Susan Bradford has a hard-hitting post on John McCain. McCain apparently doesn't like Howard Dickstein.
Any official actions Sen. John McCain undertakes must be evaluated within the context of what the Senator and/or his fundraisers and cronies stand to benefit politically or financially from those decisions. Bereft of any principles beyond self-interest, McCain has established a long pattern of accusing rivals of corruption in order to eliminate them from markets so that his allies can cash in.
Most recently, McCain wrote a letter to the National Indian Gaming Commission to complain about fees billed by tribal attorney Howard Dickstein, the lawyer for the Thunder Valley Casino, which is owned by the United Auburn Indian Community. Dickstein earned a reported $26 million during a six-year period ending in 2009. The contract, which incorporated a two percentage cut of the casino’s profits, amounted to a “lapse in oversight authority,” the Senator wrote in his letter. OP: Interesting that McCain is concerned about high fees, yet, remarkably is UNCONCERNED about the $500 MILLION that tribes have stolen from Indians via disenrollment
In response, Dickstein remarked on McCain’s longstanding desire to enhance the power of the NIGC, which the Senator’s allies control, to oversee and approve tribal contracts with business partners. “He’s trying to resurrect something that died an early death,” the attorney said, conceding that the Senator “has no idea the value of the services our firm rendered” to the tribe and casino.
On the contrary, the Senator understands the value quite well. However, McCain is intent upon securing lucrative contracts for his fundraisers and allies in Indian Country by sponsoring legislation he can then selectively enforce, or twist, to his own ends.
Reflecting the hypocrisy and hollowness of McCain’s latest allegations, according to the Village Voice, Roger Stone, a fundraiser for the Senator who helped set up Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff for wrongful conviction, earned both flat fees and percentages of future casino revenues through deals he negotiated with tribes and developers. McCain has yet to challenge Stone over these practices.
The Senator also has a longstanding interest in this United Auburn Indian Community, a tribe that allegedly consists of Miwuk and Maidu Indians indigenous to the Sacramento Valley region.
Most legitimate tribes were established through the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, which provided a mechanism through which Natives could organize themselves into self-governing tribal communities that were recognized by the federal government. Given the opportunity, however, the Auburn Indians rejected federal recognition
Read more at Susan Bradford’s Investigative Reports
Showing posts with label John McCain Susan Bradford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John McCain Susan Bradford. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, April 11, 2011
Susan Bradford: Chief Kequom Misled His Membership About Pursuing an Investigation
Susan Bradford on Saginaw Chippewa:
Like many Saginaw Chippewa Indians, Dennis Kequom is a liar and opportunist. While he campaigned on integrity, he has misled tribal members about his intention to pursue an investigation into the 1986 Constitution and membership fraud. He laughed and contradicted himself in the same conversation as he gloated about having gotten one over on everyone and then encouraged anyone who took issue with his deception to sue him in Tribal Court.
His alleged right hand woman, Council Woman Linda Hunt, who claimed to be speaking for him to initiate an investigation, was deeply tied into the dilution of the tribe’s billion dollar portfolio during the doomed Seminole deal in which the Seminole Tribe of Florida was trying to get the tribe’s Migizi development board to invest in gaming in violation of its charter, inside sources said.
The deal involved having the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan put up the investment for a Hard Rock casino (The Seminoles own the Hard Rock franchise) while both tribes were poised to share the profits. The billion dollar portfolio has since been looted – with money potentially having gone into mergers & acquisitions and other speculative ventures involving alternative energies.
Already a genealogist investigating fraud concerning throngs of fictitious Indians who have acquired membership in the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan has reported that her car brakes were cut in what appears to be an attempt against her life. She allegedly told investigators and the Council that the culprit was none other than Bernie Sprague, the Saginaw Chippewa SubChief who committed perjury against Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in Sen. John McCain’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings. Most who have questioned the illegality of this tribe’s government have found themselves in jeopardy of one sort or another.
Increasing membership is intrinsically tied to federal funding. The more members, regardless of whether they are legitimate or not, the more money the tribe can acquire from the federal government for the care of those individuals. In a ravenous quest for income, the tribal government continues to add more fictitious Indians onto the rolls, in the process defrauding the U.S. government of tax revenue.
Kequom laughed about misleading his membership and said that anyone who disagrees with him can take him to Tribal Court, which everyone knows is fixed. Judges have been known to rewrite law during trial in order to secure convictions, and the Chief can fire any judge who rules against him. The Chief thinks he is above the law and acts accordingly. After campaigning on fighting corruption, he has resisted all efforts at reform and has bought himself an expensive new car and most likely has been bought off himself, tribal members said.
While Hunt told members that the Chief wanted to replace corrupt tribal attorney Sean Reed and lobbyist Larry Rosenthal, and bring on clean operators, Kequom said he was perfectly happy with the status quo. He seems to think tribal sovereignty is license to engage in illegal activities and operate above federal law and the U.S. Constitution. However, tribal sovereignty cannot serve as a buffer when federal laws have been broken.
The lawlessness surrounding the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens and Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff are an ominous reflection of the lawlessness overtaking Indian Country, where anything goes, most are bought off, and the criminals are in charge.
It is an affront to hardworking taxpayers to have them subsidize this crime syndicate, especially at a time of looming deficits. The federal government needs to shut down this criminal enterprise and prosecute the criminals within it before any more innocent people are harmed.
Susan Bradford is author of Lynched! The Shocking Story of How the Political Establishment Manufactured a Scandal to Have Republican Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff Removed from Power.
For more information, please visit: http://www.susanbradford.org/.
Like many Saginaw Chippewa Indians, Dennis Kequom is a liar and opportunist. While he campaigned on integrity, he has misled tribal members about his intention to pursue an investigation into the 1986 Constitution and membership fraud. He laughed and contradicted himself in the same conversation as he gloated about having gotten one over on everyone and then encouraged anyone who took issue with his deception to sue him in Tribal Court.
His alleged right hand woman, Council Woman Linda Hunt, who claimed to be speaking for him to initiate an investigation, was deeply tied into the dilution of the tribe’s billion dollar portfolio during the doomed Seminole deal in which the Seminole Tribe of Florida was trying to get the tribe’s Migizi development board to invest in gaming in violation of its charter, inside sources said.
The deal involved having the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan put up the investment for a Hard Rock casino (The Seminoles own the Hard Rock franchise) while both tribes were poised to share the profits. The billion dollar portfolio has since been looted – with money potentially having gone into mergers & acquisitions and other speculative ventures involving alternative energies.
Already a genealogist investigating fraud concerning throngs of fictitious Indians who have acquired membership in the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan has reported that her car brakes were cut in what appears to be an attempt against her life. She allegedly told investigators and the Council that the culprit was none other than Bernie Sprague, the Saginaw Chippewa SubChief who committed perjury against Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in Sen. John McCain’s Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings. Most who have questioned the illegality of this tribe’s government have found themselves in jeopardy of one sort or another.
Increasing membership is intrinsically tied to federal funding. The more members, regardless of whether they are legitimate or not, the more money the tribe can acquire from the federal government for the care of those individuals. In a ravenous quest for income, the tribal government continues to add more fictitious Indians onto the rolls, in the process defrauding the U.S. government of tax revenue.
Kequom laughed about misleading his membership and said that anyone who disagrees with him can take him to Tribal Court, which everyone knows is fixed. Judges have been known to rewrite law during trial in order to secure convictions, and the Chief can fire any judge who rules against him. The Chief thinks he is above the law and acts accordingly. After campaigning on fighting corruption, he has resisted all efforts at reform and has bought himself an expensive new car and most likely has been bought off himself, tribal members said.
While Hunt told members that the Chief wanted to replace corrupt tribal attorney Sean Reed and lobbyist Larry Rosenthal, and bring on clean operators, Kequom said he was perfectly happy with the status quo. He seems to think tribal sovereignty is license to engage in illegal activities and operate above federal law and the U.S. Constitution. However, tribal sovereignty cannot serve as a buffer when federal laws have been broken.
The lawlessness surrounding the prosecution of Sen. Ted Stevens and Republican super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff are an ominous reflection of the lawlessness overtaking Indian Country, where anything goes, most are bought off, and the criminals are in charge.
It is an affront to hardworking taxpayers to have them subsidize this crime syndicate, especially at a time of looming deficits. The federal government needs to shut down this criminal enterprise and prosecute the criminals within it before any more innocent people are harmed.
Susan Bradford is author of Lynched! The Shocking Story of How the Political Establishment Manufactured a Scandal to Have Republican Super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff Removed from Power.
For more information, please visit: http://www.susanbradford.org/.
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