Anti-CNP

Jack Abramoff & The Religious Right
By Frederick Clarkson

Last week, on the eve of GOP superlobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty
pleas in a widening federal corruption probe, I summarized the
relationship between Abramoff, several religious right leaders, and
Abramoff's lobbying campaign on behalf of eLottery, an internet
gambling company. Abramoff funneled eLottery cash to three religious
right entitities as part of his campaign to derail the Internet
Gambling Prohibition Act of 2000. A company headed by Ralph Reed, the
founding executive director of the Christian Coalition had received
$150,000; The Traditional Values Coalition, headed by Rev. Lou
Sheldon, received $25,000; and Toward Tradition, an Orthodox Jewish
foundation based in Seattle and headed by Rabbi Daniel Lapin,
receieved $25,000 from eLottery. Abramoff was a board member and
former board chairman of Toward Tradition.
Now, The Seattle Times reports further details about the role of
Toward Tradition in the growing scandal.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, who is often aligned with the Christian Right,
and, for example, has spoken at national gatherings of Pat
Robertson's Christian Coalition is opposed to gambling, especially
government sponsored gambling like lotteries -- says he didn't know
about what Abramoff was up to.
Part of the federal investigation centers on the role of Tony Rudy,
once a top aide to then, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX), who
worked closely with Abramoff on the bill, and later went to work for
Abramoff's lobbying firm. Abramoff arranged for Toward Tradition to
hire Rudy's wife, and for eLottery and another client to pay for her
consulting gig.

The Seattle Times reports:

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff funneled money through a Mercer Island
religious foundation as he tried to influence a top aide to
Republican congressional leader Tom DeLay, according to his guilty
plea last week to corruption charges.
Rabbi Daniel Lapin confirmed Sunday it was his foundation, Toward
Tradition, that took $50,000 from two Abramoff clients and, at
Abramoff's suggestion, used it to hire the aide's wife to organize a
conference for the group.

Lapin said he and his board had no idea the money was part of
Abramoff's vast scheme to influence Congress and, in this case, stop
bills to raise postal rates and ban online lotteries...

Lapin, in an interview Sunday and in a memo he sent to board members,
said Lisa Rudy, wife of former DeLay aide Tony Rudy, was hired to
organize a Washington, D.C., conference for Toward Tradition.

The Times article concludes:

The government's interest in Toward Tradition has apparently focused
on the payments to Lisa Rudy.
Lisa Rudy is the wife of Tony Rudy, at the time a senior aide to
DeLay, who was then majority whip in Congress. Tony Rudy later went
to work as a lobbyist for Abramoff. Toward Tradition's board
approved hiring Lisa Rudy in 2000 and soon after Abramoff sent a
$25,000 check from a firm called eLottery. It came with instructions
that Rudy was to be paid $5,000 a month.... Lapin said other checks
came from another Abramoff client, the Magazine Publishers of
America. Those checks, too, came with directions to keep paying Rudy.

Abramoff was lobbying for the association and, according to his plea
agreement, was trying to stop a bill that would have raised postal
rates.... Abramoff's plea agreement says the money was obtained from
clients that benefited from the aide's "official actions regarding
the legislation on Internet gambling or opposing postal rate
increases."

While it is not clear that Toward Tradition did anything illegal; it
seems to have served as a funding conduit for activities currently
under investigation.

http://www.politicalcortex.com/story/2006/1/10/43153/3361

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