FREEBIE FLAP: Ethics letter targets Reid

[NVMojo]

Freeper madness.

June 2, 2006

Activist asks Senate panel to look into controversy over boxing tickets :

A local political activist says he has filed an ethics complaint against Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid over Reid's acceptance of free seats at Las Vegas boxing matches.

Robert Rose, who has filed multiple ethics complaints against Nevada officials in the past, drafted a letter consisting mostly of quoted material from a Review-Journal article about the boxing controversy and asking that the Senate Select Commission on Ethics investigate.

"Because of the appearance of impropriety, I request that the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee immediately look into this matter," the letter states.

Reid has come under fire for attending fights as a non-paying guest of the Nevada Athletic Commission at a time when the commission was trying to sway his position on federal boxing regulation.

more...

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/Jun-02-Fri-2006/news/7738335.html

[uppityperson]

1. well, hell, that does it for a presidential run, better impeach him now

:sarcasm:

[wryter2000]

2. Oh, Reid's so scared

Bring it on, asshole.

[gratuitous]

3. Rose is basing it on John Solomon's AP story?

Hoo boy, is Rose behind the times. Talking Points Memo has done a terrific job looking into the Solomon story, and it has some, uhm, problems . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

[MADem]

4. Is this guy a GOP attack dog???

He sure as hell is a day late and a dollar short, ain't he!!!!

[struggle4progress]

16. "... Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., accepted free tickets to another fight ..

.. with Reid ..."

May 30, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Reid defends boxing tickets
Ringside seats came from state agency
By JOHN SOLOMON
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2006/May-30-Tue-2006/news/7681315.html

[splat@14]

5. There's an Ethics Committee?

[NYC Liberal]

6. There is now. A Democrat was accused of doing something wrong.

[NVMojo]

7. here's more: Senate colleague in Nevada staying out of Reid ethics flap

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is staying out of a dispute over whether Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid should have accepted free seats at Las Vegas boxing matches.

Ensign's office received a request from southern Nevada political watchdog Robert Rose to help initiate a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, but the senator's staff declined, Ensign spokesman Jack Finn said Friday.

"This individual can go directly to the Ethics Committee," Finn told The Associated Press.

"Really, there's no role for our office in this," he said.

more...

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/02/060210440.html

[struggle4progress]

17. Ensign's hopin don't nobody pay no never mind to free to HIS free tics.

[ContraBass Black]

8. Let them investigate. Reid followed the rules, he didn't break them.

Let them do a full inquiry, and make it front page news when he's acquitted.

[Kagemusha]

9. Like I keep saying, maybe Reid was in the wrong, but it was legal

And it followed ethics rules to the letter. Spirit? Decide for yourselves. But making a complaint like this is just wasting everyone's time.

That and, if for nothing else - and if you believe TPM there's a ton else - Solomon was deeply in the wrong to compare what Reid did with McCain and claim that credentials were tickets and that McCain had reimbursed Nevada, when he had not and indeed, could not do any such thing. Sadly, that greatly overshadows what Reid did, which I don't concede was the wisest course of (entirely legal) action, but which deserves honest and truthful debate.

Which thanks to Solomon this isn't.

[ContraBass Black]

10. Someone posted that it would have been a violation of the rules

For him to pay for the ticket because of his position. He ought to bring this before the ethics committee himself, and demand an inquiry to clear him.

[Kagemusha]

11. Different rules being discussed here.

Senate ethic rules allow Reid to accept the credentials (it's actually NOT tickets at all). Nevada rules don't permit Reid OR McCain to pay for the credentials because they are not to be sold for any price.

[husker_gunner]

12. Senate Ethics Committee

I guess many do not know that there is in fact an Ethics Committee in both the Senate and the House. And yes, in fact, to the dismay to many here, Senator Reid did in fact not abide by the Ethics rules. You can go to http://ethics.senate.gov/downloads/pdffiles/manual.pdf to read the ethics manual. A gift is defined broadly and includes any ‘‘item having monetary value.’’ Specifically, paragraph 2(b)(1) of the Rule states: he term ‘‘gift’’ means any gratuity, favor, discount, entertainment, hospitality, loan, forbearance, or other item having monetary value. The term includes gifts of services, training, transportation, lodging, and meals, whether provided in kind, by purchase of a ticket, payment in advance, or reimbursement after the expense has been incurred. ... and the limit of the gift is $50.00. The Gifts Rule contains 23 exceptions but none of those exceptions cover what was provided to him.

Senator McCain did what one the exception rules states: pay for the ticket.

In addition, if one looks up the "free attendance" clause within the manual, ‘‘Free attendance’’ at a widely attended event does not include an offer of free attendance (i.e. a ticket) to a sporting, entertainment, or other purely recreational event.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Did he blow/get blown by one of the boxers?

[Kagemusha]

14. I'm sorry, I've criticized Reid a lot over this, and you're trippin'.

The problem is that the fact that there is no legal way to reimburse Nevada for the credentials means that they had NO monetary value under the rules. And the bigger problem - and something Solomon made unclear to the point of egregious deception - is that McCain DID NOT PAY FOR THE "TICKET". There was no "ticket". (And I am very ticked off to find that confirmed) McCain's money was NOT accepted. The money was donated to charity. McCain's money went to charity, not to repaying the "ticket" because the fact it was a credential and not a ticket meant it could not legally be bought, or payment - or repayment - legally be accepted.

Understand?

[Kerrytravelers]

15. Oh, we know there is indeed an "Ethics" Committee in both the House and

Senate. At least, there is a committee with "Ethics" in the title.

Due to their incredible inactivity, I just figured they were on vacation as often as their "leader." But, it's time to investigate a Democrat, so they perked right back up and suddenly appeared again, rested and rejuvenated. Or maybe they were spending a great deal of time with their lawyers (their trial lawyers) worried about a special little friend of theirs names Jack Abramahoff.