{"id":98575,"date":"2019-02-16T08:12:45","date_gmt":"2019-02-16T16:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=98575"},"modified":"2019-02-17T04:50:16","modified_gmt":"2019-02-17T12:50:16","slug":"pequots-can-revive-lawsuit-against-former-interior-sec-zinke-alleging-filibustering-on-east-windsor-casino-rules-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pequots-can-revive-lawsuit-against-former-interior-sec-zinke-alleging-filibustering-on-east-windsor-casino-rules-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Rules Pequots Can Revive Lawsuit Against Former Interior Sec. Zinke, Alleging Filibustering on East Windsor Casino"},"content":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled Friday that the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut can renew a lawsuit against former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Politico<\/em> reports.<\/p>\n

\"Ryan
Former US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is accused by the Pequots of \u201cbuckling under political pressure\u201d from two Nevada Congressmen, Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei, who were allegedly pushing MGM\u2019s agenda. (Image: Shawn Thew-Pool\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The suit, which was initially dismissed last year, accuses the Department of the Interior of illegally blocking approval of a Connecticut casino,<\/a> allegedly bowing to political pressure from MGM Resorts.<\/p>\n

Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for D.C. ordered the tribe to refile an amended lawsuit by February 22. The decision means the DOI will have to produce an administrative record explaining its decision on the casino — or lack thereof — which the Pequots claim amounted to filibustering.<\/p>\n

Bureaucratic Blockade<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Pequots and the Mohegan Tribe are Connecticut\u2019s only two federally recognized tribes. In 2016, the state legislature passed a law permitting them to build a so-called \u201csatellite casino\u201d off reservation, in East Windsor, close to the border with Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

The main purpose of the casino was to deflect competition from the MGM Springfield, which was then under construction across the border in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

While Connecticut approved the casino, it said it wanted the DOI to approve amendments to the tribes\u2019 compacts to safeguard revenue-share payments.<\/p>\n

The tribes’ request for approval was sent to the DOI\u2019s Bureau of Indian Affairs in July 2017. They were optimistic — a BIA official,\u00a0James Cason, had assured the tribes in writing months earlier that approval of amendments to the compact was all but certain.<\/p>\n

By 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).<\/p>\n

\n

But on October 2017, the tribes received a letter stating the DOI had \u201cinsufficient information\u201d to make a decision. According to emails seen by Politico,<\/em> just 48 hours earlier drafts of letters granting the tribes approval were circulating at the BIA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Finally, ten months later, the Mohegan tribe received approval, but the Pequot did not. The DOI ruled that since the Pequot\u2019s compact had not been negotiated with the state but had been put in place by a federal lawsuit using \u201csecretarial procedures,\u201d the department was not required to do anything.<\/p>\n

Misconduct Probe<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Pequots’ lawsuit alleges Zinke \u201cultimately buckled under undue political pressure\u201d from Nevada Republican Congressmen Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei. According to Politico<\/em>, Heller and Amodei, both Nevada Republicans, met Zinke on numerous occasions in 2017.<\/p>\n

Zinke was invited to resign by US President Donald Trump at the beginning of the year and is facing numerous investigations by various federal bodies into alleged improper conduct — reportedly including whether he lied to the DOI\u2019s own investigators<\/a> about the tribes\u2019 application, a potential felony.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administrative record or other evidence may ultimately demonstrate that the alleged political pressure did not occur or affect the Secretary\u2019s decision,\u201d Contreras wrote on Friday. \u201cBut at this stage, Plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that significant political pressure was brought to bear on the issue and the Secretary may have improperly succumbed to such pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A federal judge in Washington D.C. ruled Friday that the Mashantucket Pequot tribe of Connecticut can renew a lawsuit against former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, Politico reports. The suit, which was initially dismissed last year, accuses the Department of the Interior of illegally blocking approval of a Connecticut casino, allegedly bowing to political pressure from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":98577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,60,18,61,18456],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPequots Can Revive Lawsuit Against Former Interior Sec. 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