Wolf and the Schaghticokes

According to an article in Sunday's edition of Newsday,
Frank Wolf has gotten himself into a bit of a controversy involving the Schaghticokes Tribal Nation in Connecticut and former Bush Interior Secretary Gale Norton. According to the article:

The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation has asked a federal judge to throw out the decision that denied it federal recognition, citing what it calls unprecedented political interference.

In a motion seeking summary judgment from U.S. District Court Judge Peter Dorsey, the tribe argues that powerful political forces opposed to a third Indian casino in Connecticut caused the U.S. Department of Interior to act in an "unprecedented and arbitrary manner" by reversing a decision to acknowledge the tribe.

Powerful political forces...like Frank Wolf perhaps? Yep, you guessed it:

In its motion for summary judgment filed last month, the tribe details a March 30, 2004 meeting attended by three Republican members of the Connecticut Congressional delegation, U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va. and then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

In a deposition, Norton said that Wolf and the Connecticut delegation - which included U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, and former Reps. Nancy Johnson and Rob Simmons - pressed her to overturn the decision.

She said Wolf threatened to ask President Bush to replace her.

The tribe also details other instances of what it argues were illegal political attempts to influence the process.

Stay tuned for more details on this. If nothing else, by denying the Schaghticokes recognition, Frank Wolf is preventing members of the tribe from receiving federal health care benefits. Of course, given Wolf's record on health care in general, that's not exactly surprising.