Pro-Family Leaders Condemn DefCon Claims That Dobson Has Gambling Ties

by Ed Thomas and Jenni Parker
March 14, 2006

(AgapePress) - - The founder and chairman of Focus on the Family is responding to accusations of ties to a controversial Washington lobbyist to gambling interests. James Dobson says last week's full-page New York Times ad and additional TV commercials placed by a liberal special interest group are just part of a larger attack against pro-family leaders.

The newspaper and television spots were placed by the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, or DefCon. They claim Dobson has a tie to Jack Abramoff through contributions to Focus on the Family made by middleman Ralph Reed, a former head of the Christian Coalition.

Abramoff, a Republican activist, political lobbyist and businessman, is a key figure in a series of high-profile political scandals and investigations. He recently pleaded guilty to three felony counts in federal court in a matter involving the defrauding of Native American tribes, and has agreed to testify in related cases still under investigation.

On Fox News Channel's O'Reilly Factor, Dobson denied his organization has taken any money or had any direct ties with Abramoff, insisting that he "had never met the man," had "never talked to him on the phone," and has "never taken a cent from anybody having to do with the fight against gambling."

Focus on the Family's founder said he and his organization "fight gambling because it's a curse." He called gaming "a cancer on the family" and maintained that his ministry's advocacy against gambling "has nothing to with Abramoff."

According to the Colorado-based ministry, the media ads that claim Dobson "got casino cash" in exchange for opposing gambling expansion in Alabama and Louisiana "are lies from special interests trying to use the misdeeds of Mr. Abramoff to smear social conservatives." Dobson believes anger by cultural leftists over some conservative victories in areas of government and politics are causing them to lash out at those in the conservative movement, particularly those that are among the most visible.

However, Focus on the Family maintains that Abramoff in no way influenced the pro-family ministry's opposition to gambling expansion in Louisiana and Alabama. The ministry notes that it has opposed gambling expansion throughout the United States for 30 years, and its campaigns against such expansion have been motivated by allies in various states -- including Louisiana and Alabama -- who share a similar view of the destructive influence of gambling.

Focus on the Family also points out that all of its efforts against gambling are paid for by the ministry's own money and it has received no money from Abramoff or from any other lobbying interest. In fact, a recent CitizenLink "Response to the Abramoff Matter" notes that "Dr. Dobson has criticized both Republicans and Democrats for not doing enough to oppose gambling and for accepting gambling money themselves."

Dr. Don Wildmon

Pro-Family Leaders Call DefCon Claims 'Libelous'
Several Christian and conservative leaders are outraged over DefCon's ad campaign. American Family Association chairman Don Wildmon called the allegations against Dobson "a vicious attack" against a man "who is a leader in the pro-family movement" and who has "opposed gambling all his life," even serving in the late 1990s on the congressionally mandated National Gambling Impact Study Commission, which recommended a moratorium on gambling expansion.

Dobson is being targeted by left-wing groups, Wildmon contends. He is urging pro-family supporters to sign an online letter of appreciation to Focus on the Family's leader to let him know "that we are standing with him in his battle for the family, and that we appreciate his nearly 30 years of fighting for the family."

Conservative activist Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families agrees that the liberal ads do little more than malign a prominent pro-family leader who deserves to be commended rather than slandered. He says anyone who knows James Dobson knows that DefCon's attempt to suggest he has ties to gambling interests is "nothing more than a libelous charge of guilt by association."

Gary Bauer

To date, Bauer observes, no one has demonstrated, much less offered any proof, that any connection exists between Focus on the Family's chairman and Jack Abramoff. While DefCon's ads may appear to be an indictment against prominent conservative leaders, he asserts, "it is in reality a declaration of war against the entire pro-family movement."

Among the liberal group's advisory board members, Bauer points out, are the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, a former director of the American Civil Liberties Union, the former president of the pro-abortion group NARAL, and representatives of the "religious Left," including a homosexual pastor.

DefCon's goal, the Campaign for Working Families spokesman asserts, "is to depress religious conservatives by smearing good men like Dr. Dobson. They want to bring down the pro-family movement in the fallout of the Abramoff scandal, hoping values voters won't go to the polls in November."

If they succeed, Bauer says, a new Senate majority will have enough votes to reject any conservative judges nominated, and the federal Marriage Protection Amendment will be "dead on arrival" in a House of Representatives run by liberal Speaker Nancy Pelosi.