Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

According to The Post:

E-mails released by federal investigators in June 2005 suggest that Reed secretly accepted payments from Abramoff to lobby against Indian casino gambling and oppose an Alabama education lottery at the same time that Abramoff was being paid to promote Indian casino gambling. Additional e-mails released in November 2005 show that Reed also worked for another Abramoff client seeking to block a congressional ban on Internet gambling. Reed has said he did not know the funds came from pro-gambling sources.

Reed is currently running for Lt. Governor of Georgia.

While Sheldon does not seem to be central to the corruption scandal so far, his collection of covert cash from gambling interests, when he too was publicly opposing gambling, will no doubt tarnish his credibility with his Christian Right constituents -- and anyone else who might be paying attention. The Post reports:

Sheldon's organization, which has protested loudly against gambling, allegedly accepted money from an online lottery firm, eLottery, to help in its $2 million pro-gambling campaign. Checks and e-mails obtained by The Post show that Abramoff recruited Ralph Reed to join Sheldon in the effort to pressure members of Congress.

Sheldon told The Post that he could not remember receiving eLottery money and that he was unaware that Abramoff was involved in the campaign to defeat an anti-gambling bill. Sheldon received at least $25,000 from eLottery; Abramoff is known to have referred to him as "Lucky Louie."

Reading through the profiles of the various players, one gets a picture of the way that Reed and Sheldon were part of the comlicated scheme in which gambling and anti-gambling interests were played off each other -- while GOP consultants with close ties to then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) made lots of money.
[Update]: Here is the original Washington Post report, with more details of Abramoff's relationship with Sheldon.