THE IETAN STORY

Recently, there has been news coverage and significant chatter about Sen.Dianne Feinstein working to create new restrictions or even prohibitions on the aireadydifficult and rare process of tribes acquiring new lands for gaming purposes. Her efforthave been predicated as a response to attempts by tribes, tribal organizations and tribaladvocates ln the Congress to remove any doubt about tile ability of the-Department ofInterior to acquire new lands for tribes recognized after 1934, doubt that .was createdby the 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Carcieri v. Salazar.·..

It has long been suspected, and only receptly confirmed, that Sen. Feinstein'sefforts to render it impossible for most if not all tribes to acquire new lands for gaminghas been aided and abetted by wealthy Indiah tribes that do ·not wish to seecompetition. This battle of the "Have's" versus th~ "Have-Not" tribes exploded into thenational consciousness with the exploits of disgraced and once-imprisoned lobbyist Jack

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Abramoff, who violated numerous federal laws while reaping millions of dollars from.wealthy tribes to squash the dreams of poor t ibes seeking to enter the gamingmarket-including at least one tribe that he later sought as a client. Abramoff did so

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. through an. UnhOlY.alliance wi~ Co.n~~esSionalstar :~nd rnte.rior offici~IS/.~ num~e~ ofwhom were prosecuted for their actlvltles. ~:... . ~... . .. •

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. . Today/one' finds the Ihdian~lobbying firm I ta-nConsUIti'ng at the .mlddle of thissame battlE!·~etween':."Have/sll a.nd "Have-Nots." Il~t~n has not, h~slta~~d torght. toblock poor tnbes desperately trying to create ecoffilo.mtc opportumty, even wher. dOingso has been contrary to the interests of the firm's own' clients or tribes. of whi Ietanlobbyists are actual members. And, like Abramof Ietan is doing so through a tightnetwork of allies/ former employees, former affiliate~) and former client represe tativeswo~king within the Administration and on the Hill. I '.

'. . . . The History of IeFFrom the very start, Ietan has wDrk~d to block gaming ?roje~ of othe trib~s.

Its founders, Larry Rosenthal and Wilson Pipestem, began their lobbymg car rs Withthe .firm of Wheat & Associates/ where Rosenthal J.;as:a principal advocatelob~yjng onbehalf of Michigan's Bay Mills Indian Community irl an attempt to settle a ·Ipngstandingland claim in exchange for newland. Under the IIndian ·Gaming Regulatory ~ttT landacquired in settleme~t of a land. claim is eJigibl~ f~r.g~ming.. Rosenthal·~nd p;pestemleft Wheat~ &, ASSOCIatesto: form Ietan, and Imh1edlat~lY: began lobbytng-fqr .moremoney~n··b~halfof:Michigan/s Saginaw Chippe~a'.'Tribein oppcsltlonto ....~y Mills'efforts. Rosenthat.even began to refer tothevery.l~and claim that he had adv ted asa "scam." :!; The pattern -repeated itself when Ietan hired former Acting .~ista~tS~cr~tary of the Interior Aurene Martin to also IOb~yon behalf of Saginaw Chip~.:.~a onthis rssue, even though she had been the federal offiCial responsible for and personallyinvolved in formulating the Department of Interior'~ position on the Bay Mills lan~ claim.. . . I . .

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- All the while, .letan was busy building a network of allies tied together byemployment histories and deep business ties. Today, "Team letan" is far moreformidable- than "Team Abramoff" ever was. Detailed more fully on a relationship chartand in the "Team letan" biographIcal sumrnanes, primary players in the teten webinclude:

• Firm principals Larry Rosenthal, Wilson Pipestem and Holly Cook Maeatro;

White House Senior Polic.y Advisor Kim Teeheer former room-mate ofRosenthal, former deputy to- Macarro, and _Rosenthal's -successor as

_ Advisor to Rep. Dale Kildee and Director of the Congressional. Native- - _American Caucus;

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• Department of the Interior Congressional Affairs Director Chris Mansour,who worked with Rosenthal and Teehee in the House, and CongressionalAffairs Staff Chastity Bedonie, who was an Ietan lobbyist and also anassociate with Akin Gump, a Washington law firm that provides officespace to letan and proudly trumpets its strategic alliance with letanon its

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• Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Democratic Counsel Allison Blnney,who was an associate at tetarrs strategic partner Akin Gump, and theSenate Committee's immediate past Policy Director John Harte, who wasalso formerly employed by letan.

In addition to: creating a poweiful team of influential insiders, -letan hasleveraged enormous political contributions and thecornblned weight 'of tribal clientsacross the -country to have an outsized influence on- federal policy. Just six of theprincipal Ietan clients involved in trying to block poor and landless tribes from obtainingland for gamin-9, together with two Akin clients who share 'that mission;~;contributed acombined $3,226,35Tto federal candidates,· PAC's and party comrruttees.m the 2008election cycle. 'In the current cycle,.-that total stood at $2/393,829 asorAuqust, 2010.When contributions from the fall election season are added, that total will undoubtedlybe much higher. These numbers pale in comparison to the staggering more than $148million in state-level political expendItures made by this group of tribes during the 2008ejection.

Abramoff. Ietan. and Efforts to Block Opportunities for Poor Tribes

In the early to mid-2000's, the notorious Jack Abramoff employed a scheme todirect tribal -contributions to benefit Members of Congress, Congressional staff, andAdministration officials. He and his cronies also showered -their friends -with illegalgratuities, such 'as golf junkets, expensive dinners, and tiCkets and trips to sportingevents. - (Abramoff also liberally helped himself and -his -Closest partners to kickbacks

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and inflated fees.) The resulting scandal led directly to lobbying reforms intended toprevent su.ch.~scandal from occurring again.

Abramoff's prindpat tribal dients, such as, the Saginaw Chippewa IndianCommurntv, the Aguacaliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, and other weal~hy tribes paidhim millions;n fees specifically to work to prevent poor and landless tribes fromobtaining land on which they might establish competing gaming facilities. The greatirony of the Abramoff scandal, however, is that when the scandal broke, the resulting"tatnt" on Indian gaming led to exactly what these wealthy tribes had beenpropounding-a. backlash not against them and their lobbyist, but against Indiangaming as a whole. Members of Congress who prodaimed themselves horrified byAbramoffs activities began championing legislation to restrict the ability of tribes toobtain new lands for gaming. Indian gaming as a whole became the bogeyman, notthe out-of-bounds conduct of those who were trying to stunt tribal gaming. Abramoff'sclients won. And letan was right there to help them.

Throughout the late 2000's and into 2010, Ietanandits clients have fought hardto block efforts of poor and landless. tribes to enter the gaming market. DuringInterior's constderanon of administrative rules to govern the acquisition of gamingeligible lands,:''Ietan and its dlents were a leading VOice'ealfing for tight~r)restrictions,In the Conqress, they leveraged their stable of dlerits to have Westerh tribal clientsoppose efforts of a NOrth carolina tribe to win federal recognition (opposed by tetanclient Eastern-Bend of Cherokee) and a Michigan tribe and former Rosenthal client toobtain approval of a land claims settlement reached by the tribe and the state (opposedby Ietan client saginaw Chippewa). They lobby Interior to create new limitations onland acquisitions as well, even when dOing so directly undercuts the interests of theirown clients Of, worse, tribes of which letan members are citizens. (tetarrs efforts toimpose new restrictions on gaming helped set the stage for the denial of an applicationfor gaming land made by the Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians, tribe of then-Ietan

. lobbyist Aurene Martin, and are stymieing efforts by tne Guidiville Band of Porno Indiansto obtain land for a San Francisco Bay Area casino, even though that effort is beingbacked by Ietan client the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.~).

Since the inception of the Obama Administration, no group has .been workingharder than: Iefcln; its' clients and their allies to lobby' against the acquisition of newtribal landsfor gaming; And dearly their efforts nave had an effect=slrrce'PresldentObama took-office in January of 200.9, the Departmerltofthe Interior, has approved notone single djscretionary tee-to-trust application fo/'gamfng, a record immeasurablyworse than that of the anti-Indian gaming Bush Admin"istration.

Full Circle: Leveraging Carcieri and Relationships to Close the Door onCompetition

Most recently, Ietan has seized upon and hijacked·.a key priority of IlidianCountry as a whole as a mechanism for attempting to . foreclose any new tribal

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competition to its dients' casinos. And their friends at Interior and the White Househave reportedly been right in the middle of this effort, working with Seh. Feinstein on

. incredibly restrictive Indian gaming language even while denying their involvement. Inthe process, they're showing that promises by the Administration to engage Inmeaningful consultation with tribes are a lie - their secret efforts with Feinstein aretaking place at the same time the Department is holding gaming policy consultations onthe very sections of the law that they are working with. Fe.instein to render moot.

In the early 2009 decision ceraen v. sstszer; the lLS. supremecourt ruled that.the Secretary of the Interior cannot take land in trust under the Indian ReorganizationAct for tribes that were not under federal jurlsdktton in 1934. Leading Indian lawscholars and other tribal advocates contend that/ as a matter of law, any tribe that isrecognized as a tribe by the federal government today was, in fact, under federaljurisdiction in 1934, regardless of when the tribe was recognized. This is because whenrecognizing a tribe, the federal 'government is not creating a tribe, but onlyacknowledging the existence of that tribe from ancient times until the present-including its existence in 1934. (The tribe that was the subject of the Carcieri dedsion,through a procedural error, unknowingly made the unmistaken concession that it wasunder state, and not federal, jurisdiction in 1934. ASa legal matter, the only tribes notactually under federal jurisdiction in 1934 are those tribes that had ceased to maintaintheir tribal status prior to that date.) ':-' ..

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While Carcieri should not operate to preventenvcurremv existing' tribe fromobtaining trust land under the Indian Reorganization .Act, the unfortunate reality is that

. tribal opponents have' seized upon thededsion as a basis to challenge larid acquisitionsfor ~ny tribe tl1ey want to dsim was not under federal jurisdiction in 193"4; The threatof such challenges has led to paralysis at Interior when it conies to taking land in trust,espedalJy for tribes that were recognized after 1934,-\'Vhere lawsuits are almost certain.

The uncertainty and delays caused by the Carcieri decision led to efforts by tribaladvocates in Congress to enact a "Carcieri fix" that would confirm that the Secretarycan take land in trust for any federally recognized tribe. Indian gaming opponents, ledby Sen. Dianne Feinstein, oppose such a fix. Accordingly, in late spring of 2010,Interior began prepating to move forward with tribal trust acquisitions, even in the faceof likely lawsuits. .

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Enter a .handful of tribal lobbyists and tribal leaders. When the NationalCongress of American Indians convened a "Carcied Action Day" in July of 2010 to callupon Interior to advance tribal trust acquisitions and for.Conqress to enact a csraenfix, applicant tribes were informed by senior Interior officials that Interior had decidednot to move-forward on fee-to-trust applications ·.with '"possible Carcierl i$sUes"-because an: unnamed tribal leader had told the Department not to do so as It could"undercut" ~efforts to:obtain a Congressional "flX.I~..' This backtracking ran directlycontrary to. promises by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar a year earlier to makesolving carcien a top priority and by the Department's soncnor in April of 2010 to begin

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immediate consultation with tribes to define a path forward without legislation. But thetactic was supported by Ietan ally Kim Teehee in the White House.

In the fall of 2010, Congressional efforts took a new turn. Tribal advocatespromised an effort to enact a "Carcieri foci via Interior's Appropriations bill. Sen.Feinstein, chair of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, opposed such efforts. Aslater acknowledged by Ietan lobbyist Wilson Pipestem, Ietan, several Ietan tribaldients, and other wealthy Califomia tribes opposed to tribal casino competition metwith Sen. Feinstein to propose an cunning "trade'--sbe should accept a· Garcierifix, andin turn enact .language prohibiting gaming on lands taken into trust after the date ofsuch a fix, unless the affected tribe could demonstrate "aboriginal ties" to the landsthrough a standard that would be virtually impossibletor any tribe to meet. Pipestemalso acknowledged that certain unnamed Interior staff and AdministrationofficJals wereinvolved in trying to make this trade. Both Pipestem and hls allies at Akiri Gump havesince beenargLiing that the trade is necessary because, unlesssen, Feinstein ts "throwna bone," there will be no C'arderifix. But tellinglYr none ofthe tribes that met with Sen.Feinstein that day themselves have any potential ;,Carcieri issue. And .more recent.rumors suggest that the Feinstein language has now rnorphed to an even higherstandard, one that few if any tribes could meet, and that no California tribe couldsatisfy. In the meantime, Interior denies working with Feinstein, even though Interior,Feinstein and letan have all been exchanging draft language that will have the effect ofpreventing gaming on lands acquired after a Carderi fIX - shutting out poor andlandless tribes while protecting the markets of the rich Ietan clients. '

Conclusion: Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant

Today, the available documents and Pipestem's own admissions show dearlythat Ietan is spreading millions in political contnbutlonsand working its formidable listof allies within the Administration and on the HilLtobloclcthe efforts of.' poor andlandless tribes seeking new lands, even when doing so :js harmful to the interests ofIetan's own.clients, But many questions remain to be.answered, even from Pipestem1sown statements. Who at Interior is involved? Who.'at the White House? Who on theSenate staff?' To what degree? What documents has Ietan submitted to Interiorproposing leqtslatlve language? What legislative language has gone from Interior toFeinstein? How can Interior be involved without betraying promises to run an open andhonest administration, dedicated to consulting with tribes-hoW can Interior be craftinglegislative language on this topic when Interior in the middle of trlbalconsultatlon overwhat its poiicy should be with respect to gaming on new lands? Given the evidencealready coming .to lightr the answers to these questions will truly illuminate what istaking place in the development of federal Indian policy And perhaps then, the cyde ofunholy lobbying influence supporting the "Have's" overthe "Have-Not's" can be broken.

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TEAMIETAN

Ietan Partners

Larry Rosenthal: Served for 11 years as staff to Michigan Congressman Dale Kifdee/who he assisted in forming the bi-partisan Congressional Native American Caucus.Served as Director of the Caucus before becoming Chief of Staff of the National IndianGaming Commission. Left NIGC to become a lobbyist with Wheat. & .Associates.Represented the Bay Mills Indian .Community in seeking to acquire land for gamingwhile with Wheat & Associates. Left Wheat & Associates to form Ietan Consulting andmake more money from the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe to lobby the same issueagainst Bay Mills. Has represented Saginaw Chippewa against his former client eversince, except for a brief hiatus when Saginaw Chippewa retained Jack Abramoff for thesame purpose.

Wilson Pipestem: Member of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and an Osage Mineral Estateheadright holder, Worked as a lawyer in private practice representing Indian tribesbefore joining Wheat & Associates as a lobbyist. Left toforrn.Ietan Consulting, wherehe has represented other tribes against Bay MillS, which' had been a client of hisprevious firm while he was there. .

Holly Cook Matarro: Member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. served-as Director ofNative American Affairs of the Democratic· National Committee and worked on Indianissues in the Clinton White House. Later worked as i!J' lobbyist for tribes at Holland &

.Knight, before joining Ietan Consulting. Husband is Chairman of Ietan client PechangaBand of Mission Indians, which has a long history of opposlnq land acquisitions andgaming compacts for otherlndian tribes. .

Ietan Allies

.Kim Teehee: A member of the Cherokee Nation, serves as Senior Policy Advisor in theObama White House. A former room-mate of Larry Rosenthal'st.she served-as a deputyat the ONC to Jetan partner Holly Cook Macarro. ,:\tYhenRosenthal'left ~he 9ffice ofCongress~n,Dale Kildee to work at the NlGC1 she.was hts;hand-pickeq successor asKildee's Na.tiv~: Affairs advisor and Director or tne .Congressional N~~iv~ Americancaucus. ':.:) .... ....'

Chris Mansour: Worked in concressmen D~le Kildee;s office with Lerrv Rosenthal andthen Kim Teehee, and eventually became K1ldee's·Chief of Staff. Now serves asDirector of Congressional Affairs for the Department ,.of Interior, where he is a key allyof his friends at Ietan.

Chastity secorne: An Indian law specialist who serves under Chris Mansour in theDepartment' of Interior's Congressional Affairs Office. Was an Ietan lobbyist, .beforebecoming an attorney and lobbyist at Ietan ally Akin Gump. Registered inthe past as a

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lobbyist for both Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe and. the Gila River Indian Community,each. of which are wealthy tribes that have opposed efforts by other tribes to opengaming facilities. Lobbying activity for Gila RIver directly preceded her hirfng byInterior, despite an Obama Administration promise not to hire lobbyists:

Allison Binney: A member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, serves asDemocratic Counsel of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Previously, she was anattorney at the Akin Gump law firm, which has; a .strategic alliance·· with IetanConsulting .. tetarrs offices are housed within the Indlan law practice at Akin Gump.

John Harte; Democratic Policy Director .at the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.Harte previously was employed by Ietan Consulting, and at one time also by Ietan client

.. the National Indian Gaming Commission. Harte just recently left the Senate to join·former Ietan lobbyist Debbie Ho at a new firm! Mapetsr.

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Former Team Member

Aurene Martin: A member of the Bad River Band of Chippewa Indians, worked·for theOneida Nation of Wisconsin before serving in numerous capadties at Interior for theBush Administration, rising· to be the Acting Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. AtInterior, was directly involved as a federal employee in Indian lands issues concerningthe Bay Mills Indian Community. Despite telling a Native law student audience that shehated to see tribes opposing other tribes, immediately began representing Saginaw

. Chippewa in opposing Bay 1\1i1lswhen she left Interior.·'Asan Ietan-lobbytst, shecontinued these efforts and also helped Ietan lobby'forrestrtcnons err-the .ability of

.tribes to obtaIn new lands for gaming through the so-called "2-part determlnatlon"process; when: those -restrlctions were put in place by her colleagues attntertor, ~\2.;.

. part" applications by her former employer the Oneida Nation and .her own tribe, BadRiver Chippewa, were rejected.·· .

Debbie Ho: Formerly an ASSistant Counsel at the White House involved in theappointments process, Ho joined Ietan as a lobbyist, where she was able to provide the

. Ietan team with further insights into the federal hiring process for political appointees.She recently departed Ietan to form her own firm, taking with her another Ietanassooate, before John Harte joined her firm from the Senate Committee on IndianAffairs. '.

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letan client federaltotal:

2008: $2,523,1312010: $1,958,600

Akin Gump clientfederal total:

2008: $703,2262010: $435,229

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Combined Total:

:)2008:· $3,226,357. 2010: $2.393,829

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RumseyRancherlefYocha

Dehe Win!un.. Nation2006: $129,1502010: $372,750

Eastern Bandof Cherokee .

2008: $301.9002010: $297,500

DEPARTMENT OF THEINTERIOR . . . r""'""-------,

SENATE COIl' MIT1"EE ONiNDIAN AFFAlI~S

MashanlucketPequot

2006: $490.4552010: $98,300

WHITE HOUSE

Chris Mansour - Director,Congressional Affalrs

Chastily Bedonle, Office ofCongressional Affairs

(worked for letan and AkinGump)

Kim Taehee,Senior Policy Advisor Amson f~lnney

(worked for ~\kln GUf!1p)John rlarte

(worked for letan)

IETAN CONSULTING

ONe Wilson PipestemLarry Rosenthal

Holly Cook Macarro(wife of Pechanga

chairman)alliance

Gila RiverIndian Community2008; $274,9502010: S204,:WO

Agua CalienteBand of Cahuilla

Indians2008: $344,5762010: 23'1,029

Saginaw.Chippewa Tribe200B: $431,6002010: $363;000

Pechanga Bandof Mission Indianszooe $599,7542010: $370,800

San Manuel Bandof-Mission IndIans2008: $570.272

·2010: $456,250

Dollar figures represent federal poutlcal conmounons, as of August 2010 (meaning 2010 contributions are likely muchhigher). Does not include over $148~ in state political expenditures during the 2008 election.