Representative Jason Chaffetz is surely making Sheldon Adelson happy with the announcement that the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will be holding a hearing next week to discuss online gambling. The hearing titled ‘A Casino in Every Smartphone—Law Enforcement Implications’ will most likely be discussing the negative side of iGambling, since Chaffetz is the committee chairman and on the side of Adelson.
Chaffetz is the one who introduced the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, the House version, in February. The bill would ban almost every form of online gambling in the US by undoing the ruling by the Department of Justice in 2011 on the Wire Act of 1961. If the bill were to be passed, states would not be able to offer online gambling such as poker and casino gaming, plus Nevada, Delaware and New Jersey would see their blossoming industries destroyed.
The hearing will take place on Wednesday, with the list of witnesses yet to be released. It would not be surprising to see followers of Adelson on the witness list including Andy Abboud, the point man for Adelson who always shows up and puts down online gaming, referencing to a cell phone.
A hearing on the subject took place back in March, which featured witnesses that were associated with the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling, which is the group funded by Adelson. These witnesses used disinformation while the proponents of iGambling used verified data to prove the points of the CSIG wrong. Proponents currently feel the hearing will be leaning towards the negative, trying to push Sheldon Adelson’s agenda to ban online gambling across the United States.