Michael Rossetti, a lobbyist for the Seneca Nation of New York, insists there is no wrongdoing between him and an Interior Department attorney.

Rossetti began dating Edith Blackwell of the DOI Office of the Solicitor when he was counselor to former Interior secretary Gale Norton. The two are now married and he says they have taken "appropriate" steps to avoid conflicts of interest.

“Since my departure from the Department of the Interior, all appropriate recusals have been in place to safeguard our responsibilities as lawyers, and to ensure that there is no appearance of impropriety,” Rossetti told The Buffalo News.

Rossetti said he married Blackwell in 2007. That was before she "unrecused herself" in December 2008 and became involved in a legal opinion that benefited the tribe's off-reservation casino in Buffalo, an anti-gaming group called Citizens for a Better Buffalo said in court papers last week.

The opinion was issued on January 18, 2009, just as the Bush administration was leaving office. As President Barack Obama was taking office, it was cited by the National Indian Gaming Commission to approve the Seneca Buffalo Creek Casino.

Get the Story:
Senecas join pro-casino lawyer to fire back at LaFalce (The Buffalo News 6/29)

Relevant Documents:
Solicitor's Opinion: Applicability of 25 U.S.C. § 2719 to Restricted Fee Lands (January 18, 2009) | National Indian Gaming Commission Approval of Seneca Nation Casino (January 20, 2009)

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Seneca Nation rejects complaints about off-reservation casino (6/28)
DOI attorney accused of wrongdoing on Seneca Nation casino (6/24)
Editorial: Seneca Nation being a good neighbor with its casino (6/23)
Seneca Nation seeks designs for a permanent Buffalo casino (6/10)
Seneca Nation still confident on permanent Buffalo casino (6/1)