BENNETT'S WIFE SAYS HE'S DONE WITH CASINOS

Virtues Maven May Have Played Last Slots

WASHINGTON -- Elayne Bennett, wife of conservative virtues maven William
Bennett, says her husband is "not addicted" to gambling and has not lost
millions of dollars at casinos in Atlantic City and Las Vegas.

"We are financially solvent," she said Sunday from their Chevy Chase, Md.,
home. "All our bills are paid."

But expressing annoyance at the attention generated by news about his
gambling, she said her husband may have pulled his last slot-machine lever.
"He's never going again," she said.

According to Newsweek and The Washington Monthly magazine, the former
Republican Cabinet secretary and author of the best-selling The Book of
Virtues is a high roller who has lost as much as $8 million over the past
decade playing mostly slots and video poker. The magazines reviewed
internal casino documents, including some that showed him wiring $1.4
million to cover losses over one two-month period.

There are no accusations that Bennett has done anything illegal. But the
story, published on the magazines' Web sites Friday and picked up by news
organizations over the weekend, is resonating because of Bennett's
long-held reputation as a leading conservative voice on moral issues and
family values.

The magazines reported that the former government drug czar and Education
secretary is a "preferred customer" with a revolving line of credit of at
least $200,000 at each of four casinos. They also said he receives
thousands of dollars in free limousines and hotel rooms and has racked up
losses of more than $500,000 at a time during trips to the casinos.

Bennett left the government in 1990 after serving as former president
Ronald Reagan's Education secretary and former president George Bush's drug
czar. He is a founder of Empower America, a conservative, Washington-based
think tank, an author and a prolific public speaker who warns of declining
moral values.

Bennett told Newsweek that "over 10 years, I'd say I've come out pretty
close to even." He disputed claims that he's lost millions of dollars and
said he's never put his family finances at risk. "I play fairly high
stakes. I adhere to the law. I don't play the 'milk money.' I don't put my
family at risk, and I don't owe anyone anything," he said. Bennett and his
wife have two teenage sons, John and Joseph.

Bennett did not return calls seeking comment Sunday. But his wife said
she'd like her husband to tell his side of the story. She said he gambles
three or four times a year. "He's not addicted to it."