Coalition To Stop Internet Gambling hires more lobbyists

The Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling action group is apparently spending more of donor Sheldon Adelson’s plentiful supply of dollars in hiring yet another Washington DC lobbying firm, according to The Bottom Line column in the publication The Hill.

The column reports that The Keelen Group will join the efforts of Squire Patton Boggs, a lobbying firm the Coalition hired last year for a reported $290,000 to push political support for Adelson’s apparently moribund Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA).

The Bottom Line notes that the Squires team includes former Sen. Trent Lott and Dave Schnittger, former deputy chief of staff to former Speaker John Boehner.

On the other side of the fence, The Bottom Line notes that online gambling group Amaya Inc. has hired CSA Strategies to work on “issues related to the licensing of Internet gaming and poker.”

Now lobbying on Amaya’s behalf is Alejandro Urrea, former counsel to the House Financial Services Committee.

The hires have sparked speculation that last week’s announcement of a congressional hearing on online gambling, sports betting and fantasy sports (see previous report) could be the reason for the sudden flurry of lobby-related activity.

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