Campaign Money Watch

Sleeve

Announcer: Say, what would you think about someone who said "gambling is a cancer. It is stealing food from the mouths of children,"

Citation: "‘We believe gambling is a cancer on the American body politic,' he said. ‘It is stealing food from the mouths of children . . . (and) turning wives into widows.'" [Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), January 20, 1996]

Announcer: And then turned around and took a $4 million job from casinos.

Citation: "Between 2001 and 2003, Mr. Reed collected more than $4 million in fees from Abramoff clients with gambling interests, including Indian tribes." [Wall St. Journal, April 20, 2006]

Announcer: That’s what Ralph Reed did. And that’s not all. Working with convicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed used Christian groups as a front for his paying casino clients. That’s right, Ralph Reed hit the jackpot doing dirty work for casinos. Whatever happened to practicing what you preach?

Citation: “He alienated his former Christian Coalition allies when it was revealed that in 2001 he had secretly taken gambling money to mobilize Christian activists to help shut down a tribal casino in Texas that competed with one run by Abramoff’s Indian clients.” [TIME Magazine, May 11, 2006]

Announcer: At first, Reed said he didn’t know where the money came from.

Citation: “Reed maintained through a spokeswoman that he didn’t know who was financing those efforts. But in e-mails made public last year, the funding was a topic of open conversation.

 

“On June 5, 2001, Abramoff e-mailed Reed: ‘Not sure I understand what this bill is all about. ... Please let me know so I can discuss with the tribe.’” [“Reed's recollections challenged previously,” Atlanta Journal Constitution, 3/4/06]

Announcer: But after he got caught, he claimed he took the gambling money to fight… gambling?! What else does he have up his sleeve?

Citation: “Over the next several years we stopped casinos from opening across the South and helped to close an illegal casino in Texas that operated in open violation of state and federal law. We will never know how many marriages and lives were saved, or how many children were spared the consequences of compulsive gambling because of our work.” [Ralph Reed, speech to TeenPact, December 9, 2005.

Announcer: At first, Reed said he didn't know where the money came from.

Citation: "Reed maintained through a spokeswoman that he didn't know who was financing those efforts. But in e-mails made public last year, the funding was a topic of open conversation.

 

"On June 5, 2001, Abramoff e-mailed Reed: ‘Not sure I understand what this bill is all about. ... Please let me know so I can discuss with the tribe.'" ["Reed's recollections challenged previously," Atlanta Journal Constitution, 3/4/06]

Announcer: But after he got caught, he claimed he took the gambling money to fight... gambling?! What else does he have up his sleeve?

Citation: "Over the next several years we stopped casinos from opening across the South and helped to close an illegal casino in Texas that operated in open violation of state and federal law. We will never know how many marriages and lives were saved, or how many children were spared the consequences of compulsive gambling because of our work." [Ralph Reed, speech to TeenPact, December 9, 2005]

Announcer: That’s just the beginning of what we know about Ralph Reed’s record as a lobbyist-for-hire. And now he’s running to be Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor?