statesman.com | Cornyn disputes claim about casino work, lobbying

Reed had said he 'choreographed' decision from then-attorney general.

By Jason Embry

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, the former Texas attorney general, on Monday downplayed former Christian Coalition Director Ralph Reed's 2001 claim that he choreographed Cornyn's forthcoming efforts to limit casino gambling in the state.

Cornyn said his efforts, including the filing of a lawsuit in 1999 to shut down an Indian casino, began well before Reed's boast.

"When I ran for attorney general in 1998, I ran in part on my commitment to enforce Texas law, including our laws against casino gambling," said Cornyn, a Republican. "And of course, when I was elected, I did exactly that."

The Associated Press reported last week that Reed had claimed in a 2001 e-mail to lobbyist Jack Abramoff that he knew what Cornyn, then attorney general, would do to shut down the Alabama-Coushatta tribe's casinos in East Texas.

Abramoff worked that year as a lobbyist for the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and was trying to fend off other casinos from cutting into its business. Abramoff hired Reed as a consultant, and Reed lobbied to have the Alabama-Coushatta and Tigua casinos closed in Texas.

In the November 2001 e-mail, Reed told Abramoff that a group of pastors would meet with Cornyn to urge him to shut down the Alabama-Coushatta tribe's casino near Livingston.

"We have also choreographed Cornyn's response," Reed's e-mail said, according to the AP. "The AG will state that the law is clear, talk about how much he wants to avoid repetition of El Paso and pledge to take swift action to enforce the law."

Cornyn had filed a lawsuit in 1999 to shut down a Tigua casino in El Paso, saying it violated the state's limited gambling laws. Federal courts closed the casino in 2002, and Cornyn used that ruling to shut down the Alabama-Coushattas' casino.

"The fact is, the big litigation was in 1999 against the Tiguas," Cornyn said Monday before a speech to the Texas Civil Justice League. "That was the one that had been operating illegally for almost 10 years when I became attorney general and I committed to enforce Texas law. It wasn't personal, but it was a matter of Texas law. And really what happened with the Alabama-Coushattas was that shutting them down depended on a final decision in the Tigua case."

Abramoff and his partner are now under federal investigation, accused of defrauding six Indian tribes of about $80 million between 2001 and 2004. The e-mail from Reed was released recently as part of the investigation.

Cornyn, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, said he could not recall talking to Reed about the casino issue or ever meeting Abramoff.

"We've looked as best we can to try to reconstruct the record, but to my knowledge I've never met Jack Abramoff," he said. "I don't think anyone can be held accountable for communications that they weren't aware of and which claim credit for something that happened three years earlier."