Gateway Casinos / Shinnecock Lobbyist tied to Schumer, Rangel, Gillibrand; Campaign Funds Flow Their Direction

From Queens Crap: Shinnecocks plan casino at Belmont
3.04.2010

The partners [Malik / Ilitch / Gateway Casino Resorts] have hired Mercury Public Affairs, whose star lobbyist is Rodney Capel, a former top official in the state Democratic Party. Capel has also worked for Sen. Chuck Schumer, Rep. Charles Rangel, and Assemblyman Herman (Denny) Farrell.

Discussions on the project, some as recent as two weeks ago, have been held with Gov. Paterson, major state leaders, Rangel, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Schumer's chief of staff, Martin Brennan, said Capel, whose firm has been paid more than $200,000.

Sen. Schumer fought Federal Recognition for the Shinnecock Indian Nation and is a staunch opponent of a Shinnecock casino in Suffolk County. TVT is not aware of any public position taken by Sen. Gillibrand on a Shinnecock Casino but she is likely to defer to the will of locals. Rep. Rangel represents a district in Harlem.

So why have members of Detroit's Ilitch Family and Michael J. Malik written checks for more than $260,000 to committees supporting the re-elections of Schumer, Gillibrand and Rangel?  It would appear as though lobbyist Capel's connections have driven decision making.

Charles B. Rangel (D)	$  16,200.00
Kirsten Gillibrand (D)	$  12,800.00
Charles E. Schumer (D)	$  24,200.00
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Cmte	$210,600.00
Total	$263,800.00

Source: opensecrets.org

During the 2010 election cycle; several New York legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo actually rejected campaign contributions from Malik because of his controversial background.  Ilitch/Malik and their affiliates/partners have paid Mercury Public Affairs $1,234,780

See also:

• Ilitch affiliate retains former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's lobbying firm to push New York Casino plans for Shinnecock
• Shinnecock and Ilitch affiliate Gateway Casino Resorts paid $1.5 million to New York Lobbyists
• D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos
• Shinnecock Casino Backers have dropped $117,500 on top-ranking NY Politicians
• Scandal Continues to Plague Political and Lobbying Activities of Detroiters Bankrolling Shinnecock Casino Plans
• Michael Malik: The Latest Life & Times of a Detroit Casino Syndicator

Shinnecock and Ilitch affiliate Gateway Casino Resorts paid $1.5 million to New York Lobbyists

Backers of various proposals to build Native American casinos on Long Island, NY, including a casino complex adjacent to Belmont Park Race Track, have paid New York state lobbyists more than $1.5 million since 2005.  The Shinnecock Indian Nation bankrolled by its partners, the people behind a Detroit-based syndication known as Gateway Casino Resorts, have funneled a total of $1,502,280 to these four lobbying firms:

Lobbying Firm	Total Fees Paid
Mercury (fka IGR Group, fka FHGR, fka Mercury Public Affairs, LLC)	$1,234,780
Brian R. Meara + Meara Avela Dickinson	$240,000
Meyer Suozzi English & Klein, PC	$20,000
Park Strategies, LLC	$7,500
TOTAL LOBBYING FEES PAID	$1,502,280

More than 80% of the lobbying fees paid by the Shinnecock Indian Nation/Gateway Casino Resorts have gone to Mercury Public Affairs which has also been known as IGR Group and FHGR (Fleishman Hillard Government Relations). Mercury lobbyists representing the casino interests have included Peter Barden, Thomas Doherty, Kieran Mahoney, Michael McKeon and Mark Streb. Doherty, Mahoney and McKeon had ties to former Governor George Pataki.  McKeon was executive director of Republicans for Cuomo helping New York Governor Andrew Cuomo win his 2010 election.

The latest edition to the Shinnecock/Gateway stable of lobbying firms is Park Strategies, LLC.  That firm was founded by former U.S. Senator (NY) Alfonse D'Amoto.  Among the lobbyists registered to support the expansion of casinos on Long Island is Anthony Cancellieri, former Chief Deputy County Executive of Nassau County.  Belmont Park Race Track, one of the preferred locations for a Shinnecock/Gateway casino development, is located in Nassau County, NY.

During 2011, The Shinnecock Indians and Gateway Casino Resorts had monthly retainer agreements with four New York lobbying firms as follows:

2011 Monthly Retainers
Lobbying Firm	Retainer Amount
Mercury	$10,000
Meara Avela Dickinson	$10,000
Meyer Suozzi English & Klein, PC	$10,000
Park  Strategies, LLC	$15,000

Source: records available at nyintegrity.org

See also:

• Ilitch affiliate retains former U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato's lobbying firm to push New York Casino plans for Shinnecock
• D.C. Lobbyists Paid $2.33 Million to Advance Shinnecock Casinos
• Shinnecock Casino Backers have dropped $117,500 on top-ranking NY Politicians
• Scandal Continues to Plague Political and Lobbying Activities of Detroiters Bankrolling Shinnecock Casino Plans
• Michael Malik: The Latest Life & Times of a Detroit Casino Syndicator

Detroit's Ilitch Family Could Spend $1 Billion+ on Shinnecock Casinos

Ilitch teams with tribe on N.Y. casinos: Long Island plans could top $1 billion
10.19.2010

by Bill Shea

The Ilitches' high-profile pursuit of the Detroit Pistons and plan to build a downtown arena could be dwarfed financially by the family's quiet effort that could top $1 billion to construct casinos for an American Indian tribe on New York's Long Island.

Marian Ilitch, sole owner of MotorCity Casino and matriarch of the family whose fortune is built from the Little Caesar Enterprises Inc. pizza chain she co-founded in 1959, has a casino development deal with the Southampton, N.Y.-based Shinnecock Indian Nation, which recently said it may build up to three casinos now that it has official federal recognition.

Even if the tribe builds just one hotel-casino, because it will serve New York it's expected to be significantly larger than MotorCity, for which Ilitch financed the purchase and expansion for $600 million. A trio of casinos could each still be as large as or even larger than the Detroit property.

MotorCity reported $446 million in 2009 revenue and had 2010 revenue of $333.5 million through September.

"The location will dictate the size of the casino, but it certainly will be larger than the operation at MotorCity," said Tom Shields, owner and president of Lansing-based Marketing Resource Group Inc. and spokesman for Ilitch and her partner in the casino effort, Birmingham developer Mike Malik.

The U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs this month rejected final objections to its acknowledgment of the Shinnecock
as a federally recognized American Indian tribe -- one seeking to build a casino, with Ilitch financial backing, to improve the lives of its roughly 1,200 members. They live on about 800 acres, mainly in mobile homes.

Such formal recognition, which the Shinnecock tribe first sought in 1978, is needed to open an Indian-run casino under federal law. It also makes the tribe eligible for federal housing, health and education funding.

Ilitch and Malik have been working with the tribe since 2003 on plans to build and operate a casino in Long Island's upscale Suffolk County -- an area better known as the Hamptons.

Casinos could be built elsewhere on the island to serve a wider population.

Ilitch and Malik are partners in Gateway Casino Resorts LLC and Gateway Funding Associates LLC, the businesses working with the tribe. They are headquartered in Detroit's Fox Theatre, whose offices are home to Ilitch Holdings Inc. and other Ilitch-owned ventures.

Additional state and federal legal, environmental and regulatory approvals are needed before a casino project can start -- something industry insiders have said is a long process with no guarantees and in which longer-recognized New York tribes have been mired for years.

The tribe prefers to negotiate with authorities to build a more lucrative Class III casino, which allows table games in addition to video slot machines under federal law. A Class III casino must share revenue with the state.

Ilitch and Malik will give the tribe financing and guidance on development and operations, Shields said. How much they'll be paid, and how much of a cut of the casino revenue they'll get, isn't yet known.

There is no timeline for the development, Shields added, noting that it's expected to take several years to get approvals and finish construction.

Beverly Jensen, communications officer for the tribe, declined to comment.

Casino spending

Malik and Ilitch have worked on casino efforts in Port Huron and Manistee and in Hawaii and California, but none have reached the stage of the New York project.

Expenditures on the Long Island effort have been significant.

Through Gateway, Ilitch and Malik paid Arlington, Va.-based lobbying firm Wheat Government Relationsmore than $1 million since 2003 to push for federal recognition for the Shinnecock, records show.

The casino project still needs the approval of New York's governor and Legislature.

Gateway hired Washington D.C.-based Mercury Public Affairs to lobby state government on behalf of the casino. The firm reportedly has met with New York Gov. David Paterson and state legislative leaders to discuss the gambling plan.

A comprehensive anonymous website, TheVerifiableTruth.com, for several years has tracked news and public records linked to Ilitch and Malik's casino ventures, and it shows that they have donated money to political candidates in positions to influence the tribal recognition or other casino-related issues.

The tribe's federal recognition suggests it was money well spent and eventually might result in new cash flow for the Ilitch empire.

In the meantime, the Ilitches will be conscious of the dangers of over-leveraging themselves, sports insiders say.

"All sports properties are acutely aware of not burdening themselves with debt," said Maury Brown, president of Portland, Ore.-based Business of Sports Network, which includes websites devoted to the business side of pro sports.

Bill Shea: (313) 446-1626, bshea@crain.com

Tribe's financial backers slipped $25,000 to Governor

Detroit casino syndicators bankrolling casino development plans for the Shinnecock Indian Nation funneled $25,000 on 8.18.04 to George Pataki’s other political committee -- one set up out-of-state, in Virginia -- while he was still New York Governor: 21st Century Freedom State PAC.

In 2003, Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. formed Gateway Casino Resorts LLC to bankroll and push plans for a Shinnecock Indian Nation casino resort in The Hamptons on Long Island.

At the time George Pataki was Governor of New York. If the tribe was going to receive federal recognition and develop a casino resort in the posh Hamptons resort area on Long Island, getting the Governor’s support would be an advantage.

To help with Pataki, Gateway and the Shinnecock had hired Mercury Public Affairs, a Manhattan-based public relations and lobbying firm with close ties to Pataki. One of the governor’s political consultants at the time was Kieran Mahoney, a principal at Mercury Public Affairs, plus former administration aides Mike McKeon and Tom Doherty were also affiliated with Mercury.

Pataki had set up a political committee in Virginia to raise money he could use for a possible campaign for President and to get around New York’s restrictions on campaign contributions. In a 1.15.05 disclosure, the 21st Century Freedom State PAC reported receiving a $25,000 contribution from M & M Ilitch Holdings Inc. located at 2211 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48201. That entity’s business was noted as “Financial Services.”

M & M Ilitch Holdings, Inc. was established 6.12.97 in Michigan by Mike Ilitch, owner of the Detroit Tigers baseball team, and his wife Marian Ilitch; however, a 6.26.01 Amendment to its Articles of Incorporation reported the entity’s name had been changed to Ilitch Holdings, Inc.

Neither Hoovers (D&B) nor Experian categorize Ilitch Holdings, Inc. as a "Financial Services" firm. It’s not clear why Pataki’s committee would report Ilitch Holdings' old name and categorize it as a financial services company. Were they simply trying to bury/hide the contribution?

Why use the old name for Ilitch Holdings, Inc. to contribute the $25,000? Why didn't Gateway Casino Resorts contribute the money?

Various expenditure records for the 21st Century Freedom State PAC indicate Mercury Public Affairs was paid frequently for consulting services. For example, Mercury received a total of $49,000 as reported in the PACs 6.15.04 disclosure.

You may also want to review these recent related posts or click on the labels below:

• Ilitch Holdings, Inc.: the truth about its genesis
• Entity bankrolling Long Island casino plan goes by several different names
• UPDATED: The web of companies behind Ilitch & Malik casino syndication partners

A Case of Abramoff-Lite: Pombo was doing favors for his Motor City Casino friends

a case of Abramoff-Lite: Rep. Richard Pombo was doing favors for his friends the Detroit casino syndicators on the same track he was advancing Northern Mariana Islands matters.

Rep. Richard Pombo was doing favors for his friends the Detroit casino syndicators; in turn they were funneling tens of thousands of dollars to Pombo’s committees, causes and friends. Although Pombo is no longer in office, these students of Abramoff and their Indian partners are still at play inside the D.C. Beltway.

While the Ilitch Family and Michael Malik, along with their lawyers and lobbyists, were contributing to Rep. Richard Pombo’s political committees and favorite causes, Pombo took advantage of his role as Chairman of the House Resources Committee and attempted in both the 108^th and 109^th Congresses to quietly slip through bills that would give favor and advantage to the Shinnecock Indian Nation, a tribe whose legal and public relations pursuits are being bankrolled by Ilitch & Malik.

Both bills had minimal exposure and then late in their respective sessions of Congress were reported in the House and placed on the Union Calendar for future vote of the whole House: H.R. 5134 (on Nov. 19, 2004); H.R. 512 (on Sept. 28, 2006). That’s as far as they got.

Both bills would have demanded the Secretary of Interior immediately review the Shinnecock Indian Nation’s petition for Federal Recognition and give a determination. If the Secretary failed to meet the Pombo deadline or didn’t rule favorably toward Pombo’s friends, both bills gave the Shinnecock the ability to appeal the in-action or negative decision in Federal court – a path that the Shinnecock have previously taken, which had outcomes favorable to the tribe.

The Shinnecock seek federal recognition as a tribe in order to build a Las-Vegas style casino and resort in the Hampton Bays area of Long Island, NY. Ilitch & Malik, under the veil of Gateway Casino Resorts (or Gateway Funding Associates), have been bankrolling legal, lobbying and public relations efforts to support the tribe in exchange for up to 30% of the future casino profits and development rights.

Ilitch & Malik want the matter expedited because each day that goes by without approvals that could lead to a groundbreaking or ribbon cutting for an anticipated Shinnecock casino in the Hampton Bays area of Long Island costs the pair of “investors” more money.

An Associated Press story written by Erica Werner in July 2005 raised questions about the timing of Ilitch/Malik hosted fundraising events to benefit Pombo in Detroit during the MLB 2005 All-Star Game and a hearing scheduled two days later in Washington D.C. that could possibly have had an impact on the Shinnecock pursuits. There are no noted press reports suggestig there was any awareness of Pombos attempts to assist his friends with H.R. 5134 or H.R. 512.

Gratuities to Pombo from the Detroit casino syndicators include:

• $16,000 from Mike & Marian Ilitch, and Michael Malik to RICH PAC (earning them #9 and #5 spots respectively on RICH PAC’s “Top Ten” individual donors list for ’04 and ’06; Jack Abramoff was #10);

• Total of more than $40,000+ for RICH PAC including contributions from various Ilitch lobbying firms (from $11,500 bundled on May 18, 2004 – $15,500 bundled on December 7, 2005);

• $26,600 to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee (Pombo’s home party organization) on October 18, 2004 from Detroit-based Barwest (Ilitch/Malik entity doing business in Barstow, Calif.);

• A $5,000 per head fundraiser at the 2005 MLB All-Star Game in Detroit (total proceeds unknown as there are no related contributions noted in Pombo’s campaign committee or RICH PAC disclosures despite aides to Pombo indicating he was the beneficiary of the event);

• Various travel arrangements;

• $50,000 to the RNC recorded the day after (7/13/05)the All-Star Game fundraiser ($25,000 each from Michae l J. Malik and Christopher Ilitch);

• $220,000 lobbying contract signed by Barbara Bonfiglio on behalf of Williams & Jensen to represent Malik’s MJM Enterprises and Development during the period Bonfiglio was also RICH PAC treasurer.

H.R. 5134 - Congressional Actions

• 9/23/2004: Referred to the House Committee on Resources.

• 9/29/2004: Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote.

• 11/19/2004 7:51pm: Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Resources. H. Rept. 108-788.

• 11/19/2004 7:51pm: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 482.

H.R. 512 - Congressional Actions

• 2/2/2005: Referred to the House Committee on Resources.

• 2/10/2005: Committee Hearings Held. (1st published hearing of the session; Shinnecock only testimony outside government; 14 of 46 Members noted as present)

• 6/21/2006: Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.

• 6/21/2006: Ordered to be Reported by Voice Vote.

• 9/28/2006 4:28pm: Reported by the Committee on Resources. H. Rept. 109-694.

• 9/28/2006 4:33pm: Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 419

Pombo introduced H.R. 5134 in the House the same day he introduced H.R. 5135, “To provide for a nonvoting delegate to the House of Representatives to represent the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Six days later both bills were put before a vote of the Resource Committee, without either having been the subject of a previous hearing. Pombo introduced amendments to the bill he had introduced less than a week earlier in the form of a substitute bill. The committee voted and ordered the matters be reported to the full House. Pombo’s troubles in the Abramoff scandal have been tied to matters of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Although Rep. Pombo was clearly attempting to railroad approval of H.R. 5134 (and H.R. 5135); H.R. 5134 failed to win approval from the whole House in the 108^th Congress.

Pombo was not deterred. He reintroduced the bill as H.R. 512 one month into the 109^th Congress and his committee promptly “heard” the matter a week later.

The controversy surrounding the Ilitch/Malik hosted All-Star Game fundraising benefit for Pombo broke during Summer 2005 and the activities of Pombo and associates like his PAC Treasurer and former lobbyist Barbara Bonfiglio were increasingly being questioned.

Pombo severed his ties with Bonfiglio in March 2006 approximately six months after disclosure reports indicate her ties with Ilitch/Malik (for which she had been paid $220,000) were severed.

It had been 16-17 months since any formal action on H.R. 512.

Shortly after the June 2006 primary election, the Resources Committee held a routine mark-up session on what the Daily Digest indicated were “miscellaneous matters.” On June 21, 2006 the House Resources Committee reviewed more than two dozen bills including H.R. 512. The committee ordered by voice vote that reports be printed and advanced on certain of the various bills reviewed. H.R. 512 was reported to the Whole House three months later.

On September 28, at a time when the press and most others were focused on the many political campaign stories underway in the Fall elections, the report was presented and slipped into the hopper for a future vote of the whole House. All or part of the report prepared for the full House was part of the report he had ordered printed in 2004 because it appears that on the GPO printed version of Report 109-694, page six, third to the last paragraph of the section "COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII" the report's author failed to replace "H.R. 5134" with "H.R. 512."

Pombo faced defeat at the polls on election day 2006 and there appears to have been no further action on H.R. 512.

Marian Ilitch and her family along with Michael J. Malik, Sr. have not been deterred by the loss of their political steward Richard Pombo. They still aggressively pursue plans to expand their Michigan casino empire through ventures with:

• the Shinnecock Indian Nation, seeking federal recognition and the opportunity to develop a casino complex in the posh Hamptons resort area of Long Island in New York;

• the Bay Mills Indian Community, using questionable land claims as leverage to get approvals to develop a third tribal casino off reservation in Port Huron, Mich.; and

• the Los Coyotes and Big Lagoon Rancheria Bands of Indians in California, two tribes Ilitch & company have adopted for the purposes of relocating planned tribal casinos across state to the Mohave Desert community of Barstow, where Ilitch owns more than 100 acres alongside I-15, half-way between the southern California basin and Las Vegas.

politics

originally posted 5.10.07

Payments by tribe gave lobbying firm one of New York's Top 10 contracts

In 2005, Mercury Public Affairs had one of the top ten lobbying contracts in the State of New York with it's $240,000+ fee charged to the Shinnecock Nation Gaming Authority according to a report published by the New York State Temporary Commission on Lobbying.

In the same company various unions, Trial Lawyers Association, New York Yankees Partnership, Wellchoice and the Trustees of Columbia University.

Mercury Public Affairs clients worked against a Seneca casino in Buffalo (NY)

Another case of a Mercury Public Affairs client seeking to block the expansion of a tribe's gaming opportunities.

• Blocking Tribal Casinos in Buffalo, NY and Oregon
Mercury represents the Buffalo Niagra Partnership: a business group seeking to turn around the economic fortunes of Erie County, New York.

The Partnership opposes a Seneca Indian Nation casino in Buffalo. Here's their stated position:



"The Buffalo Niagara Partnership opposes a Seneca casino anywhere within the Buffalo central business district and remains skeptical of the benefit of a second Seneca casino anywhere in Erie County."


Mercury previously was involved in efforts to block a casino bid by the Warm Springs Indians of Oregon.

• Promoting an Indian Casino in The Hamptons (Long Island)
On the other hand, Mercury Public Affairs has been retained to lobby for the Shinnecock Indian Nation's Gaming Authority in New York and in 2005 & 2006 was paid $240,000 per year for representation.

Four partners at Mercury Public Affairs (Kieran V. Mahoney; Kirill Goncharenko; Gregory E. Strimple & Michael F. McKeon) joined other Shinnecock Indian Nation advocates and contributed $13,000 to Congressman Richard Pombo's RICH PAC on December 7, 2005. Pombo at the time was chair of the House Resources Committee overseeing Indian Affairs and Indian Gaming matters. The Mercury partners made few other federal contributions in 2005-06.

There are no records filed with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate to suggest Mercury Public Affairs represented the Shinnecock Indians nor any other affiliates of the Shinnecock financial backers in D.C.; although Mahoney and Goncharenko were registered as lobbyists in D.C. for other clients.

Mercury Public Affairs: Campaign aide today, lobbyist tomorrow

HOW CANDIDATES BLUR THE LINES WITH LOBBYISTS

Key Spokesmen May Serve Two Masters.

Want to know Senate candidate Jeanine Pirro's position on casino gambling or importing prescription drugs from Canada? You might find yourself talking to one of her two top campaign aides, Kieran Mahoney or Michael McKeon, who are employees of a firm, Mercury Public Affairs, [a unit of Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, which is a subisidiary of the international communications conglomerate Omnicom Group Inc]. Mercury is registered with the state of New York as a lobbyist for the Shinnecock Nation Gaming Authority and the drug company Pfizer... (Full Story)

Mercury Public Affairs promotes a Casino in The Hamptons but worked to block the Warm Springs Tribe in Oregon

Mercury Public Affairs, the same group hired to help Michael Malik, Marian Ilitch and The Shinnecock Indian Nation to get approvals in New York to build a casino on Long Island in the posh resort area known as The Hamptons; worked to kill plans by the Warm Springs Indian Tribe to build Oregon's first off-reservation casino at Cascade Locks in the Columbia River Gorge.

It was through those circumstances that the Secretary of Interior made clear that tribes would need to have the newly acquired lands taken into trust prior to pursuing a compact with the respective state for off-reservation gaming.

The Malik/Ililtch casino syndication Barwest LLC has been bucking that direction by trying to get the California Legislature to ratify gaming compacts with the Big Lagoon Rancheria and Los Coyotes Indian Tribe before either has completed the fee to trust land transfer process for parcels in Barstow, Califonria. Barstow is hundreds of miles from either Tribe's existing reservation and outside their acknowledged ancestral homelands.

Partners in Mercury Public Affairs joined Malik in making substantial contributions to the political committee of former Rep. Richard Pombo; although neither Mercury Public Affairs nor its partners were registered as lobbyists for the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Washington D.C.

Team Ilitch directed $40,000 to RICH Political Action Committee

Detroit casino syndicators Marian Ilitch & Michael Malik, along with their partners, affiliates and lobbyists contributed $40,000 to Rep. Richard Pombo’s RICH Political Action Committee.

That’s two and a half times the combined $16,000 in contributions that got Ilitch and Malik two spots on RICH Pac’s “Top Ten List” (ahead of #10 Jack Abramoff)

1. Rick Kessler (Richard S. Kessler) & former Rep. Billy Evans of Kessler & Associates (K&A), contributed $3,000 to RICH PAC during 2004/05.
   
   Documents on file with the Secretary of the Senate indicate in 2003 and 2004, K&A was retained by Wheat Government Relations, the primary lobbyist for “Team Ilitch,” in an arrangement for K&A to handle gaming and Indian Country matters.
   
   Kessler & Associates was representing Team Ilitch’s interests in Washington, D.C. “under the radar.” Team Ilitch had officially hired Wheat Government Relations and Wheat, in turn, passed through fees retaining Kessler & Associates; to add further curiousity it looks like Wheat may have paid K&A more than Wheat was paid by his collective “Team Ilitch” clients.
   


2. George Baker and Susan Hirschman, Williams & Jensen (Barbara Bonfiglio) contributed $3887 from 2003-06. Bonfiglio, then RICH PAC treasurer, signed Malik (MJM Enterprises & Development) to a lobbying contract in September 2003 for representation on gaming matters. Bonfiglio’s firm was paid $220,000 for representation from 2003-2005.
   


3. Richard Alcalde, Federalist Group/Potomac Partners DC contributed $2,500 on December 7, 2005. By 2006, Ilitch/Malik and affiliates had terminated or mothballed the seven other lobbying firms that had represented their interests at some point since 2002 and placed all of "Team Ilitch's"needs in the hands of Alcalde (Potomac Partners DC) and rookie lobbyist Daniel X. Feliz who joined with Alcalde in 2006. Feliz had a stand alone contract with Michael Malik’s Blue Water Resorts earlier. Malik’s MJM Enterprises and the Shinnecock Indian Nation have retained Alcalde. For 2005 & 2006, Alcalde has been paid an average of $280,000 per year; that’s more than Team Ilitch had previously paid any of the seven other lobbying firms retained between 2002 and 2006.
   


4. Four partners at Mercury Public Affairs (Kieran V. Mahoney; Kirill Goncharenko; Gregory E. Strimple & Michael F. McKeon) contributed $13,000 to RICH PAC on December 7, 2005. There are no records filed with the Secretary of the Senate to suggest Mercury Public Affairs represents any affiliates of "Team Ilitch" in D.C.; however, documents on file in New York indicate the Shinnecock Nation Gaming Authority retained representation by Mercury Public Affairs in New York during 2005 and 2006 for fees of $240,000 per year.

There are no records to suggest anyone affiliated with Wheat Government Relations (the primary lobbying firm representing "Team Ilitch' interests since 2002) contributed to RICH PAC during the ’04 or ’06 cycles.

Team Ilitch and affiliates paid $2.5 million in lobbying fees to eight different lobbying firms including those highlighted here for representation on gaming and Indian matters since 2002; Wheat Government Relations was paid $1 million or 40% of the total lobbying fees. Wheat has not reported any representation of Team Ilitch interests in 2006.

Mike & Marian Ilitch and Michael J. Malik, Sr. contributed collectively $16,000 to RICH PAC and Robert G. “Bob” Guenthardt, Malik’s associate from the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians/Manistee Casino project contributed $1000.

Malik and Ilitch contributed enough to land them two spots (#5 & #9) on RICH PAC’s “Top 10” cumulative donor list, leapfrogging #10 Jack Abramoff; but it didn’t stop there.

Taken in context with contributions from these other Ilitch/Malik partners, agents and affiliates, collectively Team Ilitch contributed $40,000 or more to RICH PAC during the period Rep. Pombo served as Chairman of the House Resources Committee.

This should be taken in context with all of the other involvement Ilitch/Malik had with Pombo from 2004-2006, including: $26,600 delivered to the San Joaquin County GOP Committee; a two-day extravagant hosted $5,000 per person All-Star Game fundraiser in Detroit; two $25,000 contributions delivered to the RNC the day after the All-Star Game; and other gifts including travel.

Note: Under California's political reform laws, Barwest L.L.C. was to have reported the $26,600 contribution made 10/18/04 as a "major donor" in disclosure filings due January 31, 2005. No disclosures were filed. A second reporting period for major donor disclosures ended June 30, 2005. Again no disclosures were filed. Michael J. Malik, Sr. did not file disclosure documentation declaring Barwest L.L.C. a "major donor" until September, 5, 2005 -- nearly a year after making the curious contribution and almost nine months (and two reporting periods) after disclosures were required.

You may want to review these posts:
The Verifiable Truth: Motown's Team Ilitch tops Abramoff on Congressman's "Top 10 List"