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Ronald C. Kaufman

Eastern Pequot Tribal Recognition for Gambling Casino
Zell's husband was also in the audience in the packed Senate committee hearing room that day, sitting beside the leaders of the Eastern Pequots. He is Michael D. Cox, chief counsel for the tribe and architect of the tribe's successful petition for federal recognition.

Critics have cited the Eastern Pequots' hiring of Republican insider Ron Kaufman to lobby on their behalf. Kaufman, a GOP fund-raiser with close ties to the White House, Republican Party and Gov. John G. Rowland, was paid $500,000 for his work. He has denied contacting the White House on behalf of the tribe.

Few of the new casino players are bigger than William Koch, no. 354 on Forbes' list of wealthiest Americans and a daring former America's Cup skipper. He's the silent, and previously unnamed, partner behind North Stonington's Eastern Pequot tribe, whose only publicly identified investor is David A. Rosow, a Fairfield golf course developer.

Koch already has jumped the biggest hurdle: having his tribe recognized by the federal government, an entitlement that carries with it the right to open a gambling casino here.

Along the way, lobbyists must be hired to influence decision-makers and generous campaign contributions must be funneled to politicians. The Eastern Pequots spent $500,000 of Rosow's and Koch's money to hire Ron Kaufman, a Republican insider with close ties to the White House and Gov. John G. Rowland.

Controversy
Occupation: Senior Managing Partner Employer: Dutko Group Home: Washington, DC Mega-lobbyist Ron Kaufman married the sister of ex-lobbyist Andy Card, who became George W. Bush's chief of staff. After Kaufman directed the campaign of the first President Bush, that president appointed him deputy White House personnel director.

As deputy White House personnel director, Kaufman recruited Tony Hope, the first presidentially-appointed Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission established through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in 1988. That agency regulated the casino plans of the Pequot Wampanoag Tribe, which later hired Kaufman to lobby (the Pequot got their casino and still retain Kaufman). Kaufman is an informal advisor to the second President Bush and was appointed co-chair of the 2004 Republican National Convention Site Selection Committee. Kaufman is a former finance chair of the Republican Governor's Association. At Dutko Group Kaufman reported that 52 clients paid him more than $2.7 million in 2002. His four largest clients were Tufts University, the Michigan Biotechnology Institute, construction giant HNTB Companies and the American Herbal Products Association's Ephedra Committee. Ephedra is a stimulant used in herbal weight-loss and performance-boosting remedies that have been linked to psychosis, strokes, heart attacks and deaths (see Craig Keeland). Texas Department of Health (TDH) staff drafted tough new ephedra marketing rules in the late 1990s, triggering an industry lobbying blitz. Then-Governor Bush's Board of Health appointees (see Bill Ceverha) trashed their ...

http://ma.gop.com

National Committeeman, MA Republican State Committee PRESENT

National Committeeman, Massachusetts Republican State Committee, elected August 18, 1988 Chairman, Executive Committee, Dutko Worldwide

PREVIOUS

Massachusetts Field Director, George Bush for President, 1979 Senior Field Director, George Bush for President, 1980 Director for the Vice President's Campaign, Reagan/Bush, 1984 Executive Director, Fund for America's Future, 1985 Regional Political Director for the Northeast, George Bush for President, 1988 Special Advisor, American Bicentennial Presidential Inaugural Committee, 1989 Deputy Director of Presidential Personnel, The White House, 1989 - 1991 Deputy Assistant to the President for Political Affairs, The White House, 1991 - 1992

RNC ACTIVITY

RNC Site Selection Committee, 2002 RGA Finance Chairman RNC Budget Chairman National Political Director, Republican National Committee, 1981 - 1983 RNC Executive Committee, Northeastern States Association, 1989 - 1997 RNC Committee on Call, Republican National Convention, 1992 RNC Standing Committee on Rules, 1997 - RNC Committee on Arrangements, Republican National Convention, 1996, 2000 RNC Committee on Contests, Republican National Convention, 2000