"Your newspaper may have recently published a column written by Steve Flowers that is totally false in what it says about me. Not just a few mistakes, but every line in it about me is not true.

First of all, Mr. Flowers wrote that a Senate committee investigation revealed my 2002 campaign received either $600,000 or $2.5 million from out-of-state gambling interests.

That’s absolutely not true. The Senate committee’s report revealed no such thing at all, and my name is not even mentioned in the committee’s report.

Second, Mr. Flowers wrote that I attended the opening of an Indian casino in Atmore. That is also totally false.

Third, Mr. Flowers wrote that I have “done the bidding” of Indian gambling interests. Again, this is totally false. The only thing the “Indian gambling interests” have asked me to do is sign a compact with them so they could expand their gambling operations, and I have refused to do so and will not do so.

I have been a consistent opponent of gambling and continue to fight against efforts by the gambling operators to expand gambling in Alabama. That’s why I established the Task Force on Illegal Gambling, made up of law enforcement officers, who are working to make sure Alabama’s laws against gambling are uniformly enforced in every county."

Get the Story:
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley: Governor misrepresented by Flowers column (The Leeds News 3/13)

Related Story:
Column: Alabama governor tied to gaming interests (2/25)