According to Schwartz, Abramoff "expressed indignation" over what had happened to the tribe and said that he wanted to "right the terrible injustice that had been brought upon the tribe." During the meeting, Abramoff admitted that he was friends with Ralph Reed, who had publicly called for the closing of the casino, but claimed that Reed was "crazy, like other folks in the Christian Coalition". He said that Reed was supplying information about the anti-gambling effort to Abramoff, so he knew their strategy. He also admitted that the Louisiana Coushatta were also his client, but claimed that the Coushatta did not have a problem with the Tigua pursuing a casino. Abramoff proposed that he and Greenberg Traurig would represent the tribe pro bono until the casino was re-opened. But, he said they would have to pay "a lot" for Scanlon's services. The strategy, later called "Operation Open Doors", would cost more than $5 million. He proposed getting a friendly lawmaker to sneak a provision or rider into a federal bill that would permit the Tigua to reopen their casino, and said that it would require the tribe to make contributions to the lawmakers. Abramoff mentioned Scanlon's past career in the office of Tom DeLay, and Scanlon said that he "had an ongoing relationship with Congressman DeLay." During his presentation, Abramoff gave the tribe a list of contributions to legislators, which he said were required, and advised the tribe to make these immediately. Once the provision was made law, opponents would try to repeal it. The second part of Abramoff's strategy was for Scanlon to create a nationwide database of grassroots supporters who could be called on to send letters and make phone calls to representatives to block any repeal. The Tigua agreed to the proposal on the condition that it cost no more than $4.2 million, and signed the contract on March 5, 2002. Guilty plea—confirmed corrupt lobbying practices Abramoff and his partner Scanlon are alleged to have engaged in a series of corrupt practices in connection to their lobbying work for various Indian gaming tribes. The fees paid to Abramoff and Scanlon for this work are believed to exceed $85 million. In particular, Abramoff and Scanlon were alleged to have conspired with Washington power broker Grover Norquist and Christian activist Ralph Reed to coordinate lobbying against his own clients and prospective clients with the objective of forcing them to