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Congressman Entangled In Rhode Island Casino Controversy26 March 2002PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island –As reported by the Associated Press: "The stakes keep rising in the fight over expanded gambling, which has cost one state employee his job, infected two political races and threatens a town's casino dreams. "…On Monday Republican candidate for Congress Christy Ferguson questioned Democratic Rep. Patrick Kennedy's ties to Las Vegas gambling interests and called on him to cancel a planned April fund-raising event there. "Ferguson is running for Kennedy's 1st Congressional District seat. She's trying to tie him to the same controversy that led Secretary of State Ed Inman to fire Chief of Staff Joe DeLorenzo last week. "…Ferguson believes Kennedy improperly offered Harrah's advice on hiring local lobbyists, which Kennedy denies. "Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones, now senior vice president for communications at Harrah's Entertainment Inc. of Las Vegas, asked Kennedy's opinion on the Providence firm Holland & Knight. Harrah's subsequently hired two of the firm's lawyers as lobbyists. Kennedy says he doesn't see that as offering advice. "Ferguson, who said she will not accept contributions from gambling interests, wants Kennedy to cancel the Las Vegas fund-raising event set up by Jones and return other contributions from gambling interests. "Kennedy's campaign received $18,500 from gambling interests through the first six months of last year, according to The Center for Responsive Politics. That total ranked ninth overall among all candidates for Congress, according to the Washington, D.C.-based center. "Kennedy campaign manager Kim Devlin said he has no intention of canceling the fund-raising event…" |