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Washington - The opening of the new Smithsonian museum honoring American Indians has been a cause of joy and celebration here.
But the good news has overshadowed emerging revelations about a sleazy political extortion scheme, allegedly launched by big-shot Republican lobbyists, aimed at exploiting Indians.
Throughout U.S. history, "every kind of charlatan and every type of crook has deceived and exploited America's native sons and daughters," says Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. "What sets this tale apart, whatmakes it truly extraordinary, is the extent and degree of the apparent exploitation and deceit."
The unfolding scandal touches some of the GOP's most influential elected officials and lobbyists and could rock the capital before it's over.
To their credit, it is two independent-minded Republicans - McCain and Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado - who have exposed the sordid tale and are trying to clean up the mess.
At the center of the scandal is Jack Abramoff, a GOP lobbyist and longtime friend and political associate of some of his party's most gifted strategists, including Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition and the Southern regional chairman for President Bush's re-election campaign, and noted conservative activist Grover Norquist.
Abramoff is a leading GOP fundraiser, having collected hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and other top Republicans.
He is also among the elite group of "Pioneers" who pledged to raise more than $100,000 for Bush's re-election campaign this year.
Abramoff was called before a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last week, where he spent the morning invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
McCain, Campbell and other senators, wielding documents obtained via Senate subpoena, charged that Abramoff and public relations executive Michael Scanlon, a former aide to DeLay, have been running a crude political extortion racket that bilked tribes out of millions of dollars.
"All told, six tribes paid more than $66 million to Mr. Scanlon, and Mr. Abramoff received more than $21 million from Mr. Scanlon for his share of the scheme," Campbell said.
"In at least two instances, Mr. Abramoff and Mr. Scanlon sought to profit by becoming involved in and attempting to manipulate tribal elections," Campbell said. "Shortly after ... they solicited and received
multimillion-dollar contracts, aided by the tribal council members they helped elect."
The scheme was crude and crudely executed, according to the documents and testimony at the hearing.
Abramoff and Scanlon would allegedly work behind the scenes to scare Indian tribes into thinking they were about to lose lucrative gaming franchises. (Nice little casino you got there. ... It would be a shame if anything happened to it.)
Then the two GOP insiders would step in and offer, for mighty fees, to smooth things over in Washington.
"Jack Abramoff, the tribes' trusted lobbyist and adviser, instructed the tribes to hire Michael Scanlon for millions of dollars," McCain charged. "But he never disclosed that he would receive about half the net proceeds from the multimillion-dollar contracts."
The lobbyists' e-mails, obtained by the committee, show that Abramoff and Scanlon viewed their American Indian clients with contempt, referring to them as "monkeys" and "troglodytes."
The scheme generated so much money that, aside from pocketing millions of dollars, the lobbyists funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates, and to the lobbyists' pals and pet causes.
"In the case of one tribe," said McCain, "the funds were allegedly paid from accounts reserved for tribal housing, education and health care. That same tribe and another reportedly paid millions of dollars into ... a self-proclaimed think tank run by two of Mr. Scanlon's beach buddies, one a yoga instructor, the other a lifeguard."
Abramoff's high-ranking place in the capital's conservative hierarchy and reports of a federal criminal investigation have raised the profile of this particular scandal beyond that of the routine influence-peddling flap.
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