Ralph Eugene Reed, Jr., (born June 24, 1961) is a conservative
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
political activist, best known as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition during the early 1990s. He sought the
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
nomination for the office of
Lieutenant Governor of GeorgiaThe Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the state, elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the state Governor....
but lost the
primary electionA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
on July 18, 2006, to State Senator
Casey CagleLowell S. "Casey" Cagle is an American politician currently serving as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party, a Conservative, and a former member of the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2006, Cagle defeated political activist Ralph...
. Ralph Reed started The Faith and Freedom Coalition which is in its early stages of development beginning in June of 2009. Reed and his wife, the former JoAnne Young, were married in 1987 and have four children.
__FORCETOC__
High school and college education
Born in
Portsmouth, VirginiaPortsmouth is an independent city located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 100,565, but a 2006 Census estimate showed the city's population had increased to 101,377....
, to Navy ophthalmologist Ralph Reed and his wife Marcy, Reed moved often as a child, spending most of his childhood in
Miami, FloridaMiami is a major coastal city in southeastern Florida, in the United States. Miami is the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida. With an estimated population of 424,662 in 2007, Miami is the largest city within the Miami metropolitan area, which is the...
. He moved with his family to
Toccoa, GeorgiaToccoa is a city in Stephens County, Georgia, United States located approximately 50 miles from Athens and approximately 90 miles northeast of Atlanta. The population was 9,323 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Stephens County.-History:...
, in 1976, graduating from Stephens County High School in 1979. He attended the
University of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning. Founded in 1785, UGA claims to be the oldest public university in the United States....
where he earned a
BABachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
in history in 1985. Reed was a member of the
Demosthenian Literary SocietyThe Demosthenian Literary Society is a debating society at The University of Georgia in Athens,Georgia. It was founded in 1803 by the first graduating class of the University's Franklin College. The society was founded on February 19, 1803 and the anniversary is celebrated now with the Society's...
, the Jasper Dorsey Intercollegiate
DebateDebate or debating is a formal method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examine the consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examine what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is technique of...
Society, and
College RepublicansThe College Republicans is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool for the Republican Party and has produced many prominent Republican and conservative activists and...
. He was also a columnist for
The Red & BlackThe Red & Black is an independent daily student newspaper of the University of Georgia.-History:Students published its first issue in tabloid format on November 24, 1893, from offices in the Academic Building on North Campus....
student newspaper. Later, Reed attended
Emory UniversityEmory University is a private research university in the metropolitan area of Atlanta in unincorporated Dekalb County, Georgia. In addition to its three undergraduate divisions, Emory has nine graduate and professional schools, including schools of business, law, medicine, theology, nursing, and...
where he received his Ph.D in American History in 1989.
Plagiarism incident
On April 14, 1983, Reed wrote a column for
The Red & Black student newspaper attacking the late Mohandas K. Gandhi. Titled "Gandhi: Ninny of the 20th Century," it denounced the motion picture
GandhiGandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both won Academy...
for its favorable treatment of the life of the pacifist leader of the
Indian independence movementThe term Indian independence movement incorporates various national and regional campaigns, agitations and efforts of both nonviolent and militant philosophy. The term encompasses a wide spectrum of political organizations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending the British...
. A graduate student complained to the editor of
The Red & Black that Reed had
plagiarizedPlagiarism, as defined in the 1995 Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary, is the "use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work." Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered...
a
CommentaryCommentary is an American monthly magazine covering politics, international affairs, Judaism, and social, cultural, and literary issues.-History:...
article by film reviewer
Richard GrenierRichard Grenier was a neoconservative cultural columnist for The Washington Times, and a film critic for Commentary and The New York Times. He was a graduate and lieutenant of the United States Naval Academy. He is particularly known for his review on the critically-acclaimed film, "Gandhi",...
. After an investigation, Reed was fired from the paper. Reed wrote a final column acknowledging his failure to cite sources but accusing the graduate student who complained of "the most shocking, profane form of personal attack I can imagine." (Nina J. Easton,
Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade, page 130-31)
Early days as political activist
Reed spent much of his college career as a political activist, taking six years to earn his undergraduate degree. He started with the
University of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning. Founded in 1785, UGA claims to be the oldest public university in the United States....
College RepublicansThe College Republicans is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool for the Republican Party and has produced many prominent Republican and conservative activists and...
, steadily rising to state and then national leadership. He was later profiled in
Gang of Five by
Nina EastonNina Jane Easton is an American journalist. She serves as the Washington Bureau Chief for Fortune Magazine as well as a commentator on the Fox News Channel, appearing regularly on Special Report with Bret BaierElection Coverage,Fox News Sunday, and Hannity...
, along with
Grover NorquistGrover Glenn Norquist is president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.-Early years and career:Norquist, who is of Swedish descent, grew up in Weston, Massachusetts and has a BA and MBA from Harvard University...
and other young activists who got their start in that era.
The triumvirate
In 1981, Reed moved to
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
, to intern for
Jack AbramoffJack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist, businessman and con man who was a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He is currently incarcerated at the satellite prison camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland...
, the newly elected Chairman of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC) and later the central figure in the Indian gaming and Congressional bribery scandal that would cause problems for Reed's campaign for Lieutenant Governor.
At the CRNC, Abramoff, Norquist and Reed formed what was known as the "Abramoff-Norquist-Reed
triumvirateA triumvirate is a political regime dominated by three powerful individuals, each a triumvir . The arrangement can be formal or informal, and though the three are usually equal on paper, in reality this is rarely the case...
." Upon Abramoff's election, the trio purged "dissidents" and re-wrote the CRNC's bylaws to consolidate their control over the organization. Abramoff promoted Reed in 1983, appointing him to succeed Norquist as Executive Director of the CRNC.
Reed roomed with Abramoff in Washington, D.C., and later introduced Abramoff to the woman who would become his wife. Reed participated in the weddings of both Abramoff and Norquist. Norquist would later serve as President of
Americans for Tax ReformAmericans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group whose goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
, an anti-tax nonprofit
lobbyingLobbying is the practice of influencing decisions made by government . It includes all attempts to influence legislators and officials, whether by other legislators, constituents, or organized groups. A lobbyist is a person who tries to influence legislation on behalf of a special interest or a...
firm in Washington, D.C.
Election-rigging allegations
In the spring of 1987, Reed was accused of rigging the election of ally Sam Harben as his successor as president of the
College RepublicansThe College Republicans is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool for the Republican Party and has produced many prominent Republican and conservative activists and...
at the
University of GeorgiaThe University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning. Founded in 1785, UGA claims to be the oldest public university in the United States....
. Promising a keg party, Reed recruited a number of new "members" to vote in the election, submitting their membership paperwork on the last night before the deadline for the election. The defeated presidential candidate, Lee Culpepper, wrote to the College Republican National Committee calling the election a sham. The CRNC investigated the matter, reprimanded Reed and ordered a new election. However, in the meantime, Culpepper "led an angry exodus" out of the UGA College Republicans and into a newly formed
Young RepublicansThe Young Republicans is an organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization and chapters in individual states....
of
Clarke CountyClarke County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 census, the population was 101,489. The 2007 Census Estimate shows a population of 114,063. Its county seat is Athens, Georgia, with which it is a consolidated city-county...
club. Harben admitted later, "We ran a dirty election."
Religious experience
Reed has said that, in September 1983, he had a religious experience while at
BullfeathersBullfeathers of Capitol Hill is a restaurant and bar on 401 First Street SE in Washington, D.C., in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. It has achieved some degree of fame for its association with congressional staffers and members who have been patrons, and as a place where "lobbyists take Hill...
, an upscale pub in
Capitol HillCapitol Hill, aside from being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues...
that was popular with staffers (and, to a lesser extent, members) of the
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. Regarding the experience, Reed said "the
Holy SpiritIn Christianity, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. In mainstream Christian beliefs he is the third person of the Trinity. As part of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit is equal with God the Father and with God the Son....
simply demanded me to come to
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
". He walked outside the pub to a phone booth, thumbed through the
yellow pagesThe term Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, categorized according to the product or service provided. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
under "Churches," and found the
Evangel Assembly of God in
Camp SpringsCamp Springs is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 17,968 at the 2000 census. Camp Springs is not an official post office designation, but rather the area is divided between the surrounding mailing addresses...
,
MarylandMaryland is a state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia to the south and west, Pennsylvania to the north, and Delaware to the east. It is comparable in size to the European country of Belgium. According to the U.S...
. He visited the next morning and became a born-again Christian.
Students for America
After receiving his B.A. in History in 1984, he moved that same year to
Raleigh, North CarolinaRaleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina, the seat of Wake County and the second largest city in North Carolina. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S...
to help start
Students for AmericaStudents for America was a political action committee founded by Ralph Reed in 1984. Intended as a national organization, Students for America largely confined its activities to supporting the reelection of United States Senator Jesse Helms and organizing abortion clinic protests. It had faded out...
, a conservative activist group supported by U.S. Senator
Jesse HelmsJesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
. Reed emerged as a leader of SFA.
SFA became largely dominated by members of Maranatha Campus Ministries, and this brought Reed into contact with
Ed BuckhamEdwin A. Buckham is a former congressional staffer and lobbyist, who presently is under investigation in various scandals surrounding high-profile lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Congressman Tom DeLay...
and Jim Backlin, the current Legislative Director of the
Christian CoalitionThe Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a The Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a US Christian advocacy group, which includes Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals, neo-evangelicals and charismatics...
. This forged Ralph Reed's links to
Tom DeLayThomas Dale DeLay in Laredo, Texas is a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives who represented Sugar Land, Texas from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican House Majority Leader from 2003–2005, when his legal problems forced him to step down. In 2005, a Texas court charged DeLay with...
through Buckham and Backlin.
Students for America established chapters on college campuses up and down the East Coast and held conferences. Among other issues, SFA supported Helms' bid for re-election and organized
abortion clinicAn abortion clinic is a medical facility that performs or specializes in abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers or private medical practices...
protests. After Ralph Reed left SFA for a bigger job at the
Christian CoalitionThe Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a The Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a US Christian advocacy group, which includes Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals, neo-evangelicals and charismatics...
, SFA faded out of existence by the early 1990s.
Arrest
In March 1985, as part of a nation-wide movement spearheaded by
Operation RescueOperation Rescue is a pro-life organization which originated in California and is now based in Kansas....
, Reed organized members of
Students for AmericaStudents for America was a political action committee founded by Ralph Reed in 1984. Intended as a national organization, Students for America largely confined its activities to supporting the reelection of United States Senator Jesse Helms and organizing abortion clinic protests. It had faded out...
and
College RepublicansThe College Republicans is a national organization for college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. The organization is known as an active recruiting tool for the Republican Party and has produced many prominent Republican and conservative activists and...
to picket the Fleming Center (an abortion clinic) in Raleigh, and the nearby home of its founder, a
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
-born doctor. Clinic staff reported that protestors "screamed epithets and intimidated patients with mock baby funerals." Reed was arrested after walking into the waiting room of the clinic. He signed an agreement promising to stay away from the clinic and was not prosecuted. (Nina J. Easton,
Gang of Five, page 205)
Role in the Christian Coalition
Reed was then hired by religious broadcaster and unsuccessful Presidential candidate
Pat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a televangelist from the United States. He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice , the Christian Broadcasting Network , the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family...
as the first executive director of the Christian Coalition, headquartered in
Virginia Beach, VirginiaVirginia Beach is an independent city located in the South Hampton Roads area of Virginia, on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Although Fairfax County is the most populous jurisdiction, Virginia Beach is the most populous city in Virginia and the 42nd largest city in the...
. Even though the Christian Coalition resulted from Robertson's campaign for President, Reed had played no role in Americans for Robertson.
Reed led the organization from 1989 to 1997, achieving national prominence which included an appearance on the cover of
TIMETime is a component of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify the motions of objects...
. He resigned and moved to Georgia after federal prosecutors began investigating allegations by the Christian Coalition's
chief financial officerThe chief financial officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management. In some sectors the CFO is also...
, Judy Liebert. At this point, the group's finances were collapsing, and the IRS and
Federal Election CommissionThe Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
were investigating it.
Building on the remnants of Robertson's Presidential campaign, the Coalition organized former Robertson supporters and other conservative people of faith to oppose
political liberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...
. Eschewing the confrontational tactics of street protest learned as a College Republican, Reed projected a "softer" public face for Christian conservatism. Reed repeatedly described himself as a "
guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
fighter" who "traveled at night" and put "enemies" in "
body bagA body bag is a non-porous bag designed to contain a human body, used for the storage and transport of corpses. Body bags can also be used for the storage of corpses within morgues. Before purpose-made body bags were available, cotton mattress covers were sometimes used, particularly in combat...
s" before they even realized he had struck.
Both Reed and the Christian Coalition rose to national prominence in the early 1990s, protesting against the Clinton administration's policies. Reed and the Coalition were widely credited with helping mobilize Christian conservatives in support of Republican candidates in the 1994 Congressional elections.
The influence of the Coalition had waned by the 1996 Presidential election, when Reed helped Senator
Bob DoleRobert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an attorney and retired United States Senator from Kansas from 1969–1996, serving part of that time as United States Senate Majority Leader, where he set a record as the longest-serving Republican leader. He was his party's 1996 presidential nominee but lost the...
win the Republican nomination for President. Dole lost the general election to President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
. Reed's "Contract with the American Family," an imitation of Speaker
Newt GingrichNewton Leroy "Newt" Gingrich is an American politician who served as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 1999. In 1995, Time magazine selected him as the Person of the Year for his role in leading the Republican Revolution in the House, ending 40 years of the...
's 1994
Contract with AmericaThe Contract with America was a document released by the United States Republican Party during the 1994 Congressional election campaign. Written by Larry Hunter who was aided by...
, failed to ignite activists.
At the pinnacle of his power, Reed appeared on the cover of
TIME on May 15, 1995, under the banner "The Right Hand of God: Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition."
In 1996, the
Federal Election CommissionThe Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
(FEC) brought an enforcement alleging that the Christian Coalition "violated federal
campaign financeCampaign finance refers to the fundraising and spending that political campaigns do in their election races. As campaigns have many expenditures, ranging from the cost of travel for the candidate and others to the purchasing of air time for TV advertisements, candidates often devote substantial...
laws during congressional elections in 1990, 1992 and 1994, and the presidential election in 1992." Reed called the action "baseless." In part because of the allegations, the
Internal Revenue ServiceThe Internal Revenue Service is the United States federal government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. It is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury and is responsible for interpretation and application of Federal tax law. The official U.S...
denied tax exempt status for the Coalition.
Judy Liebert allegations
In 1996, the Christian Coalition's chief financial officer, Judy Liebert, "went to federal prosecutors with her suspicions of overbilling by Ben Hart, a
direct-mailDirect marketing is a sub-discipline and type of marketing. There are two main definitional characteristics which distinguish it from other types of marketing. The first is that it attempts to send its messages directly to consumers, without the use of intervening media...
vendor with close ties to Ralph Reed, then the coalition's executive director." (Norfolk
Virginian Pilot, September 26, 1997)
Liebert alleged that Hart, "a close friend with whom Reed regularly golfed and vacationed," was "regularly marking up the Coalition's bills." "Liebert also charged that Reed had turned over, free of charge, the Coalition's entire mailing list to Hart's firm." The Coalition subsequently offered Liebert a severance package that included a "letter of recommendation, a year's salary of $80,000, and another $25,000 to cover legal expenses, provided that she agree not to publicly disparage the Coalition.
Reed himself resigned in April 1997 while the investigation was pending. Reed denied that his resignation was related to the "Judy Liebert thing." He was never charged with any crimes. In December 1997, after Reed's resignation, the Christian Coalition sued Hart's firm, Hart Conover, for using its mailing list to entice donors away to other organizations. The Coalition blamed its own subsequent decline on Hart's misuse of the list. In March 1998, the Coalition and Hart reached an out-of-court settlement.
New start in Georgia
On resigning as executive director of the Christian Coalition, Reed moved to the
Atlanta, GeorgiaAtlanta is the capital and most populous city in the state of Georgia, as well as the urban core of one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the United States....
suburb of
DuluthDuluth is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, and an increasingly more affluent and developed suburb of Atlanta. Unincorporated portions of Forsyth County also have Duluth as a mailing address, though this area is outside city limits. A portion of the City of Johns Creek Duluth is a city in...
to begin a career as a political consultant and lobbyist.
Skandalakis campaign leader
In late 1997, Reed joined the campaign of Fulton County Commission Chairman
Mitch SkandalakisMitch Skandalakis was a Georgia politician who achieved brief national attention when he upset Martin Luther King III in a 1993 special election for Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners...
for
Lieutenant Governor of GeorgiaThe Lieutenant Governor of Georgia is a constitutional officer of the state, elected to a 4-year term by popular vote. Unlike some states, the lieutenant governor is elected on a separate ticket from the state Governor....
, becoming its General Consultant. In addition to plotting campaign strategy, Reed himself appeared in advertisements, identifying himself as the former head of the Christian Coalition and vouching for Skandalakis' conservative credentials and personal integrity.
Skandalakis was a
moderateIn politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical.Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.-See also:*Centrism*Disadvantages for...
Republican who had openly courted
gayThe term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
voters in earlier campaigns. He was opposed in the Republican
primaryA primary election , also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a jurisdiction select candidates for a subsequent election...
by the staunchly conservative State Senator
Clint DayClint Day, one of the heirs to the Days Inn fortune, served in the Georgia State Senate from 1993 to 1997 before mounting unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and Lieutenant Governor. He was considered a social and fiscal conservative Republican....
, a devout Christian whose parents had founded the
Days InnDays Inn is a hotel chain headquartered in the United States. Founded in 1970, it is now a part of the Wyndham Hotel Group, based in Parsippany, New Jersey, which was formerly a part of Cendant...
motel chain.
In the primary, Skandalakis placed first among the five Republican candidates, but did not receive a majority of the vote and was forced into a run-off with second place finisher Day. The other three candidates endorsed Day, but Reed orchestrated a series of negative attacks on Day that included charges that Day had "desecrated Indian graves" on a plot of land owned by a Day family foundation. He even staged a news conference at which tribal leaders, wearing headdress and other ceremonial clothing, attacked Day as a "vandal" and "grave robber." Day chose not to respond in kind.
Reed's strategy initially met with success, as Skandalakis narrowly defeated Day in the Republican primary run-off. However, Skandalakis went on to lose the general election in a landslide and was widely blamed for the defeat that year of heavily favored Republican candidates for Governor and
Attorney GeneralIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.-Usage:The term has traditionally...
. Skandalakis ran television advertisements calling the black Mayor of Atlanta a "buffoon" and promising to "kick Atlanta's ass," helping to stir an anti-Republican backlash among black and urban white voters. Another Skandalakis advertisement accused the Democratic candidate, Senator
Mark TaylorMark Fletcher Taylor is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. He served two terms between 1999 to 2007 as Lieutenant Governor of Georgia. Taylor was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee for governor of Georgia in the 2006 general election, losing to Republican incumbent Sonny...
, of
drug abuseDrug abuse has a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgement of the drug use in question...
. Taylor sued for libel, and Skandalakis paid a $50,000 settlement after the election.
Skandalakis subsequently pleaded guilty to a
felonyA felony is a serious crime in the United States and previously other common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
charge of lying to federal investigators in a public corruption investigation and was sentenced to a six month prison term. Reed distanced himself from Skandalakis after the campaign, saying that he had not been responsible for the television advertising and that all his activities had been "legal."
Century Strategies founder
While running the Skandalakis campaign in 1997, Reed founded
Century Strategies, a political consulting firm which describes itself as "one of the nation’s leading public affairs and
public relationsPublic relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. Public relations gains an organization or individual exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment...
firms." It appears to have initially been engaged primarily in campaign consulting for Republican candidates, but after performing poorly in the 1998 elections, its mission evolved into advocacy and lobbying.
Its clients have included now-bankrupt energy trader
EnronEnron Corporation was an American energy company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy in late 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, pulp and paper, and communications companies, with claimed revenues of nearly $101 billion...
, software giant
MicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices...
, educational programmer
Channel One NewsChannel One News is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States.Channel One is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing and based in New York City.-Program History:...
, the
Puerto RicanPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is a self-governing unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of the Virgin Islands...
statehood movement, business interests advocating normal trade relations with the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
, the eLottery Internet gambling firm, and at least two Indian gaming tribes introduced to Reed by Abramoff. Century Strategies was most recently hired by the cable industry to fight newly proposed federal decency standards.
Reed's initial foray into campaign consulting met with failure; virtually all of his general election candidates were defeated. In addition to his involvement in the Skandalakis campaign, Reed helped
AlabamaAlabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its...
Governor
Fob JamesForrest Hood "Fob" James, Jr. is an American politician, a civil engineer, and an all-American half-back...
win renomination in a bitterly contested Republican primary, only to become the first Republican in over a decade to lose the Alabama governor's election. Reed's two challenger clients for Congress, Gex Williams of
KentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. Kentucky is a Southern state situated in the Upland South, although the state is infrequently placed, geographically and culturally, in the Midwest. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a...
and Cary Hofmeister of
IndianaIndiana is a U.S. state, the 19
th admitted to the Union. It is located in the Great Lakes region, and with approximately 6.3 million residents, is ranked 16
th in population and 17
th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38
th in land area, and is the...
, were also defeated. Reed was accused of running "some of the most vicious and
racistRacism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment...
campaigns of the election season." Reed blamed the failed
impeachmentImpeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to consider whether or not to forcibly remove a government official from office. The impeachment itself brings the charges against the official...
attempt against Clinton for Republican setbacks. (Nina J. Easton,
Gang of Five, pages 398, 400)
Immediately after the 1998 election, Reed shifted gears to corporate work, writing an
e-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
to Abramoff asking for help "humping" corporate clients.
In 1999, Abramoff helped Reed get hired as a consultant subcontractor for
Preston Gates & EllisPreston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington...
, a large law firm founded by the father of Microsoft's
Bill GatesWilliam Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, philanthropist, and chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen.He is ranked consistently one of the world's wealthiest people...
.
Reed's $30,000 per month contract with Enron was arranged in 1999 by
Karl RoveKarl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until his resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
, principal campaign advisor to Texas Governor and future President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
. Rove did not want Reed to work against Bush, but he also did not want Reed to be publicly associated with Bush in the early stages of the campaign. The existence of Reed's contract was revealed in 2002, when a federal investigation was launched into Enron's bankruptcy.
Reed is credited with orchestrating attacks on Senator
John McCainJohn Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
in the 2000
South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
presidential primary, together with Roberta Combs, then head of the South Carolina Christian Coalition, who later took over the national Christian Coalition. Bush's defeat of McCain in that primary came at a key moment and ended McCain's early momentum from an
upsetAn upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win , is defeated by an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying the conventional wisdom. The underdog then becomes a giant-killer.- Examples of major upsets in politics...
victory in the
New HampshireNew Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian province of...
primary.
Reed's $20,000 per month contract with Microsoft proved a minor embarrassment to the Bush campaign in the summer of 2000 when it was revealed that the software giant, which was being prosecuted for
antitrustUnited States antitrust law is the body of laws that prohibits anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Antitrust laws are designed to encourage competition in the marketplace....
violations, had hired a number of Bush aides as consultants and lobbyists. Reed apologized for the "appearance of conflict" but continued to accept the money until early 2005, when Microsoft terminated Reed in the midst of the Indian gaming scandal.
The greatest controversy about Reed's business dealings has come from his fellow conservatives, who have criticized Reed's choice of clients and suggested that he has inappropriately profited from his credentials as a conservative Christian leader. A conservative Alabama group called
Obligation, Inc. is a fierce critic of Reed's client
Channel One NewsChannel One News is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States.Channel One is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing and based in New York City.-Program History:...
, arguing that the company pumps classrooms full of "commercials for junk food and sleazy movies."
Century Strategies received over $4.2 million via Abramoff for work in
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
and Alabama opposing the opening of new Indian casinos. The work was commissioned and paid for by tribes with competing casinos, represented by Abramoff. Reed later claimed he did not know that the funds came from gambling proceeds.
Reed's company was also paid by another Abramoff client, eLottery, to oppose the
Internet Gambling Prohibition ActThe Internet Gambling Prohibition Act was a 1999 bill in the US Senate to ban Internet gambling. Passage of the bill was defeated, in large part, by the lobbying efforts of Jack Abramoff...
, although Reed subsequently denied knowledge of this.
Yet another controversy revolves around activity in
August 1999August 1999 was a month with thirty-one days.The following events also occurred during the month:...
, when Reed's firm "sent out a mailer to Alabama conservative Christians asking them to call then-Rep.
Bob RileyRobert Renfroe "Bob" Riley is an American politician in the Republican Party. He is the current Governor of Alabama, first elected in 2002, and re-elected during the 2006 mid-term election....
(R-Ala.) and tell him to vote against legislation that would have made the U.S. commonwealth of
the Northern Mariana IslandsThe Northern Mariana Islands , officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , is a commonwealth in political union with the United States, occupying a strategic region of the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of fifteen islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to the...
subject to federal wage and worker safety laws." This proved controversial as the United States Department of the Interior reported that workers were exploited, including being "subject to forced abortions and ... forced prostitution. It also alleged that the garment industry and other businesses set up facilities on the Northern Marianas to produce products labeled 'Made in the USA,' while importing workers from
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and other
AsiaAsia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.6% of the earth's total surface area and with approximately 4 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population.Asia is traditionally defined as part of the...
n countries and paying them less than U.S. minimum wage under conditions not subject to federal safety standards." Abramoff represented the commonwealth as a partner of
Greenberg TraurigGreenberg Traurig LLP is an international law firm with approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its founding office is in Miami, Florida with its largest office in New York City. In the U.K., the firm operates as Greenberg...
and received $4.04 million from 1998 to 2002. Greenberg Traurig, in turn, hired Reed's firm to print the mailing.
Georgia Republican Party chairman
In 2001, Reed mounted a campaign for State Chairman of the
Georgia Republican PartyThe Georgia Republican Party is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party.-Leadership:...
, a volunteer job. His candidacy attracted national media attention, two opponents and an independent "Anybody But Ralph" campaign.
Reed's principal opponent was
David ShaferDavid J. Shafer is an American politician currently serving in the Georgia State Senate representing Senate District 48. This district includes portions of Fulton County, Gwinnett County. Shafer is a Republican...
, a former executive director of the Georgia Republican Party recruited to the race by Congressman
John LinderJohn Elmer Linder , American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing Georgia's 7th congressional district ....
. Shafer campaigned on Republican gains made when he served as state executive director in the early 1990s, but was hampered by his subsequent association with the failed campaigns of
Mack MattinglyMack Francis Mattingly served one term as a United States senator from Georgia, the first Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate from that state since Reconstruction....
,
Guy MillnerGuy W. Millner is an American multi-millionaire businessman who ran as a Republican for governor of Georgia in 1994, United States Senator from Georgia in 1996 and Governor of Georgia in 1998, losing all three races....
and
Clint DayClint Day, one of the heirs to the Days Inn fortune, served in the Georgia State Senate from 1993 to 1997 before mounting unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and Lieutenant Governor. He was considered a social and fiscal conservative Republican....
in the later half of the decade.
The state convention, held at the Cobb Galleria in
May 2001May 2001 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December-Events:* May 1 - Chandra Levy disappears while jogging.* May 19 - First Apple Store opens....
, was the most heavily attended and longest running in the history of the party. Reed won on the first ballot, capturing almost 60 percent of the delegate vote against Shafer, who won 40 percent, and a third candidate, lobbyist Maria Rose Strollo, who won one percent.
Reed was endorsed by the "Confederate Republican Caucus," a block of almost 500 heritage activists who had participated in the state convention as a protest against the removal of the
Confederate battle emblemThere were several flags of the Confederate States of America used during its existence from 1861 to 1865. Since the end of the American Civil War, personal and official use of Confederate flags, and of flags derived from these, has continued under some controversy.The state flags of Mississippi,...
from the State Flag. Associated with the
Sons of Confederate VeteransSons of Confederate Veterans is an organization of male descendants of soldiers or sailors who served the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. SCV membership is open to all male descendants age 12 and over of soldiers who fought for the Confederate States of America...
, the Confederate Republican Caucus claimed credit for both Reed's victory and the large margin. They would later claimed that they were "double-crossed" by Reed.
Documents released by federal investigators in
June 20052005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →
- News collections and sources :* Wikipedia:News collections and sources....
show that Reed's 2001 campaign for State Chairman was secretly financed with contributions from the Choctaws, an Indian gaming tribe represented by Abramoff.
The party experienced success in the 2002 elections under Reed's leadership.
Saxby ChamblissClarence Saxby Chambliss is the senior United States Senator from Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party. In the 110th Congress, Chambliss serves as the ranking Republican member of the United States Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, chairing the committee during...
was elected as U.S. Senator, and
Sonny PerdueSonny Perdue is the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin F. Conley served during Reconstruction in the 1870s....
was elected as Governor. Reed, however, was asked to relinquish his job as State Chairman by Perdue, whose long-shot candidacy was largely ignored by Reed in favor of Chambliss.
Reed supported the candidacy of Congressman
Bob BarrRobert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutorand a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003...
, who had moved into the neighboring district of Congressman
John LinderJohn Elmer Linder , American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing Georgia's 7th congressional district ....
and challenged his renomination. Linder decisively defeated Barr.
Reed was also criticized by some Republican activists because of the alleged business activities of his firm, Century Strategies. Critics claim that if Reed had sought to run for reelection as State Chairman, members of the State Executive Committee were ready to publicize the details of these allegations.
Initial Success
Speculation about a Reed candidacy for Lieutenant Governor began building shortly after the 2004 general election. Republican party leaders were unenthusiastic about the candidacy of Insurance Commissioner
John OxendineJohn W. Oxendine is an American politician currently serving his fourth four-year term as Insurance Commissioner of the U.S. state of Georgia. A Republican, he was first elected commissioner in 1994 and was reelected in 1998, 2002, and 2006...
, who had been "exploring" a race for Lieutenant Governor for over a year. Aides to Governor
Sonny PerdueSonny Perdue is the governor of the U.S. state of Georgia. Upon his inauguration in January 2003, he became the first Republican governor of Georgia since Benjamin F. Conley served during Reconstruction in the 1870s....
tried to recruit House Republican Leader Jerry Keen as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, while State Senators Casey Cagle and Bill Stephens jockeyed for support among Senate Republicans.
Reed claimed support of the White House, access to the Bush fundraising apparatus and command of a large grass roots organization. His official declaration of candidacy on February 17, 2005 largely cleared the field of opposition; Keen, Stephens and Oxendine all left the race. Keen, a former state chairman of the Christian Coalition, was the first to drop, followed quickly by Stephens. Although insisting at the time of Reed's entry into the race that he would "never" withdraw, Oxendine ended his candidacy two weeks later. Only Cagle, a relatively unknown lawmaker, remained in the race to challenge Reed.
Early signs of trouble
A poll conducted for Oxendine was the first indication of trouble for Reed. Released shortly before Oxendine's exit from the race, the poll showed Oxendine defeating Reed among likely Republican voters by a large margin. It also showed Reed losing the general election to the only announced Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor, former State Senator
Greg HechtGreg Hecht is an American politician, a member of the Democratic Party, and a former member of the Georgia General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia...
. Little attention was paid to the poll because Oxendine folded his own candidacy shortly after it was released. Reed himself dismissed the poll as a face-saving gesture by an embarrassed Oxendine.
Loss of momentum and turning tide
Reed's campaign experienced a loss of momentum with revelations about his role in the
Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandalThe Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon...
. Email documents released in the investigation reveal details about Reed's financial relationships with Abramoff.
Reed's early lead in fundraising evaporated by December 31, 2005, when disclosure reports showed Cagle raising almost twice as much money as Reed in the last six months of the year.
Defections and calls for withdrawal
Bob IrvinBob Irvin was an early leader of the modern Republican Party in Georgia in the United States. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives in the 1970s and again in the 1990s. He was the House Republican Leader. He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate in 2002...
, a former House Republican leader, was the first prominent Republican to publicly call on Reed to withdraw from the race.
In a widely publicized act, 21 state senators signed a letter in
February 2006February 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →-1 February 2006 :...
calling on Reed to withdraw from the race, "declaring that his ties to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff could jeopardize the re-election of Gov. Sonny Perdue and the rest of the GOP ticket.... Reed rejected the petition as a useless stunt, and expressed confidence that his record and ideas would prevail."
Aides to Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson, ostensibly neutral in the race, released a poll that showed Reed's mounting negatives could hurt Perdue and the Republican ticket. On March 21, 2006, political consultant Matt Towery of Insider Advantage released a poll showing Reed represented an eight point drag on the Perdue ticket.
Insurance Commissioner
John OxendineJohn W. Oxendine is an American politician currently serving his fourth four-year term as Insurance Commissioner of the U.S. state of Georgia. A Republican, he was first elected commissioner in 1994 and was reelected in 1998, 2002, and 2006...
, whose own ambitions had been upended by Reed's candidacy, endorsed Cagle in
June 2006June 2006 was a month with thirty days.The following events also occurred during the month:...
, saying that Reed's nomination threatened the success of the Republican ticket.
Two dozen members of the Reed steering committee, including a Reed State Co-Chairman, resigned their affiliation with the Reed campaign and endorsed Cagle, but Reed continued his pursuit of the nomination.
After Reed attacked Cagle for accepting contributions from the real estate development industry, Senator Chip Pearson, a developer and former Reed backer, sent Reed a letter demanding the return of over $6,000 in campaign contributions.
Bush factor
Reed backers counted on the rumored intervention by President George W. Bush but were disappointed when Bush seemed to distance himself from Reed in an attempt to disassociate himself from Abramoff. During a
July 20052005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →Taniyah Dejane White: Loving Daughter Cause of Death Drowing-News collections and sources:...
visit to Georgia, Bush pointedly ignored Reed, who attempted to get his attention during the President's speech. In a
March 2006March 2006 : ← - January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →-1 March 2006 :...
appearance at a Georgia Republican Party rally, Bush further tried to distance himself from Reed, saying that Georgia had two candidates for Lieutenant Governor and naming Reed's opponent, Casey Cagle, first. (
Insider Advantage Georgia)
Casey Cagle
Reed's Republican opponent, Senator
Casey CagleLowell S. "Casey" Cagle is an American politician currently serving as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party, a Conservative, and a former member of the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2006, Cagle defeated political activist Ralph...
, was at first viewed as an
underdogAn underdog is a person or group in a competition, frequently in electoral politics, sports and creative works, who is popularly expected to lose. The party, team or individual expected to win is called the favourite or top dog. In the rare case where an underdog wins, the outcome is an upset...
with little chance of defeating Reed. However, he led Reed in endorsements from Republican elected officials and attracted substantial support from the business community.
Reed responded to his difficulties by criticizing Cagle for "
negative campaigningNegative campaigning, also known more colloquially as "mudslinging", is trying to win an advantage by referring to negative aspects of an opponent or of a policy rather than emphasizing one's own positive attributes or preferred policies...
." Cagle's staff includes several former employees and associates of Reed, whom the Reed campaign has labeled "disgruntled."
Trouble with the flaggers
Reed had courted the Southern Heritage Movement in his campaign for State Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. He won the endorsement of the "Confederate Republican Caucus" and a block vote from their 400 delegates to the State Convention, giving him a surprisingly large victory in the hotly contested race.
Reed incurred the wrath of the Southern Heritage Movement by failing to keep any of the campaign promises he had made to them, and when he began his campaign for Lieutenant Governor four years later, they struck back with a vengeance.
The Georgia Heritage Council, Southern Heritage Political Action Committee, and Southern Party of Georgia, three leading organizations comprising the Southern Heritage Movement, all declared "
guerrillaGuerrilla warfare is the irregular warfare warfare and combat in which a small group of combatants use mobile military tactics in the form of ambushes and raids to combat a larger and less mobile formal army....
" war on his candidacy. Reed's campaign appearances were the repeated subject of protests and demonstrations called "flaggings" because of the use of the Confederate Battle Flag as a protest symbol.
Last gasps
Reed attempted to revive his campaign with high powered endorsements. Hoping to make himself more acceptable to Christian conservatives in the 2008 Presidential race, New York Mayor
Rudy Giuliani| align="right"|Rudolph William Louis "Rudy" Giuliani is an American lawyer, businessman and politician from New York. He served as Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001....
traveled to Georgia to campaign for Reed. A Democrat, conservative former United States Senator
Zell MillerZell Bryan Miller is an American politician from the U.S. state of Georgia. A Democrat, Miller served as Lieutenant Governor from 1975 to 1991, Governor of Georgia from 1991 to 1999, and as United States Senator from 2000 to 2005....
, also endorsed Reed.
Election results
On July 18, 2006, Reed was decisively defeated in the Republican primary, losing the nomination to State Senator
Casey CagleLowell S. "Casey" Cagle is an American politician currently serving as the 11th lieutenant governor of Georgia. He is a member of the Republican Party, a Conservative, and a former member of the General Assembly in the U.S. state of Georgia. In 2006, Cagle defeated political activist Ralph...
. Final returns show Reed losing by twelve percentage points, collecting 44 percent of the vote to Cagle's 56 percent. According to Politics1.com, Reed indicated he would not likely seek elective office ever again.
Indian gambling scandals
Reed was named in the scandal arising from lobbying work performed by
Jack AbramoffJack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist, businessman and con man who was a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He is currently incarcerated at the satellite prison camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland...
on behalf of Indian gambling tribes. The scandal arose from the discovery that Abramoff and his junior partner Michael Scanlon had fabricated an artificial threat to Native American tribal gambling casinos in order to then bill those same tribes for lobbying efforts to 'save' them. Abramoff may have received as much as $82 million from the tribes to defend their casinos from a non-existent threat.
E-mails released by federal investigators in
June 20052005 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- →
- News collections and sources :* Wikipedia:News collections and sources....
revealed that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery. However, just as damaging were revelations that Abramoff and Scanlon, and to a lesser extent Reed, celebrated the billing of massive amounts of money to the tribes. Additional e-mails released in
November 2005-Portal:Current events:...
show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. These cases are being investigated by multiple federal and state grand juries and by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Abramoff pled guilty to three
felonyA felony is a serious crime in the United States and previously other common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
counts in federal court, raising the prospects of Abramoff testifying against others.
Those e-mails and other evidence revealed the participation of the
Christian CoalitionThe Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a The Christian Coalition of America, originally called the Christian Coalition, Inc., is a US Christian advocacy group, which includes Christian fundamentalists, evangelicals, neo-evangelicals and charismatics...
in the alleged fraud, particularly the Alabama chapter of the Christian Coalition, which received large amounts of donations from the casino money. It is alleged that Abramoff engaged Ralph Reed to set up an anti-gambling campaign to include the
U.S. Family NetworkU.S. Family Network, Inc. was founded in 1996 by Ed Buckham, who also served as the organization's consultant. USFN was a tax-exempt 501 corporation founded in Virginia, with its principal offices located in the District of Columbia in the same building as Buckham's consulting firm Alexander...
, the Christian Coalition, and
Focus on the FamilyFocus on the Family is an American evangelical tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
in order to frighten the tribes into spending as much as $82 million for Abramoff to lobby on their behalf.
To represent him in connection with the scandal, Reed has retained white collar criminal defense attorney
W. Neil Eggleston of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. Eggleston served as White House associate counsel during the administration of President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
, a one time Reed nemesis. Reed's campaign spokespeople insist that his conduct in the scandal was legal.
In December 2005, three
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
public interest groups filed a complaint with
Travis CountyTravis County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. In the year 2008, the population was 998,543; the county has gained more than 400,000 residents since 1990. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas...
Attorney David Escamilla on December 1,2005, alleging that Reed failed to register as a lobbyist in 2001 or 2002 when he was working for Abramoff. The groups cite e-mail messages from Reed to Abramoff released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in which Reed claimed to have made contact with the Texas Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Escamilla said on March 27,2006 "his office had concluded its investigation -- but that a two-year statute of limitations on misdemeanors from 2001 and 2002 had expired."
On June 22, 2006 the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released its final report on the scandal.
The report states that under the guidance of the
MississippiMississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
ChoctawThe Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States . They are of the Muskogean linguistic group...
tribe's planner, Nell Rogers, the tribe agreed to launder money because "Ralph Reed did not want to be paid directly by a tribe with gaming interests." It also states that Reed used non-profits, like
Grover NorquistGrover Glenn Norquist is president of anti-tax lobbying group Americans for Tax Reform.-Early years and career:Norquist, who is of Swedish descent, grew up in Weston, Massachusetts and has a BA and MBA from Harvard University...
's
Americans for Tax ReformAmericans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group whose goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
, as pass-throughs to disguise the origin of the funds, and that "the structure was recommended by Jack Abramoff to accommodate Mr. Reed’s political concerns."
On July 7, 2006,
The National JournalNational Journal is an American weekly magazine that reports on the current political environment and emerging political and policy trends. National Journal was first published in 1969 and is now part of National Journal Group, a division of Atlantic Media Company. It was purchased by David G....
ran a lengthy article, entitled "Reed In The Rough," detailing the extensive relationship between Abramoff and Reed. The article noted, for example, how Reed helped Abramoff land his influential slot on George W. Bush's Interior Department transition team. The article further detailed how Abramoff prodded Reed for help at the Interior Department even before Bush won the election in 2000. An e-mail to Reed on October 24, 2000, had Abramoff openly asking Reed to help him get on the transition team. "This would be really key for future clients for both of us," he wrote to Reed. "Let's discuss."
Personal use of non-profit funds
E-mails show that in August 2002, Abramoff flew Reed,
David SafavianDavid Hossein Safavian is a former chief of staff of the United States General Services Administration and a figure in the Jack Abramoff lobbying and corruption scandal....
,
Bob NeyRobert William "Bob" Ney is an American politician from the U.S. state of Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned...
, and Neil Volz, on a private jet for a golfing trip in Scotland. Abramoff used his nonprofit charity, the
Capital Athletic FoundationThe Capital Athletic Foundation is a 501 charity organization founded in 2000. The organization's nominal purpose was to provide needy youths with athletic opportunities. The organization has been used by its founder, admitted felon Jack Abramoff, as a front group for channeling money into his...
, to pay for the trip. Safavian was convicted for lying about that trip.
Trivia
During the Georgia Republican Convention in May 2007, Presidential candidate
Mitt RomneyWillard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and former Governor of Massachusetts. Romney was CEO of Bain & Company, a management consulting firm, and co-founder of Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm...
mistook Reed for
Gary BauerGary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns. Bauer received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky and a law degree from Georgetown University...
. This is a difficult mistake to explain with Reed being some two inches taller than the 5'9"
Gary BauerGary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns. Bauer received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky and a law degree from Georgetown University...
. The Romney campaign later clarified this misunderstanding, explaining that Romney had mistaken Reed for South Carolina Lieutenant Governor
Andre BauerRudolph Andreas "André" Bauer is the current Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. He is a member of the Republican Party...
.
Positions held
- Executive Director, College Republican National Committee (CRNC) 1983–1985,(appointed by Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist, businessman and con man who was a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He is currently incarcerated at the satellite prison camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland...
, then Chairman of the CRNC).
- Executive Director, Christian Coalition, 1989–1997.
- President, Century Strategies, 1997–Present.
- Chairman, Georgia Republican Party
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
, 2001–2003.
- Chairman of the Southeast Region for Bush
George Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
-CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 in the administration of George W. Bush....
, 2004.
- Member, Board of Visitors, University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs.
- Member, Executive Board, Northeast Georgia Council of the Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over four million youth members in its age-related divisions...
.
- Member, Advisory Council of SafeHouse.
- Member, Leadership Trust, National Federation of Independent Business
The National Federation of Independent Business is a lobbying organization with offices in Washington, D.C. USA, and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB claims a membership base of about 350,000, down from an excess of more than 600,000 members...
.
- Member, Board of Directors, American Council of Young Political Leaders.
Quotations
- "I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag." -Ralph Reed (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 9, 1991)
- "Calling gays 'perverts' or announcing that AIDS is 'God's judgment' on the gay community is not consistent with our Christian call to mercy. " (Active Faith)
- "It's like guerrilla warfare. If you reveal your location, all it does is allow your opponent to improve his artillery bearings. It's better to move quietly, with stealth, under cover of night. You've got two choices: You can wear cammies and shimmy along on your belly, or you can put on a red coat and stand up for everyone to see. It comes down to whether you want to be the British army
The British Army is the land armed forces branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England and Scotland and...
in the Revolutionary War or the Viet Cong. History tells us which tactic was more effective." - Ralph Reed (Los Angeles Times, March 22, 1992)
- "Hey, now that I’m done with the electoral politics, I need to start humping
Humping may refer to:* Humping, or sexual intercourse* Humpin, a 1994 album by The Gap Band* Sorting rail cars in a classification yard...
in corporate accounts! I’m counting on you to help me with some contacts." - Ralph Reed to Jack Abramoff in an email messaged dated November 1998, several days after the general election (Washington Post, June 22, 2005)
On Reed
- "I used to tell people he was going to be either President of the United States
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
or Al CaponeAlphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a crime syndicate dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging of liquor and other illegal activities during the Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s....
. Whatever he did, he was really good at it." - his mother, Marcy Reed
- "Reed transformed the remnants of Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a televangelist from the United States. He is the founder of numerous organizations and corporations, including the American Center for Law and Justice , the Christian Broadcasting Network , the Christian Coalition, Flying Hospital, International Family...
's failed 1988 presidential campaign into a potent political force, more than a million strong at its peak." - Atlantic Monthly
- "[Reed] is a bad version of us! No more money for him." - Jack Abramoff
Jack Abramoff is an American former lobbyist, businessman and con man who was a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He is currently incarcerated at the satellite prison camp adjacent to the Federal Correctional Institution in Cumberland, Maryland...
to Michael ScanlonMichael Scanlon is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has plead guilty to corruption charges and is currently assisting in the investigation of his former partners Jack Abramoff, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed by separate state and...
in an email message dated January 4, 2002, questioning whether Reed had properly accounted for funds spent on Indian gambling projects. (Washington Post, June 22, 2005)
- "I once overheard him say to a friend, a year ago, that if 'they' didn't stop him as he ran for his first public office, he would be 'unstoppable.' 'They' was the political left... Anyway, his defeat this week came at the hands not of 'them,' of the left, but of conservative voters on the ground in Georgia. His loss seems to me another sign of one of those quiet changing of the guards in professional politics. Quietly an older generation recedes, quietly a newer one rises. Good. We need new." - Peggy Noonan (The Wall Street Journal, July 20, 2006)
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