Record and controversies
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Senator's Sons
In 2003 Reid was embarassed by a Los Angeles Times article on his son and son-in-law lobbying his office. In 2002 Reid introduced a bill, "The Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002," which was ostensibly aimed at boundary shifts, land trades and other arcane matters in Nevada. The Times article explains that the bill would provide "a cavalcade of benefits to real estate developers, corporations and local institutions that were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying fees to his sons' and son-in-law's firms".[6]
Howard Hughes Corp. paid Reid's son-in-law Scott Barringer's "tiny" law firm $300,000 in lobbying fees and received "a provision allowing the company to acquire 998 acres of federal land ripe for development in the exploding Las Vegas metropolitan area." A Nevada law firm that employs all four of Reid's sons represented a group of real estate developers that received helpful provisions in the Clark County bill.[7]
Reid argued that the bill would help Nevada's economy while protecting the environment. The bill "placed an additional 440,000 acres of federal land under wilderness protection".[8]
Reid's son Key and Barringer have represented almost every industry in Nevada, all of them seek Reid's help on federal matters.[9] Reid initially defended his son's lobbying as perfectly legal and clean, noting that they had to file biannual reports. He later banned family members from lobbying anyone in his office.[10]
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Acceptance of boxing tickets
Between 2003 and 2005, Reid accepted free ringside seats at three Nevada boxing matches. The passes were provided by the Nevada Athletic Commission, the official Nevada State Agency that "regulates all contests or exhibitions of boxing, including the licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, mixed martial artists, karate boxers, seconds, ring officials, managers, and matchmakers." (Source: boxing.nv.gov). Reid accepted the tickets at a time that he was pushing legislation that would diminish the power of the commission. The bill passed the Senate, but stalled in the house. [11]
In December of 2006, the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Reid of any wrong doing in the matter. Reid, however, said that he understood the negative image his actions created and would refrain from acting similarly in the future. [12]
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Relationship to Jack Abramoff
According to a February 9, 2006, Associated Press story by John Solomon, Reid wrote letters and had "routine contacts" with lobbying partners and clients of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. [13] Reid's actions aided the interests of Abramoff's Native American clients. Reid has acknowledged receiving $61,000 from clients or collegues of Abramoff, much of which was given to Reid by indian tribes after Abramoff was hired. [14] Reid collected donations around the time of each action he took to help Abromoff's clients. Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in legislative matters regarding campaign donors. While some politicans have returned contributions they received from Abramoff or his clients, Harry Reid has steadfastly refused claiming the Abramoff matter "is a Republican scandal." [15]
Abramoff's lobbying firm has made public billing records and congressional correspondence of more than two dozen contacts, between Abramoff's lobbying team, and Reid's office. Many of the discussions relate to the passage of a Kennedy bill that would slowly raise the minimum wage of the Northern Mariana Islands.[16] [17] Publicly, Reid supported an increase in minimum wage there, though some have claimed that privately he was working against it. Both Reid spokesmen Jim Manley and Ron Platt, one of Abramoff's partners involved with the Mariana lobbying, have denied the claim, Platt said "I'm sure he didn't".[18]
In his defense, Reid spokesman Jim Manley said that neither Reid nor his campaign has never received money directly from Abramoff, and Reid said his legislative work was done on behalf of his Nevadan constituents. After contacting Reid's office and other fact checking, Josh Marshall wrote in his Talking Points Memo blog that, "despite the AP story's narrative of lobbyist contacts, there doesn't seem to be any evidence whatsoever that Reid ever took any action on behalf of Abramoff's Marianas clients." [19]
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Bush is a "Loser" and other comments
Reid made headlines in May 2005 when he said of George W. Bush, "The man's father is a wonderful human being. I think this guy is a loser." Reid later apologized for these comments. Reid also called Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas an "embarrassment" and referred to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan as a "partisan hack."[20]
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Improper donation from lobbyist
In 1999, Reid received a $3,000 donation from a Texas friend, Ben Barnes, for his legal defense fund during a recount process which followed his 1998 Senate campaign against his present-day colleague, Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). Congressional ethics rules, however, prohibit lawmakers from accepting legal defense fund donations from registered lobbyists, which Barnes was at the time. The donation went unnoticed until the Center for Public Integrity released a report in August 2005 about a handful of lawmakers, Reid among them, who'd accepted improper lobbyist donations into their legal defense funds.
Reid brought the matter to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, and repaid the $3,000 to Barnes in October 2005. The Ethics Committee informed him that he should also pay interest for the time he had the donation. Reid had an accountant calculate the exact amount using the statutory rate under Nevada law (prime plus two percent adjusted annually), and sent Barnes a check for $1,611.47 on May 22, 2006 out of his campaign fund.
Reid spokesman Jon Summers stated, "As soon as this came to our attention we resolved this as quickly as possible." [21]
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Helps campaign contributor secure government land for development
Reid is a longtime friend of Harvey Whittemore, a multimillionaire lobbyist and land developer from Nevada. From 2002 to 2006, Reid often used his influence in the Senate to help Whittemore attain government land for the purposes of building a massive development in the barren Coyote Springs Valley in Nevada. Reid even pushed for Whittemore to be granted the rights for free; ultimately, he paid the government $10 million.
As the project advanced, Reid received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Whittemore. The contributions went both to Reid's Senate campaigns and his leadership fund, which helps fund the campaigns of other Senate Democrats.
The relationship between the two goes even deeper. Reid's son, Leif Reid, is Whittemore's personal lawyer and has represented the developer throughout the Coyote Springs project and his negotiations with federal officials.
In response, a spokesman for Reid said, "There is a reason every major Republican and Democratic officeholder in Nevada has fought for Coyote Springs---it will create jobs and make the state an even better place to live and raise a family." [22]
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Improper reporting of land deal
In 1998, Reid bought two parcels of land on the outskirts of Las Vegas. He bought one parcel himself, and another jointly with his partner and longtime friend Jay Brown. In 2001, Reid sold the land to a limited liability company created by Brown for an equivalent share of the company. He did not disclose the sale to Congress, however, and continued to list the land as a personal asset. When the land sold for over $1 million dollars in 2004, Reid received $1.1 million and listed the transaction as a personal land sale. Reid's name was not formally attached to Brown's company in any way. Reid claimed that this was because the two men had known each other for 35 years and trusted each other completely. [23]
On October 16, 2006, Reid announced that he was filing a correction to his ethics form that would better represent the actualities of the arrangements surrounding the land deal. He also stated that he would be amending the reports to include two other small holdings that had been previously unreported. [24]
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Improper use of campaign funds for Christmas bonuses
From 2002-2005, Reid used money that had been donated to his political campaign fund to contribute to the holiday bonus fund for the staffers of his Ritz-Carlton condominium. Federal law forbids the use of campaign funds for personal matters. Reid claimed that he had consulted his lawyers and been told it was legal as he was thanking them for extra work. Nevertheless, in October 2006, he pledged to personally pay back the money (a total of $3300). [25]
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Earmark for a bridge near personal land
In November 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Reid had earmarked to a bridge building project near where he held 160 acres of land. The bridge is intended to span the Colorado River between Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona. Reid's land is several miles from the proposed site of the bridge in Arizona. His office explained that the new bridge was necessary due to the Hoover Dam's closure to truck traffic due to terrorism fears and categorically denied that it had anything to with his landholdings.
In January 2007, Reid's 2002 acquisition of the property came under scrutiny as he only paid a mere $166 an acre for the 160 acre parcel.
Reid's interest in the barren parcel dates back to the period of 1979 through 1982, when he and Clair Haycock bought the 160 acres. Haycock bought a three-eighths interest, equivalent to 60 acres, for $90,000 ? $1,500 an acre. Reid, then a Nevada lawyer and political figure, bought the other five-eighths, the equivalent of 100 acres. They did not divide the parcel. |
