http://news.bostonherald.com/politics/view.bg?articleid=162777
Reid used campaign money for bonuses
By Associated Press
Tuesday, October 17, 2006 - Updated: 01:14 PM EST
WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for the support staff at the Ritz-Carlton where he lives in an upscale condominium. Federal election law bars candidates from converting political donations for personal use.
Questioned about the campaign expenditures by The Associated Press, Reid’s office said Monday his lawyers had approved them but he nonetheless was personally reimbursing his campaign for the $3,300 he had directed to the staff holiday fund at his residence.
Reid also announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal, highlighted in an AP story last week, that allowed him to collect $1.1 million in 2004 for property he hadn’t personally owned in three years.
In that matter, the senator hadn’t disclosed to Congress that he first sold land to a friend’s limited liability company back in 2001 and took an ownership stake in the company. He collected the seven-figure payout when the company sold the land again in 2004 to others.
Reid portrayed the 2004 sale as a personal sale of land, not mentioning the company’s ownership or its role in the sale.
Reid said his amended ethics reports would list the 2001 sale and the company, called Patrick Lane LLC. He said the amended reports also would divulge two other smaller land deals he had failed to report to Congress.
"I directed my staff to file amended financial disclosure forms noting that in 2001, I transferred title to the land to a Limited Liability Corporation," Reid said in a statement issued by his office.
He said he believed the 2001 sale did not alter his ownership of the land but that he agreed to file the amended reports because "I believe in ensuring all facts come to light."
Reid labeled the AP story as the "latest attempt" by Republicans to affect the election. AP reported last week that it learned of the land deal from a former Reid adviser who had concerns about the way the deal was reported to Congress.
On the Ritz-Carlton holiday donations, Reid gave $600 in 2002, then $1,200 in 2004 and $1,500 in 2005 from his re-election campaign to an entity listed as the REC Employee Holiday Fund. His campaign listed the expenses as campaign "salary" for two of the years and as a "contribution" one year.
Reid’s office said the listing as salary was a "clerical error" and that the use of campaign money for the residential fund was approved by his lawyers. "I am reimbursing the campaign from my own pocket to prevent this issue from being used in the current campaign season to deflect attention from Republican failures," he said.
Residents and workers at the Ritz said the fund’s full name is the Residents Executive Committee Holiday Fund and that it collects money each year from the condominium residents to help provide Christmas gifts, bonuses and a party for the support staff. [continues]
http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/101806/reidbrief.html
Reid faces FEC complaint
By Elana Schor
Conservative group Citizens United yesterday announced plans to file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) about Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) use of campaign funds to contribute to the Christmas fund in his condominium.
Reid, taking heat for his failure to report on annual financial disclosures that he had transferred ownership of land in suburban Las Vegas to a limited liability corporation, said Monday he would reimburse his campaign committee for $3,300 in annual donations to the Ritz-Carlton Christmas fund to stave off any allegations of ethical impropriety.
Citizens United President David Bossie, not satisfied by this, said he would dispute the issue with the FEC.
"Senator Reid knows better than to use political contributions for personal services," Bossie said in a statement. He made waves in conservative circles for his recent call that Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) resign in the wake of the former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) congressional page scandal.
One Democratic leadership aide, firing back at GOP attempts to impugn Reid's record, pointed to a 1992 FEC complaint filed against Bossie by former President George H.W. Bush. That complaint stemmed from a Citizens United ad asking voters to call a phone number that played fake conversations between former President Clinton and alleged mistress Gennifer Flowers.
Reid's office referred requests for comment to Reid's Monday statement on his reimbursement