Casino-Gate Update
Filed Tuesday, August 7, 2007 at 12:00 PM
PubDef.net’s request for a copy of the surveillance tape from the Booneville casino where State Senator Jeff Smith was cited for using another legislator’s ID card to make bets has been denied.
According to a Gaming Commission official responding to our request, the requested video tape was “seized as evidence by the Missouri Highway Patrol pursuant to a criminal investigation and is part of an investigative report. Therefore, pursuant to Section 610.100.1(5)RSMo, these records are presently closed records and not open for inspection or duplication.”
We have amended our request to include a copy of the report from the Commission’s own investigation.
Meanwhile, the Turner Reports reveals that Smith, a member of the Senate Judiciary and Civil and Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, has received quite a bit of cash from the gaming industry.
An examination of Missouri Ethics Commission records shows Smith received $2,600 which can be directly traced to casinos during 2006, as well as $5,400 from casino lobbyists or their clients.
Another $4,800 appears to have come from Ameristar Casinos after being legally laundered through a Democratic party committee. On Aug. 12, 2006, the 94th House District Democratic Committee received a $5,000 contribution from Ameristar Casinos. Three days later, the committee gave $4,800 to Smith. Oddly, Smith’s own committee disclosure form says the 94th Committee contribution came Aug. 11…the day before the committee received the Ameristar Casinos contribution.
Other casino or casino-related contributions for Smith include:
- 30 days after general election 2006- Harrah’s Operating $650, Isle of Capri Casinos $650
- Eight days before the election 2006- $500 contributions from Missouri Dental PAC, Missouri Pharmacy PAC, and Missouri Association of Nurse Anesthetists, all clients of Ameristar Casinos’ lobbying firm Gamble & Schlemeier
- October 2006- John Bardgett and Associates, lobbying firm for Pinnacle Entertainment and numerous other clients, $650; Penn National Gaming $650
- 30 days after primary- Two $650 contributions from Missouri Pharmacy PAC and $650 from MORESPAC, clients of Gamble and Schlemeier, $650 from Bardgett, $650 from Bardgett’s lobbying firm
- 94th House District, $4,800
Jake Wagman, of the Post-Dispatch, also reports that Lynne M. Schlosser, the lobbyist for the Isle of Capri casino who supposedly gave Smith another legislator’s players card to keep him in the game, may not have been fired as previously reported. But no comment from her or the casino makes it hard to find out for sure.
UPDATE: Nope, she was fired.
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