The State | 11/22/2005 | Probe connects DeMint, lobbyist

32 other lawmakers have similar ties

By LAUREN MARKOE

Washington Bureau


WASHINGTON ? U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint took campaign money from colleagues of embattled Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and intervened with the Bush administration in a way favorable to Abramoff?s clients.

But the Greenville Republican said the money ? $2,750 from four people who worked with Abramoff ? has nothing to do with the 2002 letter he and other lawmakers sent to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, asking her to oppose a Louisiana Indian tribe?s bid for a casino in that state.

The contributions to DeMint and the letter to Norton came to light in a recent Associated Press investigation. The investigation found 33 lawmakers, including DeMint, had pressured the Interior Department on the casino and also had received donations from Abramoff, his associates or rival tribes.

Rival tribes were clients of Abramoff, who is the focus of a federal bribery investigation.

DeMint said he is a well-known opponent of Indian casino gaming, so it makes sense that he would sign such a letter. Nothing supports the idea the contributions from Abramoff?s firm influenced his actions, he said Monday.

?No one has ever lobbied me on behalf of? Abramoff?s clients, he said.

Lachlan McIntosh, executive director of the S.C. Democratic Party, stopped short of condemning DeMint for accepting the contributions. He said the letter and the money raise questions.

?We hope the Republicans in our delegation are working for the people of South Carolina and not seedy lobbyists like Jack Abramoff and his crowd,? McIntosh said.

DeMint, who took the money when he was a congressman, is hardly the most vulnerable on the list of 33 lawmakers who took action to block the casino and accepted money from Abramoff, others in his firm, or rival tribes opposed to the new casino.

The letter DeMint signed is from February 2002, and the donations were received between August 2003 and October 2004. With other lawmakers, the time between their correspondence to Norton and the receipt of contributions is a matter of days.

Other lawmakers also received far larger amounts.

DeMint sees no need to give the money back since it is not from gaming interests.

?The Democrats are trying to criminalize politics,? he said.