Attorney Generals from three states are circulating a letter/petition soliciting support from their brethren across the US. The letter, obtained last week by Poker Players Alliance Vice President of Player Relations Rich TheEngineer Muny and posted on the PPA’s website, was sent out by the legal leads of Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina to the Senate Judiciary Committee in Washington, DC.

Those three Attorney Generals – John Bruning (Nebraska), Chris Koster (Missouri), and Alan Wilson (South Carolina) – are requesting that their fellow Attorney Generals “sign on” to their letter in an attempt to push for “clarification” of the Wire Act to include a ban on internet gaming.

“The attached letter would indicate the support of the signatory Attorneys General for Congress to restore the outright internet gambling prohibition in the Wire Act,” the letter states. “The letter urges Congress to restore such prohibition pending further analysis by Federal and state law enforcement agencies of the full impact internet gambling has on our respective charges to protect the citizens of our states.”

The letter is basically following the lead of the proposed anti-gambling bill that has drawn the attention of the poker community. Last week, poker journalist Marco Valerio posted the draft of an anti-online gaming bill entitled the Internet Gambling Control Actthat is allegedly backed by Las Vegas Sands Corporation CEO Sheldon Adelson (pictured above, image courtesy Politico) and his lobbying group, the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.

The bill, which hasn’t been picked up by any member of the House of Representatives and hasn’t been officially filed, is seeking the expansion of the Wire Act of 1961 to include the internet and, as such, ban online gambling and poker in the US.

The proposed bill and the letter from the three Attorney Generals have virtually identical language in them. They would look to rein in the 2011 decision by the US Department of Justice that the Wire Act only applies to online sports betting, which opened up individual states for online lottery ticket sales and, in the case of Nevada, Delaware, and New Jersey, online gambling and poker. Both documents want to enact laws that would Federally ban any online gaming or poker and prevent individual states from enacting their own laws.

According to the Attorney Generals’ letter, the “cutoff” date to sign on to the letter is January 28 and some of them apparently have already jumped on the bandwagon. On Tuesday, according to Muny’s Facebook page, Bill Schuette (pictured), the Attorney General for Michigan, has signed on in support of the letter, as have Attorney Generals from North Dakota (Wayne Stenehjem), South Dakota (Marty Jackley), and Wyoming (Gregory Phillips).

Three other Attorney Generals from Pennsylvania (Kathleen Kane), Rhode Island (Peter Kilmartin), and Washington (Bob Ferguson) are counted by Muny as “undecided,” while other states have yet to respond.

In an attempt to counteract the drive by Adelson and the three original authors of the letter, the PPA is looking for its members to do some lobbying of their own. In an e-mail from the PPA’s Director of Grassroots and External Affairs, Drew Lesofski, the PPA is encouraging its members to voice their opinion to their Attorney General through a variety of means.

In discussing the letter, Lesofski writes, “We need to make sure your Attorney General does not sign this letter and we need your help.” By sending a pre-filled Tweet or a pre-written letter generated by the PPA, members of the PPA can voice their opinion to their respective Attorney General regarding the anti-gaming actions in an attempt to sway a decision. The PPA has also created an advocacy page.

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