Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Posted on 10/11/2006 2:54:55 PM PDT by Libloather
Corruption claimed in Harry Reid deal
Senate Minority Leader hung up phone when queried about $1 million windfall
Posted: October 11, 2006
3:02 p.m. Eastern
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid hung up the phone when questioned by the Associated Press about a $1.1 million windfall on land he had not owned for three years, the wire service is reporting.
Reid collected on the Las Vegas land sale in a deal engineered by a longtime friend and former casino lawyer, Jay Brown, whose name has surfaced in organized crime investigations, the AP said.
According to records and interviews obtained by the AP, the senator did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in the company.
Defending the senator, his aides argued the deal was not disclosed because it was considered a "technical transfer."
No money changed hands, they insisted, and Reid's ownership stake in Brown's company was equal to the value of his land. The senator, they contended, also continued to pay taxes on the land.
The aides also explained there were no documents to prove Reid's stake in the company, because it was an informal agreement between friends.
The AP said Reid bought the undeveloped residential property on the outskirts of Las Vegas for about $400,000 and sold it in 2001 for the same price to Brown's limited liability corporation.
Reid did not disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company, the AP notes, but continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.
Brown then convinced local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center before his company sold the land in 2004 to other developers.
Reid nearly tripled his investment, taking $1.1 million of the proceeds. He then reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.
The AP said Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an interview last week.
Reid spokesman Jim Manley told the wire service the 1998 purchase "was a normal business transaction at market prices."
"There were several legal steps associated with the investment during those years that did not alter Senator Reid's actual ownership interest in the land," he said.
But Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties, regardless of profit or loss, the wire service points out, and to report any ownership stake in companies.
A former Federal Election Commission official affirmed Reid's failure to report the sale and his ties to Brown's company violated Senate rules.
"This is very, very clear," said Kent Cooper, who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress.
"It is especially disconcerting when you have a member of the leadership, of either party, not putting in the effort to make sure this is a complete and accurate report," said Cooper. "That says something to other members. It says something to the Ethics Committee."
We know that Reid's land deal was not in a blind trust..............but, we don't know for sure if Hastert put everything in a blind trust after becoming Speaker of the House.................be nice to find out.........
P.S. Death to the MSM.......
I agree. Let's start ridding Congress of crooks.
not a freakin word of this candal mentioned on national news tonight..they were too busy explaining how bad the war in iraq was going and how all things wrong with the world are all Bush's fault!!!
Reid is a Dim. This story will have no legs!
If we dont shout this on efrom the rooftops , if the Republicans in power don't TOTALLY exploit this on e, then we deserve to loose all we have. If this were a republican there would be world wide condemnation ..Let's milk this for all we can get . The Republicans should spend every dime , every hour of time they have to expose this and MAKE SURE it's known to everyone who intends to vote in NOV.
It's so well known that Harry Reid has used his office to enrich himself and his family that I wonder that anyone would be surprised at anything he does.
BTW, why don't some enterprising journalist expose Reid for the crook he is?
You don't see the scam here ?
Isn’t legally that considered to be a Donation?
Mark Levin has been talking about this for 45 mins now on his show..sounds like Reid is into it deep.
Dunno, but I sure wish I had a friend like that. Informal or otherwise!
The aides also explained there were no documents to prove Reid's stake in the company, because it was an informal agreement between friends.
Isn’t legally that considered to be a Donation?
Sorry forgot to add the other line
I wish, but dream on.
Is this any different than the dealings that took down Duke Cunningham?
I just wrote to him asking for his resignation.We all should.
Harry is also neck-deep in Abramoff. More (by the measure of funds taken from Abramoff clients) than anybody.
Just the words..."Harry Reid" brings to mind an abscenity.
Why a great manly state like Nevada would have this little wuss, wimp, mean girlie-man is beyond me.....Mormonism is the ONLY reason...that and the Vegas Mafia....the Mormon Mafia??
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