WND has learned from reliable sources within the Texas lottery scandals that pressure from prominent Texas Democrats, including former Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes, is being placed on Democratic senators considering the high-court nomination of Harriet Miers – whom Gov. George W. Bush appointed as chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission – to keep away from investigating the lottery scandals.
WND was told, “The fix is on.” Why? The corruption surrounding Texas lottery operator GTECH buying political influence in Texas was bi-partisan, reaching across from the administration of Democratic Gov. Ann Richards into the administration of Republican Gov. Bush. Texans who were named in the scandals of the 1990s are concerned that if the Senate Judiciary Committee does its job and subpoenas prominent players such as former lottery executive director Larry Littwin, many will go to jail.
An attempt is being made to convince Democratic senators that since Miers is the “best they are ever going to get” as a Supreme Court nominee from the Bush administration, they should “keep the lid on” and give her an easy time during her confirmation hearings.
Democratic senators are being reminded that Miers, as recently as 1988, contributed to Al Gore’s presidential campaign. The argument is that Miers lacks a strong judicial philosophy, and even the Oct. 3 “Anderson Group” teleconference investigated by Wall Street Journal reporter John Fund did not included Miers herself affirming she will overturn Roe v. Wade. By the time the hearings roll around, Democrats are being told that Miers will have moved to an acceptable centrist position that Roe v. Wade is “established precedent,” code words meaning she will not automatically vote to overturn the decision.
That there were crimes committed in the Texas lottery scandals became apparent in 1996 when J. David Smith, the national sales manager of GTECH, the Rhode Island company operating the Texas lottery, was convicted by federal prosecutors in New Jersey of multiple counts of political influence buying and money laundering. In an unusual move, U.S. Attorney Faith Hochberg of Newark made public Jan. 15, 1997, her charges that Barnes, a Democrat, had been involved in a $500,000 kickback scheme with Smith. At that time, Barnes was GTECH’s chief Texas lobbyist, receiving 4 percent of GTECH’s gross Texas revenue in a contract that earned him some $3 million a year.
At that time, Harriet Miers, the chairwoman of the Texas lottery, claimed that the Lottery Commission would look into the federal prosecutor’s allegations against Barnes, yet WND can find no records that any investigation was conducted. Why did Miers cover-up for Barnes?
For years, Barnes had claimed to be the person who exercised preferential treatment to get George Bush into the National Guard. Barnes made theses claims under oath in a deposition given in the wrongful termination case of Larry Littwin, the executive director of the Texas lottery who was abruptly fired in 1997 when he began looking too aggressively into charges of political influence buying by GTECH officers and lobbyists. As part of Littwin’s $300,000 settlement with GTECH, the Barnes’ deposition has been suppressed to this day.
In the controversy that resulted from the release of Hochberg’s allegations, Barnes lost his contract with GTECH, a blow softened by a $23 million “negotiated settlement” payment to Barnes. Miers and the Texas Lottery Commission refused to make the details of Barnes’ settlement public until months later, in June, when Texas Attorney General Dan Morales ruled in favor of Texas newspapers that the Lottery Commission could no longer keep the Barnes settlement secret.
In April 1998, Miers publicly agreed with the decision of then-lottery executive director Linda Cloud to end competitive bidding and allow GTECH to retain the contract, despite lower competitive bids being on the table.
In February 1998, in a virtually unprecedented move, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Politan ruled that New Jersey federal prosecutors had to apologize for making public their pre-sentencing report regarding J. David Smith – the report that contained the charges of the Barnes kickback scheme. While federal prosecutors complied and admitted their release of the report was inappropriate, the charges against Barnes appear to have been well-founded in the evidence presented against Smith. No one has ever explained why criminal charges were never pursued against Barnes either by state or federal authorities after these allegations against him were disclosed.
WND was told that individuals in Texas are seriously worried that an aggressive investigation reopened by the Senate Judiciary Committee will lead to criminal investigations against many, both Democrats and Republicans, who were implicated in the lottery scandals of the 1990s, and maybe even beyond.
Sources say that Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee are being pressured not to subpoena Littwin out of fear that he “knows too much and will talk.” Littwin is currently 70-years-old and resides in New York City’s upper East Side. Reportedly, he will forfeit $50,000 if he breaks the “gag order” imposed on him by GTECH in the settlement of his wrongful termination suit. A subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee should trump that silence agreement, allowing Littwin to testify freely without suffering economic loss.
The question now is whether any senator, Democrat or Republican, is sufficiently committed to a thorough and honest investigation of Miers’ professional background and qualifications for the Supreme Court. The Bush administration insists Harriet Miers had a brilliant legal career that began in Texas. Why should anyone resist examination of her accomplishments? If Littwin is not called to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee the American public should be alerted – the fix is on in Texas. Does anyone have the courage to investigate?
