December 12th, 2002 
Tribe’s political donation files part of campaign-finance suit 
Reform defenders tie Agua Caliente contribution to political access 
By Doug Abrahms
Desert Sun Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON -- The Agua Caliente tribe gave $100,000 to the Republican Party last year and received attention from Bush administration officials in trying to secure access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, according to documents released Wednesday. 

Tribal Chairman Richard Milanovich wanted to speak to Norton about pending regulations regarding placing land into trust, but the meeting never took place, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

Memos released from a lawsuit over a new campaign-finance law show: 


Milanovich sent a $100,000 check to the Republican Party in July 2001. 


Milanovich wrote to Norton in late August requesting a meeting. 


Republican Party officials talked to Norton’s chief of staff in September about setting up a meeting. 

"The documents released clearly show that there’s often a connection between contributions and access," said Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official and co-founder of PoliticalMoneyLine, a nonpartisan Web site that tracks campaign donations.

Milanovich was not available for comment, according to his secretary. 

The tribe’s memos were just a small part of documents released as part of a lawsuit challenging the new campaign finance law. 

Defenders of the new law say the documents and others released this week demonstrate that these large "soft-money" campaign contributions, which the new law bans, corrupt the political system and give special access to large donors. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, including the Republican Party, say the new law is unconstitutional because it restricts free speech. 

The Agua Calientes gave the GOP $150,000 and the Democrats about $25,000 in the last election cycle. 


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Doug Abrahms is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for The Desert Sun.