Opinion
Column: Ralph Reed in same league as Abramoff


"Poor Ralph Reed.

For a man of such obvious accomplishment � of such vision, political savvy and mastery of detail � he has remarkably little knowledge of what goes on in his own consulting company, Century Strategies. Reed contends he had no idea that he had worked on behalf of a company that wanted to sell lottery tickets online.

He has been in league with the scurrilous Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist who is the target of a far-reaching federal investigation into corruption. Reed worked with Abramoff several times; for example, on behalf of an Indian tribe that had a profitable gaming enterprise, they hatched a plan to stop a competing Indian tribe from getting authorization to build a casino. After that, Abramoff, apparently without Reed's help, turned around and offered � for millions of dollars, of course � to help the losing tribe get the casino after all.

Reed at first maintained that his consulting firm never took money directly from any gambling interest; any money the Indian tribe paid to protect its gambling interests came from its other businesses, he said. (That conveniently overlooks the fact that any money the tribe had to invest in other enterprises came from gambling.)"

Get the Story:
Cynthia Tucker: Reed can't dismiss ties to gambling (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution 10/19)
pwday

Relevant Links:
Century Strategies - http://www.censtrat.com

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