An Indian tribe sued the former superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed, a candidate for lieutenant governor in Georgia, on Wednesday, seeking millions of dollars in lost revenues from a casino that the Texas tribe said had been fraudulently closed.
The suit, in Federal District Court in Austin, says Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Reed and three other men mounted a fake religiously themed moral crusade in 2001 to defeat a bill in the Texas Legislature that would have legalized gambling in Indian casinos.
Their real motive, the suit adds, was to promote the gambling interests of a tribe in Louisiana that was paying them to represent its interest in a competing casino.
"This case chronicles Jack Abramoff and his associates' greed, corruption and deceit and their devastating impact on Texas's oldest recognized Indian tribe," said the suit, filed by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.
The Louisiana-Coushatta tribe, Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Scanlon's original clients, sued the two in November 2004, accusing them of overcharging for work never done.
Beyond the Alabama-Coushatta casino, the suit says, the defendants conspired to pit tribes against one another, defrauding one at the behest of another before trying to persuade the victim to hire them to retaliate.
"Look, Tonto - Indians to the right of us, to the left of us, in front and behind! We're surrounded!"
"What you mean "we", white man?"
The blanket-asses gonna get some spiffy new blankets outta this deal, you betcha!
It's a nice touch for 'em to wait to sue until the week before Reed is up for election. Ha!
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