Editor:

I have been made aware that Governor Riley allegedly has written an e-mail letter to some of the 72 papers that publish my syndicated column Inside the Statehouse. If indeed Gov. Riley is the author of the letter which takes issue with my column of Feb 25, 2009, then this letter shall serve as defense of my column. I stand totally behind the entire column. It is totally true to the best of my knowledge and I do not retract any of it. Please review the column to refresh the details of the discussion.

First of all, Gov Riley’s letter states that the column is totally false. My response is that I believe it to be totally true. Gov. Riley’s letter takes issue with the fact that a senate committee investigation revealed that his 2002 campaign received either $600,000 or $2.5 million from out-of-state gambling interests. I did not make this up, nor is it new news. The Birmingham News, March 5, 2008, headline, “Riley Endorsement of McCain called payback for with holding email.” Birmingham News, Wednesday May 5, 2004, headline “Casino consultant donated to PAC that helps Riley.” Montgomery Advertiser, May 7, 2004, “Did Riley get support from Indian Casino Money?” Montgomery Independent, May 13, 2004, headline, “Bob Riley campaign got big bucks from gaming interest.” Montgomery Advertiser, Monday May 23, 2004, “A Political Action Committee gave Bob Riley'’s campaign $600,000.” Phillip Rawls, the respected associated press writer, wrote on June 29, 2006, “Choctaw spend $13 million to elect Riley, Senate reports.” I believe these sources which are the foundation for the assertions in the column.

I was being kind to Gov. Riley because it appears that many of the other journalists upon which I based the column revealed that Riley’s campaign may have received $13 million rather than $600,000. The letter says that the Senate committee report says no such thing at all. Not quite true. The Committee on Indian Affairs final report, which many of you have read after receiving the letter, and all of you who have written me have made note of the fact of a quote from William Warfel in the Senate Report, the Vice Chairman of the Choctaw Tribe of Louisiana, “When Abramoff picked Scanlon in connection with a plan to elect Louisiana officials, calculated to be supportive of the Tribes gaming interests, Abramoff told Warfel that Chief Phillip Martin had spent $13 million to get the Governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn’t hurt his market in Mississippi.”

Also, Riley's letter questions my quote in the column where I say, “The

Chairman of the Poarch Creek Indians in Alabama was quoted in the Mobile Press Register as saying that Riley was recently a special guest at the opening of their Wind Creek Casino and Hotel near Atmore. I was simply quoting the Mobile Press Register as they had quoted the Indian Chief. Governor Riley’s Press Secretary called me and took issue with the Governor visiting the Casino. In our conversation, Mr. Emerson said to me that the Governor simply visited the Daycare Center at the Casino. Then further that day when confronted by the paid PR person for the Casino in Atmore, regarding the Governor's visit, Mrs. Delmar, told me that the Governor only visited the offices of the Indian Gaming location. Either the Indian Chief or the governor’s secretary or the Indian’s PR lady is not telling the truth. All I was doing was simply quoting the Mobile Press Register. In my column I suggest that the governor has innocent ties to the out-of-state Choctaw gambling interest. However, it appears that the governor’s office and the Creek Indians in Atmore have a close relationship, too. Because the letter that the Indian PR lady sent to me was sent also to the Governor’s Office, I guess to make sure they are on the same page. She boldly put cc: Jeff Emerson, after she took issue with my simply stating that they don’t pay any taxes which is true. I rest my case, I stand by my column.

However, the Governor and the Indian Gambling interests have given me fodder for a new column on this subject. There is an old Southern saying, “that you should let sleeping dogs lie.” A similar maxim is, “the bit dog barks.” It appears to me from this little scenario that the governor is in bed not only with the Mississippi Choctaws but also with the Poarch Creeks.

Troy, Ala.