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Grover Norquist Accuses Sen. McCain of 'Lying,' Says Report 'Dishonest' Ronald Kessler Tax-cut advocate Grover Norquist has labeled Senator John McCain, and his report last week on a $50,000 contribution by the Choctaw Indian tribe to Norquist's Americans for Tax Relief, "dishonest."
In an interview with NewsMax, Norquist also accused McCain of "lying" about ATR's role in the matter and suggested McCain's report is nothing more than political payback. Norquist said McCain has claimed to others that Norquist and Ralph Reed engineered his defeat in the heated 2000 South Carolina presidential primary that pitted the senator against George Bush. Andrea Jones, McCain's press secretary, did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Last Thursday, the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, chaired by Senator McCain, issued a 373-page report on tribal lobbying. The Committee Report creates the clear impression that ATR improperly received the donation in return for acting as a "conduit" for more than $1 million from the Choctaws in Mississippi to the Alabama Christian Coalition. The $1 million, all sides agree, was for a campaign opposing a proposed state-run lottery in Alabama. Norquist denies he or the ATR was hiding anything. "The idea that we were paid to obscure the transfer of the money is wrong," Norquist said. "McCain knew that the Choctaws' own testimony refuted that." Norquist said the Choctaws told him the $50,000 was their annual contribution to ATR. As evidence of that, he said, it was roughly the same amount the tribe had contributed to ATR for more than seven years. The Senate report made no mention of that fact. Norquist said contributing to other organizations with the same interests to run campaigns is routine. Because the Choctaws oppose taxes on their businesses, which include gaming operations, they share the same agenda.
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"Studies show that after a government-run state lottery is introduced, government spending jumps up and other taxes increase more rapidly," Norquist said. Since the Christian Coalition already was running a campaign in Alabama to oppose the lottery, Norquist said he decided to give the money to the coalition to help support its campaign. The coalition hired Ralph Reed, then head of the national Christian Coalition, to help. "The Choctaw Indians are long-term supporters of ATR," Norquist said. "The Christian Coalition was already planning a campaign and were our allies on other issues in Alabama. So we just gave the contribution to them rather than duplicate their efforts." The Senate report quoted an e-mail from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented the Choctaws, to Reed. Referring to the $50,000 contribution to ATR, it said, "I need to give Grover something for helping, so the first transfer will be a bit lighter." Abramoff pleaded guilty in January to fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe public officials. In testimony before the committee on June 22 of last year, Nell Rogers, a Choctaw planner, called the $50,000 a "small management fee." But she said, ". . . I don't believe that there was a charge made for obscuring the money." She added, "I had a long-term relationship with Americans for Tax Reform and assumed that the payment would simply be used to support the overall activity of ATR."
"When McCain claims this was something other than an annual contribution, he is lying," Norquist said. He said the McCain committee rebuffed his effort to testify about the matter because it did not want to hear the other side. "They knew that if I testified, it would destroy their ability to create a phony scenario," he said. "McCain has misused his chairmanship of the Indian Affairs committee for two years to attack me and Ralph Reed because he thinks we beat him in South Carolina," Norquist said, referring to McCain's primary battle for the presidency. "He has told people I personally spent $12 million to defeat him in South Carolina. He is delusional. There is nothing wrong with transferring funds from one 501c4 non-profit organization to another 501c4 non-profit organization. It is both legal and proper. The support the Choctaws gave to ATR was consistent year after year." Noting that Rogers' testimony rebuts the report's allegations, Norquist said, "You have someone who believes I beat him in the last election, and the worst he can do is come up with something that isn't illegal, improper, or true."
Editor's note:
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