15 Quotes by Kent Cooper

You don't know where the trip went. You don't know who went on it. You don't know if a lobbyist was on it.

One tribe has been reported with over 75 different names.

Now you've got someone admitting exactly what the motivation was and explaining all the avenues they used.

Because we can't see a lot of their activities, people wonder how big they are and how active. There is a hazy line between indirect and direct involvement in elections.

Because tribes do not file campaign finance reports, it is not possible to compare or double-check the amounts received by candidates and reported on the candidates' campaign finance reports.

The question is, what did they get in return for that?

When you look at a corporate leader or a union leader, or a lobbyist, saying, why would they give $10,000, is it part of their lobbying plan for some type of access buying. It opens the whole arena up to questions in the public's mind.

You're talking about standard operating procedure here in Washington suddenly being turned on its head and a key operator signing a plea agreement that he may have been involved in some kind of public corruption.

This is one of the largest examples we've had to date where congressional action was predicated on money being given for the action.