Extra, Extra, Reid All About It
Blake, Whitney
Extra, Extra, Reid All About It The press interests itself in the pratfalls of a Democrat, for a change. by Whitney Blake The Associated Press investigation of Harry Reid's Las Vegas real estate...
...Or maybe they can...
...He still paid taxes on the land and, because of the nature of a limited liability company, he had a stake in the property, although the extent of his interest in Patrick Lane was never officially documented...
...Following its first volley, the AP reported that since 2002, Reid had diverted $3,300 in campaign funds to staff at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C., where he owns a $750,000 condominium, as part of a holiday appreciation gift that residents contribute to annually...
...Reid still maintained on congressional reports that he owned the land...
...Reid "used his influence in Washington" to help Whittemore turn Coyote Springs, a 43,000-acre development on the outskirts of Las Vegas, into an area with "as many as 159,000 homes, 16 golf courses, and a full complement of stores and service facilities...
...Back in May, revelations surfaced that Reid took free ringside boxing tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission at the same time he was dealing with legislation on boxing regulations...
...He didn't act on the legislation, but did write "at least four letters favorable to Abramoff's tribal clients," according to the AP When questioned about this on Fox News Sunday back in December 2005, Reid adamantly stated, "I feel totally at ease that I haven't done anything that is even close to being wrong...
...Reid told the Reno Gazette-Journal that the boxing ticket episode "didn't look right...
...He makes a "technical correction" to fix it...
...Erin Kenny, also on the com- 1 mission, was encouraged by Reid to run for lieutenant governor in 2002...
...Sheila Krumholz of the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics commented on CNN, "You do not use campaign donations for personal use, and tipping your doorman or the con-do association just doesn't pass the smell test...
...According to the Times, Reid helped Whittemore overcome various legal and environmental hurdles, and Whittemore gave Reid's campaign and PACs about $45,000 over the past six years, as well as $20,000 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and $5,000 each to two sons of Reid who ran for local offices (one of whom is a partner at Whittemore's law firm...
...One of Reid's i aides led Herrera out of the courthouse through a secured exit the day of the conviction to avoid a perp walk...
...Luckily for him, Reid doesn't fit into the press's preferred mantra of a Republican "culture of corruption...
...another portion he co-owned with Jay Brown, a former casino lawyer who has been associated with, but never indicted for, various organized crime scandals stretching from the late 1970s until last summer...
...Reid didn't note that he owned the land...
...Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican senatorial Committee, argues that how the land was actually rezoned is the "sketchiest part" of the story...
...A year later, Herrera was indicted for taking cash bribes and sexual favors from a strip club owner...
...and Tropicana showman Joe Agosto...
...Reid campaigned for Herrera, calling him "a man of integrity...
...Ignorance of the rules is no defense: Reid chaired the Senate Ethics Committee from 2001 to 2002 and held the vice chair position the subsequent year...
...The only issue that wasn't evident from the forms, says Manley, was "how the interest changed"—which he characterizes as a "technical transfer...
...Reid spokesman Jim Manley criticizes the AP report for implying that Whitney Blake is an editorial assistant at The Weekly Standard...
...For the Ritz-Carlton staff, he writes a check to replace the $3,300 campaign funds...
...During Brown's third bite at the apple in the summer of 2001, the architect associated with Patrick Lane, LLC, mentioned Reid's name while appearing before the County Commission (AP has video of this...
...So don't lump me in with Jack Abramoff...
...This is a Republican scandal...
...Aside from the two AP stories, a lengthy Los Angeles Times article on August 20, which has received little attention, explored links between Reid and developer Harvey Whitte-more...
...These lapses in judgment are starting to add up to the point where they can't be so easily brushed aside...
...Nonetheless, the episode sounds eerily familiar to longtime followers of Reid's career...
...Reid's business partner, Brown, had tried twice and failed to get Clark County officials and the town board to recommend rezoning...
...In an October 16 press release, Reid cried foul for the publicizing of the financial dealings, claiming a GOP "campaign of personal attacks and smears" that he wasn't going to let "deflect attention from Republican failures...
...Another son is Whitte-more's personal lawyer and negotiated with various government agencies on behalf of the Coyote Springs project...
...In 2004, after the parcel was rezoned as commercial (more on this later), it was sold and developed as a strip mall...
...Jay Brown, who represents Argent Corp...
...On the backing of corrupt officials for campaigns, Reid says he won't recruit candidates anymore...
...I don't know who he works for but he is a front for the RNC...
...I'm not suggesting," Reid continued when pressed, "I'm telling you that John solomon is a front for the RNC...
...He didn't come down on the side of the commission, and he defended his actions, saying he was "not Goodie Two Shoes...
...I just should have paid for the tickets...
...Nick asserts it was this name-dropping that finally got a favorable ruling from the board...
...I didn't, but I'll never do it again...
...Reid himself apparently never spoke to any commission member about the rezoning application, or told the architect to use his name...
...He also met with two of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's clients back in June 2003, and benefited from a fundraiser hosted by a former staffer who worked at Abramoff's firm at the time...
...According to Nick, Reid wouldn't have been able to make a $700,000 profit if the land had not been rezoned...
...Reid funneled $10,000 from his PAC and appeared in ad spots on her behalf...
...Dario Herrera, chairman of the County Commission at the time the Patrick Lane plot was rezoned, was "handpicked" by Reid to run for Congress against Jon Porter in 2002, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and was "considered Reid's protege and the Democratic Party's future star...
...On the land deal: "I don't have any more land to sell in Las Vegas so this won't happen again...
...Earlier this year, he was convicted on 17 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and extortion and sentenced to 50 months in prison...
...He was represented by, among others, David Brown, Jay Brown's son...
...by Whitney Blake The Associated Press investigation of Harry Reid's Las Vegas real estate razzle-dazzle has made a splash equivalent to a drop of water compared with the tidal wave of media attention surrounding Mark Foley...
...Kenny reached a plea agreement in 2003 for bribery and testified against Herrera...
...Part of the land he solely owned...
...In 2001, Reid essentially transferred the land to a company called Patrick Lane, LLC, which he and Brown founded...
...The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that while on the campaign trail in Reno for Senate candidate Jack Carter, Reid blasted AP reporter John solomon, who helped break the story, as a "hit man for the RNC," which was no doubt news to the RNC...
...The original AP report cited ethics experts, including a Democrat, stating that Reid should have disclosed the nature of his ownership...
...On October 11, the AP broke a story that Reid had pocketed $1.1 million from the sale of land that was not listed on public documents as being owned by him (which was not completely accurate...
...On the Whittemore story, Reid's office decided to "prohibit any lobbying of Sen...
...In 1998, he had bought a piece of residential property on the outskirts of Las Vegas for $400,000...
...However, this in itself might have breached senate ethics rules...
...Manley, for his part, says the fact that Reid's name was mentioned before the County Commission shows the AP was wrong to say Reid's role in Patrick Lane hadn't been documented...
...Reid Saturday denied receiving any money from Brown and charged that his former friend may have been 'trading on my name.'" In addition, two members of the full board, which overturned the previous zoning decisions, had close ties to Reid, and both in the past were convicted on bribery charges...
...Some of his contributors, clients of Abramoff's, met around that time with Reid to discuss legislation...
...Manley told me that the right-wing blogosphere, which has certainly enjoyed the goings-on, has been pushing the story for months...
...But that doesn't mean the senate's top Democrat should escape further scrutiny from reporters...
...Reid reasoned that this was legitimate since the demands on the hotel staff were "a result of my political activities . . . and my senate position...
...Reid's office by his family," according to the Los Angeles Times...
...However, as the AP disclosed, the information driving its reporting came from a former Reid staffer "who had concerns about how it was reported to Congress...
...What does Reid do when caught red-handed...
...He simply says "oops" and moves along...
...A June 1979 North Las Vegas Valley Times article began, "An electronically intercepted conversation between two Kansas City mob figures links Gaming Commission Chairman Harry Reid to a $10,000 per month payment allegedly made to Atty...
...Reid made a $700,000 profit...
...When I pointed out that this was the only way his association with the company had ever been disclosed, Manley said that he wasn't sure of the "nuances...
Vol. 12 • October 2006 • No. 7
