Cantor's ties to Abramoff under scrutiny

1 May 2005 // WASHINGTON -- Rep. Eric I. Cantor of Virginia signed a letter with other House leaders in 2003 that was favorable to an Indian tribe in Louisiana represented by Jack Abramoff, a lobbyist now under criminal and congressional investigation.

Cantor, R-7th, is chief deputy majority whip and an ally of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Cantor received $12,000 in campaign contributions from Abramoff, his wife and associates in 2003-2004, according to records from online campaign-finance tracking services.

The Richmond-area Republican raised campaign money at a January 2003 event held by Abramoff at a deli the lobbyist partly owned, according to a published account at the time, and a sandwich there was named for Cantor.

Abramoff faces allegations he and an associate bilked tribal clients of millions of dollars while representing them on casino issues. Also drawing intense interest have been his close ties to DeLay, R-Texas, a signer of the letter in 2003.

Cantor rejected last week any suggestion he had strong ties to Abramoff or was the subject of influence-peddling.

"I have never really had anything to do with Jack Abramoff, other than I knew him on a very casual, but infrequent basis," Cantor said during a phone interview. He said Abramoff held a fundraiser for him and gave to his campaign.

"I never even knew he was in any way involved with that letter, whatsoever," Cantor said.

The letter "came to me by request of two members of Congress, Jim McCrery and Roy Blunt," Cantor said. McCrery, R-La., represents a district involved with the gaming issue addressed in the letter. Blunt, R-Mo., the House majority whip, had signed it, Cantor said, as had Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

Cantor also said he was mindful at the time of his own concerns about possible casino gambling in Virginia.

Six Virginia tribes are asking Congress for federal recognition, or sovereign status. Critics have raised the specter of such a step opening the door to casino gambling, although key Indian leaders have said they don't want to establish it. Sen. George Allen, R-Va., and other bill proponents contend it has safeguards to prevent against casino gambling in Virginia.

While Abramoff and DeLay have captured the Washington spotlight lately, watchdog groups and news media also have examined Abramoff's contacts with other lawmakers. Cantor is facing some questions, although he's not among those drawing the greater scrutiny.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Cantor contacts with Abramoff deserve scrutiny, especially given the letter Cantor signed with Hastert, Blunt and DeLay.

The letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton was disclosed in the news media at the time. It said Congress did not intend for Indian tribes to go "reservation shopping" in search of lucrative casino areas when legislators approved tribal gambling in the 1970s.

Some tribes are trying to "move into lucrative casino markets far from their reservations and lands where they have a historical connection," the letter said, and it mentioned the Jena Band of Choctaws in Louisiana.

The letter supported a legal view favorable to the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, an Abramoff client engaged in gaming and opposed to the Jena bid, according to news reports, which have linked Abramoff lobbying and the letter.

Sloan, of the watchdog group, said the letter did not involve Cantor's district, and he doesn't have special expertise on Indian gaming issues.

Considering the campaign donations by Abramoff and his associates, and the "anomaly" of Cantor signing the letter, "that combination . . . makes me suspicious," Sloan said. A former federal prosecutor, she said her group has targeted some Democrats, as well as Republicans.

Cantor chief of staff Rob Collins responded skeptically.

"I can only assume that this is a liberal Democrat with an ax to grind," Collins said.

Sloan was the lead Democratic lawyer for the House Judiciary Committee between 1995 and 1998.

Collins also said, "Jack Abramoff's alleged dishonesty and shady business dealings are a stain on Washington and every legitimate and honest lobbyist, but it is not a stain on Congressman Cantor."

Retorted an Abramoff spokesman, "Jack Abramoff has become the Beltway version of a human punching bag in this latest series of attempts to malign him for doing his job and doing it well."

The $12,000 in donations from Abramoff, his wife and associates added up to only a small portion of the more than $2.4 million that Cantor's re-election campaign received in 2003-2004, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group.

Cantor, a staunch conservative and DeLay defender, is the lone Jewish Republican in the House. When Abramoff held the 2003 fundraiser for him, a sandwich named for Cantor was unveiled, according to the Jewish Forward newspaper.

If not "for the sandwich gimmick," that small fundraiser would not be remembered, Cantor aide Collins said, and the sandwich didn't appear on the deli's menu later.

Abramoff, like many lobbyists, hosted scores of fundraisers for lawmakers and "does not recall every one," the lobbyist's spokesman said.

Cantor's campaign paid $1,732 in June 2003 for the event, after Jewish Forward raised questions about whether campaign finance reporting rules were broken when Cantor didn't report the debt.

A Cantor political adviser said then that the campaign had not received an invoice promptly, and it quickly paid the tab. More recently, some other lawmakers have faced similar situations for fundraiser tabs at Signatures, a restaurant partly owned by Abramoff.

Spending reports by both Cantor's campaign and his leadership political action committee reflect spending on other political events and meals at Signatures and the Abramoff deli, Stacks.

Cantor said last week that he observes Jewish dietary laws, and when someone opens a kosher restaurant in Washington, he would want to eat there.

Cantor is married to Diana F. Cantor, a member of the board of directors of publicly traded Media General Inc., parent company of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Contact Peter Hardin at (202) 662-7669 or phardin@mediageneral.com
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story can be found at: http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031782456225&path=!news!politics&s=1045855935264