The Dallas Morning News today covers one of our local Congresscritters' relation to the unfolding GOP bribery/payoff/etc. scandal. It seems Pete "the Streak" Sessions, TX-32, has been involved with accepting money from some tribes in apparent quid pro quo for opposing gambling in certain other states where there were other tribal casino interests.
This story is by the DaMN's own political reporter, Todd Gilman.
http://www.dallasnews.com/...
It seems Pete was part of a large group of congress members:
"Dozens of lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions of Dallas, received significant campaign donations from Indian tribes represented by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff after pressuring the Interior Department to quash casino plans by a rival tribe."
And it seems to involve other Bush Administraiton officials, too:
"With Mr. Abramoff's plea deal attracting fresh attention to donations linked to his clients, a series of letters to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, signed by Mr. Sessions, Tom DeLay, Speaker Dennis Hastert and others are also getting a second look."
This was part of the "switcheroo" by Abramoff, playing one tribe against another and against "anti-gambling" crusades:
"The Feb. 27, 2002, letter that Mr. Sessions signed opposed an effort by the Jena Band of Choctaw to build a casino in Louisiana, asserting that "the societal damage caused by gambling outweighs any purported benefits" and expressing concern about the spread of gambling, particularly at Indian-run casinos.
Mr. Sessions says he signed at the request of U.S. Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana, a member of the House at the time.
Mr. Vitter says Mr. Abramoff had nothing to do with the letter - one of many sent - and no promises were made in return for the campaign cash."
Read the whole thing for a Dallas-local angle on our representative.
Just a few reminders for those outside the area. Pete Sessions defeated Martin Frost in a hotly-contested election, in one of the re-drawn districts as a result of the GOP (DeLay) 2002-3 Texas redisticting. The election also was, I believe, THE MOST EXPENSIVE in the country in 2004.
Pete Sessions also has taken a number of trips to, I think, Saipan, the Marianas, golfing in Scotland, and elsewhere, some of which were partly or directly/indirectly from DeLay and Abramoff's "funding sources. Stay tuned for perhaps more revelations...
We have a qualified candidate (actually two) who are in the Dem. primary in March. May I recommend Will Pryor, an arbitration attorney, as the better qualified and, bluntly, more likely to beat Pete in this district.
I am looking forward to Will making some hay with the publication of this in the local paper, perhaps opening the eyes of the voters in the 32nd as to what Pete has really been up to during his stint in Washington.
Paint him with the same brush as Tom DeLay!
Will's campaign website: http://www.pryor06.com/...