The Bay Mills Indian Community of Michigan is accusing former Bureau of Indian Affairs official Aurene Martin of conflict of interest and ethics violations.
The tribe wants an off-reservation casino in Port Huron. When Martin worked for the Bush administration, she testified against legislation that would authorize the project.
Now that she's in private practice as a lawyer and lobbyist, Martin is representing the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan. The tribe opposes the Bay Mills casino.
“She had access to all the inside information that we shared with the Bureau of Indian Affairs),” Bay Mills Chairman Jeff Parker told The Port Huron Times-Herald.
The Interior Department says Martin, a member of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, is free to represent any federally recognized tribe without violating ethics rules. She works for Ietan Consulting in Washington, D.C.
The House Natural
Resources Committee is holding a hearing on H.R.2176,
the off-reservation casino bill, on February 6.
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