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Abramoff Scandal
Abramoff sought meeting with retired Sen. Campbell


Retired Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colorado) said this week that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff tried to meet with him when he was chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

During an appearance on liberal-leaning Democracy Now show, Campbell said he never met with Abramoff. He said his former aides "advised me at that time not to meet with him, because they said he was a rather suspicious guy and pretty 'slick,' as I remember the word that they used, and so I never would meet with him."

Campbell said his door was always open to tribal leaders themselves rather than lobbyists. "I thought the tribes should have the right to see me directly without an intermediary or through a lobbyist," he told show host Amy Goodman. "So I, just through the staff, would always tell them to ask the chairman or ask the tribal council to come in themselves and tell me what I can do to help them and not send in a professional voice for themselves."

Before he retired at the end of 2004, Campbell chaired the first hearings on the lobbying scandal and attempted to question Abramoff and Michael Scanlon about their activities. Both refused to testify.

Campbell now works for the law/lobbying firm of Holland & Knight.

Get the Story:
Native American Tribes Attempt to Recover After Being Defrauded of Tens of Millions by Abramoff (Democracy Now 1/4)

Relevant Links:
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians - http://www.choctaw.org

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