Turning the Gaming Tables on Seminoles

Following up on my story about cronyism in the tribal gaming deal, South Florida political operative Roger Stone says this:

"The (Seminole) compact allows the Indians blackjack -- but no one else -- which violates the equal protection clause. I hear the Andrew Jackson Institute will be filing suit in the federal courts in D.C. with a very, very heavy constitutional lawyer(a former solicitor general) to strike down the deal."

Stone, who is no fan of interim U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who negotiated the deal on behalf of Gov. Charlie Crist, said he has agreed to raise the money to bring the lawsuit.

"The Seminoles are criminals, their compact constitutionally flawed and their blackjack operation will be shut down if we have to get a court order of federal marshals to close the place," Stone wrote in an e-mail.

Stone's comments came Wednesday evening after Crist visited the Seminoles' Hollywood Hard Rock Casino to conduct a ceremonial signing of the gaming legislation, Senate Bill 622.

Stone would not divulge the name of the attorney and Mark Thibault of the Andrew Jackson Institute was unavailable for comment.