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Abramoff Sued Over Casino Closing

Former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, together with Ralph Reed, a Republican activist together with three others have been sued Wednesday by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe.

The tribe is seeking millions of dollars in damages for lost revenues. The Texas tribe said that the casino that they used to operate from 2001 to 2002 was fraudulently closed as a consequence of the duos lobbying.

The suit filed in Federal District Court in Austin, says Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Reed and three other men launched a fraudulent religious moral crusade in 2001 to block a bill in the Texas legislature that if passed, would have legalized gambling in Indian casinos.

The tribe alleged that the real motive of the campaign was to back up another tribe, the Louisiana-Coushatta, a client of Abramoff. The tribe claims that the religious group behind the crusade would not have been as passionate about the cause had they known that it was being bankrolled by another casino.

Michael Scanlon, who worked for the former House majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas; and Neil Volz, formerly on the staff of Representative Bob Ney of Ohio, were also named in the complaint. The two Congressional aides pleaded guilty to corruption charges along with Abramoff.

"This case chronicles Jack Abramoff and his associates' greed, corruption and deceit and their devastating impact on Texas's oldest recognized Indian tribe," stated in the suit filed by the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas.