Why the Delay?<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe project had the blessing of the Connecticut legislature. But because it was to be an off-reservation casino, amendments needed to be made to the tribes\u2019 compacts, and these needed sign off from the DOI\u2019s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).<\/p>\n
This should have been a routine matter. Under federal law, the DOI is required to issue a verdict on compacts within 45 days, and can only refuse on the grounds that a proposal violates the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). But the tribes were left in limbo for more than a year.<\/p>\n
This is despite informal assurances by the BIA that approval was all but certain. The bureau had even drafted the approval letters, in October 2017. That\u2019s also when high-level DOI officials suddenly chose to intervene and do nothing.<\/p>\n
The PIN case is still technically open and, according to The Washington Post<\/em>, the OIG cannot release its report about Zinke\u2019s conduct in the casino affair until prosecutors decide whether to press on with it. That\u2019s something that may become easier to do under the next administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen blocked a move by the DOJ\u2019s Public Integrity Section (PIN) to prosecute former interior secretary Ryan Zinke for allegedly lying to federal investigators about a Connecticut casino proposal. As first reported in The New York Times, Rosen nixed the case against Zinke because he said it needed more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":155264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
US Deputy AG Rosen Shot Down DOJ Case Against Zinke<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n