Pete Sessions and Poker, Part 2

On our way to looking up stuff about Dede Scozzafava, the Sessions Watch team found something interesting--Pete Sessions' top donor for the 2010 cycle so far is Poker Road, which leads us back to a question D Magazine asked last election cycle "What's the Deal With Pete Sessions and Poker?"

Take a look at Pete Sessions' list of individual contributors--of the top 20, the first 9 are connected in some way with poker. Five in the $2300-3000 donation range list their occupations as "Self Employed/Professional Poker Player, and list their residences in Las Vegas. Among others in the top 9 include the Poker Room Manager for the Bellagio in Las Vegas, who gave him $2,500, and Joe Sebok, CEO of Poker Road, an internet gambling site.

And poker benefits our district because...? And gambling fits in with Pete Sessions' Eagle Scout image because...?

UPDATE: Speaking of Las Vegas, Sessions Watch would like to thank a reader (who prefers to remain anonymous) for sending this picture of Pete Sessions enjoying himself at Forty Deuce strip club in Las Vegas.

Pete Sessions supports ACORN-backed candidate

Right-wing Republicans are starting to figure out something the rest of us figured out long ago, that Pete Sessions has erratic judgement and does things for no apparent reason (like giving an earmark to a blimp company that has no experience making blimps)

Now, the right-wing of the party is in an uproar over the NRCC's endorsement of Dede Scozzafava, who has the backing of--wait for it--ACORN.

Yes, ACORN, an organization Pete Sessions hates so much that he was willing to throw the whole military-industrial complex under the bus to get rid of it.

The right-wing of the Republican Party is now asking itself, "What was Pete Sessions thinking when he endorsed Scozzafava?"

At Sessions Watch, we're stumped, too. Besides being backed by ACORN, Scozzafava is pro-gay rights and pro-abortion rights, two issues that Pete Sessions vehemently opposes.

So how come he likes her? At Sessions Watch, our best guess is that she gave him a big political donation, but a search of PETE Pac came up dry, unless she's involved with one of these organizations.

UPDATE: More headaches for Pete Sessions: Dick Armey to endorse 3rd party candidate over Republican in NY House race (from Dallas Morning News, h/t John Peterson):

The special election to fill New York's vacant 23rd congressional seat is perhaps the earliest test of the GOP's chances to reclaim the House in 2010. Yet the GOP candidate, Dede Scozzafava, has struggled to line up Republican support...

...Add North Texas' Dick Armey to the list of conservative stars backing [primary opponent] Hoffman...His endorsement of Hoffman is bound to cause headaches for establishment Republicans such as Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Dallas, who chairs the National Republican Congressional Committee and has had to defend his support of Scozzafava to conservative groups. Some Republicans are already worried that tea party activists may lead a revolt against incumbent Republicans who supported last year's TARP bailout.

Another Risqué Fundraiser For Pete Sessions

From The Sleuth:

Sessions, the Sleuth has learned, held a fundraiser in February at a racy venue in Las Vegas whose Web site features come-hither looking women scantily clad in lingerie slithering all over each other...

...The establishment - the Tao nightclub and restaurant on the Strip - isn't as risqué as the fundraiser Sessions held last year at the Forty Deuce burlesque club in Vegas. Still, Tao isn't exactly a paradigm of conservative family values. And it's doubtful such a fundraiser is what GOP leaders have in mind when they talk about rebranding the party...

...The Web site also boasts: "Tao Las Vegas is frequented by celebrities on a regular basis, such as Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Tommy Lee, Britney Spears, Jamie Foxx, Janet Jackson, Bono andMadonna."

Who could have predicted five years ago, after Sessions scolded Super Bowl half-time entertainer Janet Jackson for forcing her "liberal values upon the rest of the country" that he and the pop star would wind up hanging at the same hot spots in Sin City?

Another PETE PAC loss in Ohio

Ohio Republican Steve Stivers (OH-15) was the recipient of $10,000 from Pete Sessions' notorious Vegas strip club fundraiser. He was in a close race against Democratic candidate Mary Jo Kilroy, a race too close to call on election night.

Yesterday, the absentee and provisional ballots were finally counted, and Mary Jo Kilroy emerged as the clear winner, with 2,311 more votes than Stivers. The margin gave her more than the number of votes necessary to avoid a recount.

Kilroy's win gives OH-15 a Democratic representative for the first time in 42 years.

The Ohio Delegation now has a majority of Democrats, with 10 Democrats and 8 Republicans.

An interesting side note to this contest is that in November, with the race still undecided, both candidates went to the orientation for new members of Congress, promising that whichever one of them lost would reimburse the government for their expenses.

Boehner Endorses Sessions for NRCC Chairman

John Boehner has just endorsed Pete Sessions for NRCC Chair, saying:

“Pete has the skills needed to recruit top-tier candidates and give them the support they need to challenge a Democratic Congress that has been bought and paid for by liberal special interests. We need Pete Sessions at the leadership table as the next chairman of the NRCC.”

By "top tier," I suppose Boehner is referring to extreme partisans like Michele Bachmanm, who barely won her seat in Congress after making controversial remarks about "anti-Americans" in Congress.

After Bachmann appeared on Hardball and said Barack Obama had "anti-American views," irate viewers sent her opponent Elwyn Tinklenberg $800,000, making the campaign one of the most-watched in the nation.

Bachmann received $2,500 from PETE PAC, so we can suppose that John Boehner is looking forward to working with more "top tier" people like that.

Sessions Watch sends best wishes to Pete Sessions on his run for NRCC Chair. If he's in a high-profile position, it'll make our job easier.

Pete Sessions: Sore Winner

Although Pete Sessions easily won re-election in the gerrymandered 32nd congressional district, he didn't sound too happy about it last night. While Republicans who lost last night, most notably John McCain, were gracious in defeat, promising to work across party lines, winning candidate Pete Sessions was his old partisan self in an interview with CBS 11. Since I can't embed the video, I'll attempt a transcript:

Nov. 4, 9:52 pm CT
Marianne Martinez: First of all, let's react to some of the state and local wins for the Republican Party.

Pete Sessions: Well, the Republican party appears that we're going to win the congressional races in North Texas; we appear that we're going to pick up the seat that we lost a couple of years ago down with, uh, in Texas 22 with a great Republican victory. And so the State of Texas with Senator Cornyn and the things which we have done to make Texas great, uh, that will we'll be back in power.

Yeah, I know, it doesn't make much sense, but that's how Pete Sessions talks when he's speaking extemporaneously. Continuing on:

Marianne Martinez: Tell me about the national stage, though, there must be a little bit of a down feeling considering the electoral college, 200 to 90 I believe is the last that I saw.

Pete Sessions: Well, well certainly the national scene is way different. The national scene is way different, uh, Senator Barack Obama, now what I assume will be President-elect Obama tonight has done a very good job of selling the view that we ought to raise taxes, uh, and, and do things differently. That we ought to change the way things have been done. He's going to have that opportunity. The Republican Party, while we disagree with that, we want to see the country move forward and do better. And that's where the Republican Party is going to be very much in favor of trying to work to make sure this country gets what it needs to compete and be ready. If that does not happen, the Republican Party will have a message that we have about cutting taxes and growing our economy, which we'll get back to.

(This is an example of what I refer to as "Pete Speak," circuitous sentences that don't really add up to anything resembling a coherent thought, kind of like we heard with Sarah Palin).

Marianne Martinez: Obama talked a lot during his campaign about reaching across the aisle to the Republicans. Do you think that can be done, especially considering that the Democrats will have a stronghold also now in the Senate?

Pete Sessions: Well, I don't think that Nancy Pelosi, uh, even once these past two years has reached across the aisle, not once. So if she reaches across, they'll be somebody to shake her hand and work with her, but I have not seen that desire or effort on behalf of Speaker Pelosi yet.

Again with Nancy Pelosi! He's so hung up on her. Good grief, the Democrats could conceivably elect another House Speaker, and the interviewer asked specifically about Obama. Would it kill Pete Sessions to at least acknowledge Obama's gracious message of inclusiveness, where he promised to work on behalf of people who didn't vote for him?

Marianne Martinez: Describe your mood here at this particular watch party.

Pete Sessions: Well, the mood here is, is one of disappointment. It's one, uh, where we are not going to throw in the towel. We recognize that we have a lot to be proud of. We believe the Republican Party still has a lot to offer, not only the State of Texas but really Dallas County. We believe what we did during a period of time of, of Republican control was to transform this county to what it is, and that is that it's one of the greatest cities in America, entrepreneurship lives and breathes here and the growth of jobs and the opportunity to grow jobs and have people call this home is what the Republican Party's made this.

I'll swear, I listened to that last part three times, and it still doesn't make much since. Watch the interview for yourself at this link and see if it makes sense to you: Interview with Pete Sessions, Nov. 4, 2008

What the interviewer should have asked is if Pete Sessions felt inspired by Obama to reach out to the 40% of voters in the District who didn't vote for him. But seasoned Sessions Watchers already know the answer to that--he barely reaches out to constituents in his own party, except to ask them to vote for him and put his signs all over the place every two years. The rest of the time, he's concentrated on marketing the Republican brand and raising money for other right-wing extremist Republicans.

As it stands now, the gerrymandered 32nd District remains safe for Pete Sessions; although Dallas County turn solidly Democratic in 2006 and remains Democratic in 2008, the Tom Delay gerrymandered district remains a Republican stronghold. So the next step will be a push for redistricting--not to make "safe" Democratic or Republican Party enclaves, but to better represent districts. Until that happens, Sessions Watch is watching...

Pete Sessions' strip club fundraiser causes problems for Republicans in Alabama

Pete Sessions' notorious strip-club fundraiser is back in the news again, this time in Alabama, causing problems for a Republican running for Alabama's 2nd congressional district. Apparently, Jay Love received $2,500 from the Las Vegas fundraiser; his opponent, Democrat Bobby Bright, is using it against him in a campaign ad, challenging Love's Christian values:

"For some people, conserva­tive Christian values are just words," Bright said in the line he recorded. "You know what? They're more than just words to me."

Gee, that sounds a lot like what Dallas conservatives said when the story first broke. As it turned out, the fundraiser had less to do with scantily clad women than online gambling, which is also a big problem for Jay Love:

Love and the Alabama Re­publican Party oppose gambling in Alabama. The state lawmaker said he is adamantly opposed to gambling.

At this writing, The Democratic Party is trying to shame Jay Love into returning the money.

D Magazine asks, "What’s the Deal With Pete Sessions and Poker?"

Ever since the news broke about Pete Sessions' Las Vegas fundraising party, inquiring minds want to know, why Vegas? In an interview with KERA, Cathie Adams of the conservative Texas Eagle Forum said:

It surprises me that such a venue would be acceptable to a man whose record has been held so high as far as integrity, as far as conservative values. Certainly this is a family community and I don't think Mr. Sessions would particularly like either of his sons to be participants in such a venue.

Instead of focusing on the dancers and what they were (or weren't) wearing, D Magazine takes a "follow the money" approach in this article by Wick Allision: What’s the Deal With Pete Sessions and Poker?

...suddenly the Las Vegas connnection started getting more interesting. For example, there’s self-described “professional poker player” Howard Lederer and his wife Susan with a combined donation of $10,000. Andrew Bloch, another “professional poker player,” gave $4,000. Doyle Brunson tossed some more chips on the table with another $4,000. Barry Shulman was in for $2,000, and Linda Johnson matched up to $500.

...why did they choose a Dallas congressman as the vessel of their civic participation? Simple. Go to the the congressman’s statement on proposed UIGEA regulations issued on April 2, 2008. Then note that this year’s Vegas cash started flowing on April 7, 2008. Seems like Nevada has bought itself an extra congressman.

In the letter, Sessions expresses concern about how the regulations regarding the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) are drafted and enforced:

Like every Member of this committee, I believe that the accurate and faithful application of our nation’s laws is of the utmost importance, and I understand the important role that clear and consistent federal regulations play in achieving this goal. However, when regulatory guidance is vague, an unintended consequence can be the suppression of legitimate commerce caused by a regulated community exercising an unnecessary abundance of caution...

The unintended consequence of this lack of clarity will be for many financial institutions to block broadly anything which may in any way resemble gambling, be it legal or illegal. Indeed, I understand that the providers of online skill games are already having difficulty with payment processing...

I did a google search of "pete sessions, uigea" and found this interesting article from Online Casinos.com, an internet gambling website from Denmark:

New U.S. proposal to limit prosecution of pre-2006 online gambling activities

Yet more legislation on Internet gambling was introduced to Congress by Representative Pete Sessions this week in the shape of HR6663, titled the UIGEA Clarification Act.

The proposal will probably be welcomed by online gambling companies which were active in the U.S. market prior to the signing into law of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in late 2006, but withdrew when it was passed. This is because it seeks to prohibit the prosecution, on gambling charges or for any financial crime related to gambling, of any company or individual associated with a company that stopped taking U.S. Internet bets after October 13, 2006.

That would benefit companies like Party Gaming, 888.com and other majors who exited the US market when UIGEA was introduced, with the implication that these should not suffer punitive action for respecting the new law.

On July 30, Pete Sessions introduced H.R. 6663, "To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide additional clarification with regard to the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, and for other purposes." Text of the bill is available from Thomas: H.R. 6663

"Family Values" Minnesota Republicans got strip club money

The blog Dump Michele Bachmann reports that Pete Sessions' strip club money is helping finance the re-election campaign of "family values" candidate Michele Bachmann, as well as the 3rd District Republican candidate, Erik Paulsen:

Not only did Bachmann receive some of this stripper money, 3rd District Republican candidate, Erik Paulsen received $5000 from PETEPAC. In an election where Minnesota Republicans are faux outraged about satirical comments made by Al Franken, it appears as though they are concerned primarily with comments and not with instances in which women are actually exploited and in which they benefit from said exploitation. Between the erotic elixirs of William Hudlow and stripraiser money from PETEPAC, it might be safe to say that the sex industry is throwing its support behind Michele Bachmann, Erik Paulsen, and the Republican Party of Minnesota. I guess I had never realized that family values meant strippers and horny goat weed.

Sessions' strip-club story goes national

From Washington Post:

We had never heard of a member of Congress holding a fundraiser at a Las Vegas burlesque nightclub... until now.

And the culprit is card-carrying conservative Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.). The same Pete Sessions who scolded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake for forcing "their liberal values upon the rest of the country" after their infamous 2004 Super Bowl halftime striptease.

The article goes on to tell (again) about how Pete Sessions was a streaker in 1974:

Sessions himself has been known to have an exhibitionist streak -- streak being the operative word.

In 1974, as a college freshman, he participated in a mass streaking rampage across the campus of what was then called Texas State University. As the Sleuth, in a previous incarnation, reported in this subscription-only Roll Call newspaper column in 2004, Sessions bragged about his streaking abilities to the San Antonio News. At the time, he was two weeks shy of his 19th birthday.

"Just taking off your clothes and running around is kind of a free spirit thing," Sessions said.

Okay, I'm old enough to remember streaking. Here's the way it's supposed to happen--you take your clothes off, run like hell, and disappear without getting caught. Hence, the "streak." It defeats the purpose to give interviews afterwards, using your real name! That's what I've always loved about Pete Sessions' streaking story, that he was actually quoted in the paper afterwards saying, "Just taking off your clothes and running around is kind of a free spirit thing."

Americablog has pictures of the "tasteful strip joint" where Pete Sessions held his fundraiser. Good lord--is that an American flag behind the stripper pole?

This year's Las Vegas fundraiser was held at a much more family friendly venue, the 40/40 Lounge, owned by hip-hop artist Jay-Z, who happens to be an avid supporter of Barack Obama!

Dallas Conservatives "Shocked" by Sessions' Strip-Club Party

Well, it looks like the saying isn't true after all that "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."Dallas Morning News just reported the story of Pete Sessions' Las Vegas strip-club fundraiser and the right-wingers are "shocked":

Aides to Mr. Sessions, a self-described conservative, and others said the act was a mild burlesque show, but some conservative activists were aghast that the event was held at an adult club.

"What's the difference?" asked Cathie Adams, president of the Texas Eagle Forum. "I don't think that it's representative of the constituents of the district. I'm in shock."

Texas Eagle Forum's mission is to "enable conservative and pro-family men and women to participate in the process of self-government and public policy-making" and are all about promoting "conservative and pro-family policies through the media."

They also claim to in favor of "individual liberty" and "private enterprise," but apparently, they draw the line at the adult entertainment industry.

Pete Sessions fundraiser in Vegas strip club

When the "family values" crowd wants to party, they call Monica Notzen. She's a Republican consultant whose job it is to invite lobbyists to parties, like the one she threw for Pete Sessions at the Las Vegas strip club, Forty Deuce.

Sessions: That's right, we do a Las Vegas fundraiser every year and not only raise money, but see Las Vegas. It's a beautiful town.

Henn: Forty Deuce is a strip club.

Sessions: You know, I've never seen that. It is what I would call a burlesque show where there's a woman who comes out and has a dress on... Uh, she never gets naked. There's no nudity, there's no nudity in there...

Yeah, right. This is how the club's owner, Ivan Kane, describes his brand of burlesque.

Ivan Kane: The key component would be to have girls who were dancers taking their clothes off, not just girls taking their clothes off.

According to Marketwatch, Pete Sessions spent $5,000 at the strip club and another $2,100 at his hotel. Pete's PAC explains that the evening was "tame" and that "none of it violated a single law."

Hmmmm...not to cast aspersions on Pete's "tame" evening, but I know of at least one activity that's legal in Vegas but would get you thrown in jail if you were caught doing it in Dallas!

I thought this part was interesting, too:

Officially, Pete Sessions' leadership PAC picked up the tab, but just days before the party at Forty Deuce, casino interests donated $5,000 to his PAC. Payday lenders threw in another $2,500.

So, if you're wondering why Pete Sessions votes against the interest of his constituents most of the time, just remember who he really works for--people like the casino lobbyists and predatory lenders who bought him $7,500 worth of fun in Las Vegas.

The story of "Teflon Pete"

Sessions watchers will want to check out this article from Texas Observer about the rise and decline of our inept congressman. The article begins with a summary of the divorce case he was involved with:

On the first day of September last year, Congressman Pete Sessions was in a place no congressman would want to be: sitting in a conference room with a pack of divorce lawyers, describing how a longtime friend and campaign contributor shuffled assets while trying to avoid a $1.4 million judgment in a stock fraud case...

...“It wasn’t the kind of thing you’d expect a congressman to get involved with,” said one of Ahron Katz’s many lawyers. “It was a fraud within a fraud within a fraud.”

The article continues with an overview of Sessions' less than stellar career in Congress:

Sessions is 52, and after 11 years in Congress, his career arc should be ascending. He won his last election by 56 percent at a time when Republicans in Dallas were being overrun by an astonishing wave of Democrats. In 2004, after the bitter Republican redistricting engineered by former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Sessions all but vaulted over other potential candidates to take on—and defeat—the formidable, longtime incumbent Democrat Martin Frost. But Sessions’ fortunes have been stalled for some time. He is still the fourth-ranking member of the House Rules Committee, where he’s been since beginning his career in Congress. He’s developed a reputation for political mediocrity, questionable decision-making, and the occasional bonehead move. He failed in a bid to become chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Lobbyists from both parties say he falls into what may be the most perplexing of political categories: irrelevant.

And then, there are the scandals:

In late 2001 and early 2002, he signed letters to Bush administration officials on behalf of tribal casino interests represented by convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Sessions also traveled to Malaysia on a trip funded by a sham think tank created by Michael Scanlon, Abramoff’s partner in crime. As a member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Sessions has been accused of promoting the interests of a California software firm that employed his former communications director. The company received at least one Navy Department contract for $800,000, and its officers, in turn, contributed at least $55,000 to Sessions’ political action committee, known as PETE PAC.

Of course, like most Republican scandals, Sessions' scandals involve higher math and geography, which is boring to most people. In the U.S., the scandal has to involve sex to get people outraged. So we're kind of out of luck there, unless there's a really desperate Washington intern with bad taste in men who'd like to do our Congressman. Anyone?