Centerfield

Tigua Casino Scandal

If you admire creative ways to be evil, this is admirable

The Washington Post previously reported that Abramoff and Scanlon quietly worked with conservative religious activist Ralph Reed to help persuade the state of Texas to shut down the Tigua casino in 2002, then persuaded the tribe to pay the $4.2 million to try to get Congress to reopen it.

As they had in September, committee members struggled to express their disdain for the way the pair treated the tribes, with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) branding their efforts "incredibly, deeply cynical." Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is leading the investigation, vowed to pursue it wherever it leads -- a path that increasingly is heading into the halls of Congress.