Reid and his wife, Landra, personally signed the deeds selling their full interest in the property to Brown's company, Patrick Lane LLC, for the same $400,000 they paid in 1998, records show.
Despite the sale, Reid continued to report on his public ethics reports that he personally owned the land until it was sold again in His disclosure forms to Congress do not mention an interest in Patrick Lane or the company's role in the 2004 sale.
AP first learned of the transaction from a former Reid aide who expressed concern the deal hadn't been properly reported.
So are we saying that he received his $400,000.00 investment back when he sold the property to the LLC and then got an additional 1.1 million dollars? That means he grossed 1.5 million dollars...
All without any documents showing his interest in the LLC...
If this lawyer was such an high-powered lawyer, he would have known how much of a problem this is. No ethical lawyer worth his salt even engages in business dealings with his clients.
Those that are foolish enough to do that must not do so without a full written disclosure of the conflicts of interests that may arise. They must also advise their clients to seek independent advice concerning the transaction. Did the lawyer tell Reid to do this? If so, did he? Who was the independent attorney advising Reid?
Most states have lawyers' ethics rules that prohibit business dealings with clients unless very strict criteria are followed...one of which is that these arrangments needed to be in writing!
This lawyer, for starters, should be brought up on an ethics complaint.
Mr. Ried also ahd ethical rules to follow... Is he going to claim that he is so uninformed as a representative of the people taht he did not know that this was unethical? That alone should get him removed.