United Press International - NewsTrack - Report: Lobbyist used favors to kill bill

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A new account of a multi-player lobbying campaign that defeated an anti-gambling bill puts mega-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a bad light.

Abramoff is being investigated by federal authorities for alleged corruption.

The Washington Post reports he was successful in defeating the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act in 2000 using a complex web of favors and funding.

The Post said Abramoff's client, eLottery Inc., would have gone out of business if the measure had passed.

So, allegedly with the help of an aide to then-Majority Whip, now ex-Majority Leader Tom Delay, R-Tex., Abramoff got inside knowledge of congressional meetings, the report said.

Abramoff also allegedly got the wife of the aide a job at a foundation and the aide himself, Tony C. Rudy, began working for Abramoff a few months later, the Post said.

Rudy refused to comment on the Post story.

The newspaper also alleges Abramoff managed to quiet conservative, anti-gambling groups by having eLottery make payments to Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, and Rev. Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditonal Values Coalition.

Both Reed and Sheldon deny any willing involvement.