Lobbyists and Indians

Yesterday we learned how GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked the Almighty for forgiveness after pleading guilty to several federal counts of conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion as part of a broader scam to bribe federal officials and members of Congress.

Today we learn why the Almighty might not be so forgiving after all.

It seems that at the heart of Abramoff’s scam was a shell organization, created under the guise of being a grass-roots Christian-backed activist group, devoted to improving the “moral fitness” of the nation.

This group, headed (at least on paper) by the Rev. Christopher Geeslin, would funnel money Abramoff skimmed from his lobbying clients into campaign contributions to the politicians he was trying to curry favor with.

What was the name of this now discredited Christian political activist group?


A) The U.S. Family Network
B) Concerned Christians for a Better Tomorrow
C) The Religious Rights Association
D) The Fifth Nail


ANSWER:
A) The U.S. Family Network, which once sent out a mailer noting that “The American family is under attack from all sides: crime, drugs, pornography, and one of the least talked about but equally as destructive — gambling.” The mailer then urged Alabama voters to oppose plans for the construction of a casino backed by the Poarch Creek Indian tribe, without detailing that the U.S. Family Network received $250,000 in donations raised from gambling receipts from the nearby Choctaw Indian tribe, which didn’t want the competition from the Poarch Creek.