According to Wikipedia, Abramoff's troubles involve his dealings with four tribes, which do not include the Viejas. So whatever inferences you wish to draw from the following are completely up to you; I'll draw mine later, when I actually know something.
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I just ran across these two pieces; the conjunction looks interesting.
From Raw Story, another Mormon serves Mammon*:
A friend and former colleague of fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff who rose swiftly through the ranks of the conservative establishment quietly advanced the interests of former clients under the cloak of a vocally anti-gambling Utah congressman
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David Safavian, appointed in 2004 by President Bush to oversee $300 billion of annual federal purchasing as director of the Office of Management and Budget, has largely flown below the radar in his relationship to a massive lobbying scandal surrounding a lobbyist [Abramoff] who siphoned millions of dollars from Indian tribes and gambling interests into conservative coffers.
...[Congressman] Cannon received a $1,000 donation from the California-based Viejas Tribal Government. In December of the following year, he cashed a check for another two grand.
Though pennies in the Washington lobbying landscape, the donations bought face time in Congress. Cannon took the tribe’s side during a hearing over the location of a casino—for a tribe that wasn’t even in his state.
The Viejas kicked in another $2,000 in 2004.
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David Safavian, appointed in 2004 by President Bush to oversee $300 billion of annual federal purchasing as director of the Office of Management and Budget, has largely flown below the radar in his relationship to a massive lobbying scandal surrounding a lobbyist [Abramoff] who siphoned millions of dollars from Indian tribes and gambling interests into conservative coffers.
...[Congressman] Cannon received a $1,000 donation from the California-based Viejas Tribal Government. In December of the following year, he cashed a check for another two grand.
Though pennies in the Washington lobbying landscape, the donations bought face time in Congress. Cannon took the tribe’s side during a hearing over the location of a casino—for a tribe that wasn’t even in his state.
The Viejas kicked in another $2,000 in 2004.
The Nevada County angle - from last fall, Is local GOP laundering money or just supporting fellow Republicans?
In the past month, the Nevada County Republican Central Committee has twice funneled large amounts of cash - including one donation from a casino-operating American Indian tribe - to Republican candidates outside the county.
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The second check [for $26,600* ] came in on Oct. 19 and was from the Viejas Tribal Government, which owns two lucrative casinos outside San Diego. It then left the coffers of the Nevada County GOP two days later as a donation for Paul Betancourt....
Betancourt and Podesto were chosen by the local party from a list supplied...by Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico*....
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The second check [for $26,600* ] came in on Oct. 19 and was from the Viejas Tribal Government, which owns two lucrative casinos outside San Diego. It then left the coffers of the Nevada County GOP two days later as a donation for Paul Betancourt....
Betancourt and Podesto were chosen by the local party from a list supplied...by Assemblyman Rick Keene, R-Chico*....
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