The new Secretary of the Interior, David Bernhardt, has strongly denied that in his former office of Deputy Secretary he had any role in putting roadblocks in front of the Tribal Winds Casino that the Connecticut Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes have been trying to launch for several years.
His predecessor, Ryan Zinke, who resigned earlier this year under an ethical cloud, and is reportedly under investigation by a federal grand jury and the department’s Office of the Inspector General. He is accused of being improperly influenced into blocking the approval by the department that the tribes needed to their tribal state gaming compacts to build the casino in East Windsor. The commercial casino, the third in the state, is intended to deflect the effects of the MGM Springfield in neighboring Massachusetts on the tribes’ Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casino resorts.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is part of the Interior department, issued this statement in response to an inquiry by the Guardian: “On March 15, 2019, Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney approved amendments proposed by the Mashantucket Pequot Indian Tribe to its class III gaming procedures issued by the Secretary of the Interior in 1991.”
It added, “On March 19, 2019, the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs approved related amendments to the Mashantucket – State of Connecticut Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for class III revenue sharing, along with the underlying MOU that had been in place since 1993. . . These actions were the result of an ongoing dialogue between the Department and the Tribe, who have been litigating related issues over the last year.”
The Pequot tribe sued the department to try to force it to approve of the amendments. MGM has long fought the tribes’ efforts to build the East Windsor casino, and Bernhardt was linked in a Guardian report with meeting with MGM attorneys.
Guardian reported that Bernhardt, as deputy secretary, met with attorneys for MGM, but his spokesman said the meeting had nothing to do with the casino. “Mr. Bernhardt had absolutely nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing,” said the spokesman. Bernhardt says the meeting concerned the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation of Connecticut, whose so far unsuccessful efforts to get federal recognition MGM has supported financially.
The tribes’ ability to begin work on the East Windsor casino hit a roadblock until the March 19 approval. Because this happened before their lawsuit was resolved, they dropped the lawsuit. Which means they will never be able to determine who was actually at the center of delaying their casino for many months. Such as requiring testimony from Bernhardt.
There is a considerable mystery since Zinke, after meeting with the tribes in 2017 and promising to approve of their amendments, two months changed his mind. Reportedly this happened after he met with lawmakers from Nevada, where MGM is based.
Tribal Winds Casino is now expected to open within 24 months, about a dozen miles from the MGM Springfield.
Mashantucket Chairman Rodney Butler issued a statement applauding “the actions of the Department of Interior and extend my sincerest gratitude to Assistant Secretary Tara Sweeney and the Office of the Solicitor at the Interior Department for their assistance in resolving this matter.”
Bernhardt is now himself under scrutiny by the Inspector General’s office, reportedly to follow up on complaints of possible conflicts of interest.
