Burns under fire for questionable grant to tribal college

Imagine, Republicans sucking at the trough of rich Native Americans and crapping on the poor Native Americans! Simply shocking! These are all buddies of DeLay.

HELENA -- Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., pushed the Interior Department to give one of the wealthiest American Indian tribes in the country $3 million from a federal program intended for cash-strapped tribal schools, The Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The Saginaw Chippewas of Michigan got the money for a new school last year while a client of Jack Abramoff, a Republican lobbyist whose practices are under federal investigation, the Post reported. Federal election records show Abramoff, his associates and wealthy tribal clients provided 42 percent of the contributions to Burns's "soft-money" political action committee from 2000 to 2002, the Post said.

Burns told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he found the article "surprising" and added, "We're looking into some things here."


Burns pushed to aid the Saginaw Chippewas despite Interior Department officials' position that the $3 million was intended for other uses, and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., supported Burns's effort to exempt the tribe from requirements that would have prevented it from getting the money, according to the newspaper.

A spokesman for Dorgan, Barry Piatt, said that is incorrect.

"He had nothing to do with it," Piatt told the AP.

The Saginaws operate a casino northwest of Detroit, and tribal members each receive a share of gambling profits. The Post said each tribal member receives $70,000 a year. The Michigan tribe was one of about a dozen that hired Abramoff to represent them in Washington, D.C.

The FBI is among federal agencies investigating Abramoff's lobbying practices, focusing on tribal clients who paid him and a public relations associate $82 million between 2001 and 2003, the Post reported.

A call seeking comment from Abramoff's lawyer in Washington, D.C., was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

Former Abramoff associates and tribal representatives said areas of investigation include whether legislative favors were granted in Congress, in return for campaign contributions, and whether Abramoff gained access on Capitol Hill by promising congressional aides jobs and gifts such as tickets to sporting events.

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