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.

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Officials questioned Seneca’s practices (The Buffalo News 7/1)