While it is something that the poker community – and especially online poker fans – have known about for some time, the mainstream media has been slow to put together the pieces of the puzzle regarding South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s reasons for his recent actions regarding online gaming. Now an article in a prominent D. C. newspaper blatantly points out the reasoning for Graham’s actions.
On Monday, the Washington Post’s Amber Phillips (making some noise since her move from the Las Vegas Sun) examined Graham, who announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for President of the United States hours previous to her story, and his potential chances at gaining the nomination. From the start, Phillips believes that Graham “is a long shot” to be president but admits that if he is to be viable, he’s going to need a “war chest” to make the long run. With that in mind, Graham knows who he has to court and is doing that person’s bidding on the floor of the Senate.
Phillips says that Graham “needs help from some very powerful people” to even have a whiff of the Presidency and, towards that goal, Graham has been in the ear of Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chairman Sheldon Adelson, who has given Graham a great deal of attention during the early campaigning. “Adelson is a rich man with a near-singular focus on one issue: banning online gambling,” Phillips states (and pretty much the entirety of the poker community knows), But Phillips goes on to point out the problems with Adelson’s stance and, as a side effect, the politics that Graham plays in Washington, D. C.
The ties between Graham and Adelson are extensive, Phillips reports. When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to the U. S. Congress in March, Adelson held a fundraiser for Graham’s political action committee (PAC) to raise funds. Allegedly Graham was also the recipient of another fundraiser in March of last year in the Las Vegas home of Adelson, at which point Graham jumped into a fray that previously he had never touched.
Following that March 2014 fundraiser, Graham introduced the Senate version of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), a bill that does not restore the Wire Act but expands it to include a ban regarding online gaming and poker. Graham, who never previously had a stance on the subject, suddenly became strongly anti-online gaming and poker, driving his version of the bill (as Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz drove his in the House of Representatives) just short of passage during the “lame duck” session of Congress at the end of last year.
Although Chaffetz has reintroduced his version of RAWA to the House earlier this spring, to this point Graham has not. He has stated publicly that “if the world would quit blowing up” (referencing his concerns for the situation in the Middle East, another prime Adelson concern as Adelson is vehemently pro-Israel), he would reintroduce his version into the Senate. This is the linchpin that Phillips states that people should look out for to determine just how much of a threat Graham will be during the upcoming GOP Presidential primaries.
Graham is “well aware” of the previous support shown him by Adelson and also knows that Adelson donated approximately $25 million to support the dying campaign of Newt Gingrich during the 2012 GOP nomination race and the failed effort from eventual nominee Mitt Romney. With this in mind, Phillips states “we’ll pause for a moment to note that it is curious that Graham launched his bid for the White House without having reintroduced his bill to ban online gambling. Anyone wanting to know whether Graham has a chance at the office he seeks should keep their eyes on this one, niche piece of legislation.”
It has been previously noted on other newspapers and sites the overtly inordinate influence that Adelson is having on the 2016 Presidential race, but many of these outlets have been political in nature. Phillips’ article points out the significant ties that Adelson is putting on his money and how it would go to someone, but only if they support his goals. When the Washington Post – one of the most respected newspapers in the United States – calls foul on your activities, people will begin to take notice.
