Connecticut | Opinion

David Collins: Shame on Eric Holder for opposing tribal casino

Monday, November 23, 2015

Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder meets with Tribal Youth Ambassadors at White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C., on December 3, 2014. Photo from Twitter

Columnist David Collins criticizes former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder for opposing a new casino sought by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe:

Just last month, Holder lent his name and the prestige of his former title to the Vegas chieftains trying to stop Connecticut's two Indian tribes from opening a third casino.
It turns out MGM Resorts International, which is building a casino in Springfield, Mass., is represented by Covington & Burling in its lawsuit against the Connecticut law which has allowed the tribes to establish a partnership to begin planning for a joint casino north of Hartford.
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen has — appropriately and professionally — responded to the MGM lawsuit in court with a motion to dismiss, saying there is nothing in the law that prevents MGM from doing the same thing.
Covington & Burling, under the MGM flag, decided to step outside the courtroom and, in a public relations stunt, played the Holder card.
The MGM media machine last month released a letter from Holder to Jepsen in which the former attorney general warns ominously that Connecticut is violating the U.S. Constitution in empowering the tribes.
Holder's name appears nowhere else in the lawsuit paperwork, and clearly it was floated by way of a news release in a lame attempt to score perception, not legal points.

Get the Story:
David Collins: Shame on Eric Holder (The New London Day 11/20)

Another Opinion:
Editorial: Casino report shows what could have been for Montville (The Norwich Bulletin 11/23)