Court documents that show that the Tohono O’odham Nation of Arizona may have fraudulently deceived the state government and fellow tribes about its intentions to build a casino in the Phoenix Valley in 2002 made their way to a reporter by an unusually circuitous route.
The documents, which were minutes from the Tohono’s tribal council minutes of the period were first subpoenaed by Director of the Arizona Department of Gaming, Daniel Bergi as part of his defense against a suit by the tribe to try to force him to certify the Class III gaming of the tribes’ Glendale casino, which opened in December.
He gave the minutes to the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community (SRPM), which gave them to a PR firm hired by the tribe, which gave them to a freelance reporter, Howard Fisher.
ADG Communications Director Amanda Jacinto explained the route that the documents took last week.
“What happened was the attorneys representing Director Bergin received discovery (documents) from Tohono O’odham,” she said. He shared with the SRPM since it had been involved in an earlier lawsuit to try to derail the casino.
“At some point, lawyers for the SRPM tribe gave those documents over to whomever,” Jacinto told reporters. “Howard Fisher says he got it from the SRPM PR firm.”
She pointed out that the information is now a public record, and subject to being requested by any party. She added, “This is Director Bergin’s lawyers talking with Salt River tribe’s lawyers discussing the impact on that case. As far as Director Bergin, that’s where the information stopped. It’s all public record, but it was not Director Bergin’s intention they be used except for legal analysis.”
