- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
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SOURCE- FULL STORY
After decades of rampant illegal online gambling, the DOJ issued an opinion that opened the door for states to regulate the activity within their borders. Since then, the legal online gambling industry in the U.S. has flourished. This newly legal market now supports millions of jobs, contributes billions of dollars to our nation’s economy, and has knee-capped the illegal market. But not everyone was happy with this development.
Republican Donor Asks Congress to Ban Online Gambling
Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and a Republican mega-donor, vowed in 2013 to spend “whatever it takes” to stop online gambling. He has since spent millions campaigning for a federal ban on Internet gambling with the aid of an army of lobbyists, many of whom are former members of Congress or DOJ officials.
These legislative efforts repeatedly failed and, as they failed, the states rapidly expanded legal gambling opportunities. Today, five states allow casino-style games online, many allow online lottery ticket sales, and most have legalized daily fantasy Sports Betting online. More importantly, just about every state that hasn’t already legalized some form of gambling online is currently considering legalization to do so in the future.
Bypassing Congress
Undeterred by their failure in Congress, Adelson and his lobbysists found a new opportunity with the election of Donald Trump. First, they sought the sought the support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions who, in his Senate confirmation hearings, vowed to revisit the DOJ’s 2011 memo. But Sessions was ultimately forced to recuse himself from the Internet gambling issue due to the fact that his personal lawyer, Charles Cooper, also worked as a lobbyist for Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online gambling efforts.
Sessions’s recusal did not deter Cooper and others from lobbying the Department of Justice, as records obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request reveal. In April 2017, Las Vegas Sands lobbyist Darryl Nirenberg send a letter to high-ranking DOJ officials about revisiting their 2011 opinion and included with it a legal rationale, written by Charles Cooper, to do so.
After decades of rampant illegal online gambling, the DOJ issued an opinion that opened the door for states to regulate the activity within their borders. Since then, the legal online gambling industry in the U.S. has flourished. This newly legal market now supports millions of jobs, contributes billions of dollars to our nation’s economy, and has knee-capped the illegal market. But not everyone was happy with this development.
Republican Donor Asks Congress to Ban Online Gambling
Sheldon Adelson, the owner of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and a Republican mega-donor, vowed in 2013 to spend “whatever it takes” to stop online gambling. He has since spent millions campaigning for a federal ban on Internet gambling with the aid of an army of lobbyists, many of whom are former members of Congress or DOJ officials.
These legislative efforts repeatedly failed and, as they failed, the states rapidly expanded legal gambling opportunities. Today, five states allow casino-style games online, many allow online lottery ticket sales, and most have legalized daily fantasy Sports Betting online. More importantly, just about every state that hasn’t already legalized some form of gambling online is currently considering legalization to do so in the future.
Bypassing Congress
Undeterred by their failure in Congress, Adelson and his lobbysists found a new opportunity with the election of Donald Trump. First, they sought the sought the support of Attorney General Jeff Sessions who, in his Senate confirmation hearings, vowed to revisit the DOJ’s 2011 memo. But Sessions was ultimately forced to recuse himself from the Internet gambling issue due to the fact that his personal lawyer, Charles Cooper, also worked as a lobbyist for Sheldon Adelson’s anti-online gambling efforts.
Sessions’s recusal did not deter Cooper and others from lobbying the Department of Justice, as records obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request reveal. In April 2017, Las Vegas Sands lobbyist Darryl Nirenberg send a letter to high-ranking DOJ officials about revisiting their 2011 opinion and included with it a legal rationale, written by Charles Cooper, to do so.
