The strange case of the casino, the Senate leader and the defense bill – Roll Call

In the first nine months of 2021, the Catawba paid the D.C.-based law and lobbying firm Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker $30,000 to push for political action on its behalf, according to Senate lobbying disclosure documents.

The tribe also paid PACE, another D.C.-based lobbying firm, $90,000 over the same period. A disclosure from PACE lists gaming on newly acquired lands as its specific lobbying issue.

Among those at PACE listed on the disclosure forms are Devin Rhinerson, a former senior policy adviser to California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein; Kevin Eastman, a former legislative director for Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif.; and Scott Dacey, a former legislative liaison for the administrator of the Small Business Administration under President George H.W. Bush and the former chief of staff at the National Indian Gaming Commission, the federal governments lead regulatory agency of gambling conducted on tribal lands.

Another lobbyist, Rob Lehman of D.C.s WilmerHale firm, also received $90,000 from the Catawba Nation in the first nine months of 2021. Lehman is the former chief of staff to Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman.

Lobbying disclosures on behalf of the Catawba date as far back as 2003.

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The strange case of the casino, the Senate leader and the defense bill - Roll Call