Abramoff Associate Reed May Have Broken Lobby Law, Groups Say

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Christian activist Ralph Reed may have violated Texas law by failing to register as a lobbyist while engaged in an anti-gambling campaign, according to three watchdog groups that today petitioned for an investigation.

Reed worked in 2001 and 2002 to shutter Indian casinos that would have competed with one run by a client of his associate, Jack Abramoff, according to a letter sent by Public Citizen, Texans for Public Justice and Common Cause Texas to Travis County Attorney David Escamilla. Abramoff, once a top Republican lobbyist, is under U.S. investigation for fraud and bribery and has been indicted in Florida for wire fraud.

Lisa Baron, a spokeswoman for Reed, said he was hired to encourage opposition to the casinos among citizens in the state, not to lobby Texas officials. ``This is a specious complaint that has more to do with politics than the facts,'' Baron said.

Reed is running for lieutenant governor of Georgia, and his bid has been complicated by his connections with Abramoff. A Senate committee investigating Abramoff released e-mails in which he and Reed discuss efforts to block gambling operations in Texas. In one, Reed says, ``We have talked to the AG's office,'' referring to the office of then-Attorney General John Cornyn.

Reed himself had to have had a conversation with a state official or employee about the casino to trigger the lobbying- registration rules, said Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice. ``We don't know all the facts,'' he said. ``There's a whole host of implications in his e-mails that he himself is making direct contact.''

Cornyn

Cornyn is now a U.S. senator from Texas and was not contacted by Reed on the issue, according to his spokesman, Donald Stewart. Cornyn, a Republican, was against the plan by the Tigua tribe to open a casino for years before the beginning of the Abramoff-Reed e-mails released by the Senate, he said. ``Reed didn't lobby him,'' Stewart said.

Escamilla, the Travis County attorney, confirmed he received the letter and declined to comment on its specifics. ``We will review it to determine what action is called for,'' he said.

Reed may have received as much as $4.2 million for the successful effort in 2001 and 2002 to block the casinos, the groups said, citing media reports. They said that would make Reed's contract one of the largest in Texas history.

The Texas Ethics Commission had no comment on the petition. ``Someone has to register if they are paid more than $1,000 in a quarter or spend more than $500 in a quarter to influence any state agency or elected official's decision-making process,'' said Tim Sorrells, deputy general counsel for the commission.

The statute on lobbying registrations carries a potential fine of as much as three times the unreported compensation.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kristin Jensen in Washington kjensen@bloomberg.net; Darrell Preston in Dallas at dpreston@bloomberg.net