WASHINGTON, March 30 (UPI) -- A top Republican lobbyist in Washington got $10 million from an executive whom he recommended for work with wealthy Indian tribes that run casinos.
That allegation was made by investigators on the staff of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the Washington Post reported Tuesday.
In a letter sent to lobbyist Jack Abramoff late Monday, McCain said investigators on his staff "have recently learned that Michael Scanlon or organizations with which he was in some way associated ... recently paid you approximately $10 million."
Abramoff, one of Washington's best-connected Republican lobbyists, this month was forced out of his firm, Greenberg Traurig, after revelations he and Scanlon, a former spokesman for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had persuaded four newly wealthy tribes to pay them tens of millions over the past three years.
Among the tribes involved are Michigan's Saginaw Chippewas, the Louisiana Coushattas and the Agua Caliente tribe of Palm Springs, Calif.
The financial arrangements between the two men were not previously known to the tribes or to Abramoff's firm, according to tribe members and a source close to the investigation.
Abramoff has publicly denied any financial stake in Scanlon's businesses.
