Adelson’s anti-online gambling bill to get House committee hearing on Dec. 9

Las Vegas Sands boss Sheldon Adelson may be Jewish, but Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) just gave him an early Christmas present all the same.

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform confirmed the scheduling of a hearing for Dec. 9 at 1pm ET to discuss one of Adelson’s pet peeves: online gambling. The not-at-all pejorative title of the hearing? “A Casino in Every Smartphone – Law Enforcement Implications.”

(The smartphone reference suggests the title may have been written by Adelson’s political point man Andy Abboud, who has yet to attend one of these hearings without whipping out his iPhone and claiming it’s a casino.)

Chaffetz, who chairs the committee, introduced the House version of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) in February. The Adelson-backed RAWA seeks to ban most forms of online gambling in the US by undoing the 2011 Department of Justice opinion on the scope of the 1961 Wire Act. RAWA’s passage would put the kibosh on the three states – Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey – that have already commenced intrastate play and prevent any other states from joining the party.