry Lewis

TPMmuckracker keeps a running tally of investigations and prosecutions of both Democrats and Republicans on their Grand Ole Docket.

Or click on any of the "labels" (categories) below for a compendium of posts at TheVerifiableTruth.com (TVT) for that category.

Look who took part in preliminary discussions about Big Lagoon/Los Coyotes casinos

The following is reproduced from a “sign-in sheet” completed by those who attended a 2004 meeting in northern California to discuss a preliminary proposal for two off-reservation Indian casinos and resorts in Barstow, CA, to be developed and managed by Detroit-based Barwest, L.L.C. for the Big Lagoon Rancheria Indians (Humboldt County) and Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeno Indians (San Diego County).

SIGN-IN SHEET

Name	Tribe/Company
Peter Engstrom	Baker & McKenzie (Counsel, Big Lagoon)
Virgil Moorehead	Big Lagoon
Shawna Neyra	Big Lagoon
David Neyra	Big Lagoon
Jake Miklojcik	Michigan Consultants
Heather Sibbison	Patton Boggs/Barwest
Lance Boldrey	Dykema Gossett/Barwest
Anna Kimber	Tribal Attorney/Los Coyotes
Katherine Saubel	Los Coyotes
Kevin Siva	Los Coyotes
Marc A. Palazzo	Barronhaus (Los Coyotes)
Michael G. Rossetti	Akin Gump for Los Coyotes
Robert Guenthardt	Barwest (former chair Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Manistee, MI)
Ron Rector	City of Barstow
Lawrence E. Dale	Mayor City of Barstow
Michael J. Malik	Barwest
John Feliz	Big Lagoon

Rep. Don Young's political defense legal bills highest in House

7.17.07

By Paul Kane

washingtonpost.com Staff

Justice Department probes of congressional corruption continued to provide big business for Washington's white-collar criminal defense attorneys, who billed at least $1 million in the second quarter to current and former House members involved in federal investigations.

With at least 11 such politicians -- including several forced from office last fall -- facing probes including the Jack Abramoff bribery conspiracy and the House page instant-messaging scandal, top-flight legal talent was in high demand.

The largest payout for current members came from Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), whose campaign shelled out more than $262,000 to a pair of top Washington firms: Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which took more than $242,000, and Tobin, O'Connor, Ewing & Richard.

Unlike some of the others on the list, Young has not been the target of a subpoena. But Mark Zachares, a former staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee while Young chaired it, pleaded guilty this spring to trying to help Abramoff's clients in exchange for the promise of a future job at his firm.

In addition, Young's current district director in Alaska recently lobbied for an energy conglomerate whose chief executive pleaded guilty in May to bribing several state lawmakers. Young and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who has hired his own team of lawyers to deal with that probe, were the top recipients of donations from the executive and that company.

After spending $25,000 on Akin Gump in the first quarter, Young's campaign told reporters the funds were spent out of "caution." Yesterday, his congressional office deferred comment to Young's campaign staff, which declined to answer questions about his legal aid.

Former representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned last fall after the FBI began investigating a series of inappropriate instant messages with teenage boys who were formerly House pages, spent more than $277,000 from April through June from his campaign funds, according to reports filed this weekend with the Federal Election Commission.

The FEC and congressional ethics committees have routinely allowed members to tap their campaign war chests to pay legal bills if they are under investigation for actions taken in the course of being a member of Congress.

"Lawyers rejoice," said Norman J. Ornstein, a congressional scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Ornstein noted that the average cost for one of the lawyers who handle ethics investigations has grown to $600 an hour. "This is serious stuff. . . . Obviously, it's also a reflection of the fact that we've a lot of folks under investigation," Ornstein added.

Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), the former speaker who underwent questioning from the ethics committee during its review last fall of the Foley matter, spent nearly $60,000 on legal bills in April and May, slightly less than the $70,000 he paid to his attorneys in the first quarter. Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) , his successor, spent $52,939 on legal bills related to his civil lawsuit against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) over a leaked copy of a conference call Boehner participated in more than 10 years ago.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), who has faced scrutiny over earmarks he provided to campaign contributors, spent $31,000 on his defense. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), whose family business was raided by the FBI last April, spent $25,000. Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-W.Va.), whose investments and campaign contributions have been under investigation, spent $22,671. And Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.), who was closely linked to Abramoff, spent $50,584.

Defeat at the ballot box does not mean the bills go away.

Former congressman Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), whose daughter's offices were raided by the FBI just before he lost his reelection bid, paid $25,000 to his lawyers this spring as investigators continued to examine official actions taken on behalf of his daughter's lobbying clients. Weldon also paid $5,000 to a firm for "investigative services."

Former congressman J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.), who has faced scrutiny over his relationship with Abramoff, paid more than $102,000 to a legal team, according to his FEC report, and still owes $106,000.

Ilitch Spokesman confirmed Wheat, Brown & Rossetti were on board for lobbying and consultation

as pubished 10.20.04 in the Desert Dispatch:

"...There are no guarantees that the state or federal government will approve the casino, but BarWest has an impressive team, including Alan Wheat, a former congressman from Kansas; Mike Rossetti, formerly a top aide to Interior Secretary Gale Norton; and Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco.

"Shields said

• Wheat is on board as a federal lobbyist,


• Brown is doing state lobbying and


• Rosetti, an attorney, is a consultant. Shields said Rosetti is an asset partly because he's well-respected at the Interior Department..."

1. Wheat Government Relations has been retained by Barwest LLC as well as other Michael Malik/Marian Ilitch affiliates (Gateway Casino Resorts LLC, Blue Water Resorts LLC) and tribal partners (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Bay Mills Indian Community, Shinnecock Indian Nation). From 2002-2006 those entities paid Wheat Government Relations at least $1.4 million.
   


2. While Barwest spokesman Tom Shields indicated Willie L. Brown, Jr. was a lobbyist for Barwest LLC and the Los Coyotes Band of Indians, Brown was never registered as their lobbyist with the California Secretary of State as would be required.
   


3. Michael Rossetti's status as a "Consultant" to the Detroit casino syndicators, while employed at a law firm (Akin Gump) that also is one of the top three lobbying firms on Capitol Hill, is suspect. Although the Detroit Team has retained other Akin Gump attorneys who are not registered as their lobbyists either. Rossetti's post Interior role with the Seneca Nation which has come into question is similar to his role with Barwest and the Los Coyotes Band of Indians, although Rossetti earlier had intervened on the Seneca Nation's behalf while still at Interior.

Questions surfacing again about former DOI official turned lobbyist Michael Rossetti

NOTE: the Detroit-based team behind casino syndicators Michael J. Malik and Mrs. Marian Ilitch have previously boasted that former Interior Department official Michael G. Rossetti was a lobbyist for their projects as well although there are no registrations or disclosures to suggest Rossetti lobbied officially for their interests. The Detroit crew has also boasted of retaining Akins Gump expertise but again that firm has never registered as a lobbyists for any Malik/Ilitch affiliates familiar to TVT.

as posted 7.02.07 at indianz.com:

Seneca Nation hired DOI official who fought for casino

An Interior Department official who overruled objections to the Seneca Nation's off-reservation casino in Buffalo, New York, was hired by the tribe as its lobbyist.

Michael G. Rossetti served as counselor to former Secretary Gale Norton. He had authority over Indian gaming matters and led the fight to approve the Seneca casino despite objections from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, The Buffalo News reported.

George Skibine and Paula Hart of the BIA's Office of Indian Gaming Management expressed concerns that the land to be used for the off-reservation casino did not quality for a casino. The site was taken into trust after 1988 but the tribe cited the land claim exception in Section 20 of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.

The BIA also had concerns about the tribe's gaming compact. But in both instances, Rossetti and another Interior lawyer named Edith Blackwell overruled the agency, the paper said.

Rossetti left the department to work for Akin Gump, which was the tribe's lobbying firm. He later told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that former Interior deputy secretary J. Steven Griles intervened in a gaming matter at the behest of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Griles' responses to the committee led to his guilty plea in the Abramoff scandal. He was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison.

Get the Story: Officials questioned Seneca’s practices (The Buffalo News 7/1)

http://www.indianz.com/IndianGaming/2007/003710.asp

PoliticalMoneyLine: Rep. Don Young pays Akin Gump $25,000 & gets $100,000 GOP refund

as posted at PoliticalMoneyLine:

Rep. Don Young & Legal Fees & $100,000
04.15.07

Rep. Don Young reported paying $25,000 to Akin Gump Strauss Hauer for legal services in the first quarter of 2007. The committee also received $100,000 "refund" from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)

PoliticalMoneyLine also reports that Michael J. Malik, Sr. contributed $10,000 to the NRCC during the first quarter of 2007 (2/28/07).