Reid to Reimburse Campaign for Donations

[Purveyor]

(10-16) 13:37 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) --


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 he was personally reimbursing his campaign for $3,300 in donations he had directed to the staff holiday fund at his residence.

---SNIP---

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."


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.

---END OF EXCERPT---

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/10/16/national/w133705D12.DTL

[rodeodance]

1. why NOW!

[aquart]

2. For LEGAL donations.

You missed that bit.

[Taoschick]

9. Actually,

Using campaign money for the building Christmas fund is problematic since he would still be donating to that fund if he weren't in the Senate.

[sabra]

3. Democrat corruption!!!

:sarcasm:

[Gabi Hayes]

4. note who the author is...the same one who just can't seem to get

much of anything right about dems. what's his deal?

surprise, surprise

A.S., "AP omitted Dorgan's response to alleged Abramoff link," (http://mediamatters.org/items/200511300016) Media Matters for America, November 30, 2005.
"AP continued to mislead on purported Abramoff-Reid link," (http://mediamatters.org/items/200602130005) Media Matters for America, February 13, 2006.
John Aravosis, "Three more AP John Solomon articles faulted for taking pot-shots at Dems, leaving out key facts," (http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/05/three-more-ap-john-solomon-articles.html) AMERICAblog, May 29, 2006.
Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/008612.php), May 31, 2006.
Paul Kiel, "AP's John Solomon - One More for the Road," (http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000798.php#more) TPM Muckraker, June 1, 2006.
"In follow-up article on Reid, AP's Solomon continued pattern of distortion," (http://mediamatters.org/items/200606020002) Media Matters for America, June 2, 2006.
Retrieved from "http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_Solomon"

[louis-t]

5. Funny how Dems get busted...

over $2000 or $3000. You think Harry Reid tried to steal $3000? Puh-lease! Repugs get busted over millions.

[gully]

6. OMG! ALL THE HUMANITIES!

:sarcasm:

[Cooley Hurd]

7. That proves it...

...Dems are AS CORRUPT as reNAMBLAcans!

[Kingshakabobo]

15. Nice compilation!

:thumbsup:

[Taoschick]

8. Reid needs to fire

Whoever it is responsible for the errors.

[Renew Deal]

10. Why did the Republicans let this happen?

I want to see the republican leadership under oath in chains!

[Rose Siding]

11. How will the Republicans survive this scandal?

[wellst0nev0ter]

12. Does Anyone Know The Safeword For John Solomon's Hard-on for Reid?

anyone. . .Bueller?

[Ian David]

13. I want to know when Tom DeLay knew this and why he did nothing until now

And why didn't Harry Reid send the busses?

[Eugene]

14. This looks more like sloppy bookkeeping than misconduct.

Harry Reid treaded too close to the appearance of impropriety again,
but calling bonuses "salary" is a plausible honest mistake. I would
expect professional political operatives to do this better.

John Soloman still is still beating on that land deal.
He has it in for Harry Reid personally.

[rodeodance]

16. Reid used campaign money for bonuses

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_go_co/reid_land_windfall;_ylt=AgPUEVXzCLrbaKAV43jrvI6MwfIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

Reid used campaign money for bonuses

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 17, 8:33 AM ET

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........

[rodeodance]

17. He had asked the Senate Ethics Committee----for an opinion.

.....Reid said the failure to disclose those transactions previously was due to "clerical errors" and they amounted to "two minor matters that were inadvertently left off my original disclosure forms."

He had asked the Senate Ethics Committee last Wednesday for an opinion on the 2001 land sale but decided to amend his forms prior to the committee acting.

Reid's announcement came after numerous newspapers nationwide published editorials criticizing both his initial failure to disclose the full details of his Las Vegas land deal and his response to AP's story.

The $1.1 million land deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in other prior organized crime investigations. Brown has never been charged with wrongdoing, except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.

Ethics experts told AP that Reid's inaccurate accounting of the deal to Congress appeared to violate Senate ethics rules and raised other issues concerning taxes and potential gifts.

[Stand and Fight]

40. Funny... Soloman doesn't mention he was the author of that article...

He's the one who broke the damn story about this in the first place... Good grief. This guy is an idiot.

[librechik]

18. V for Vendetta

Solomon has it in for Reid. What a shithead.

[Stand and Fight]

41. Agreed...

Funny how he fails to mention that he has authored the referenced article and many other trying to stick shit to Reid. Each time his accusations fail to materialize. He's the Ken Starr of Reporters when it comes to the good senator.

[wakeme2008]

19. another hit piece by John Solomon

:grr:

[Judi Lynn]

25. That's what I thought too. Jesus, another Solomon job on Reid. n/t

[rodeodance]

27. i see read a few articles on yahoo the last few days.

[Stand and Fight]

42. He's got to be on the White House pay roll.

I think it's time to do some research.

[ClassWarrior]

20. Dig, Rape-Publicans, dig!!

Ain't nothing that's gonna top covering up a child predator.

:rofl:

NGU.

[babylonsister]

21. Solomon needs to read more:

From here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=2886999

Reid Goes Beyond Ethics Requirements

Press Release of Senator Reid
http://reid.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=264714&
REID GOES BEYOND ETHICS REQUIREMENTS, DISARMS GOP SMEAR CAMPAIGN
Monday, October 16, 2006

Washington, DC— Senator Harry Reid of Nevada today issued the following statement:

“Last month, Republicans openly boasted that they would engage in a campaign of personal attacks and smears to hold onto power in Washington. In recent days, we witnessed their latest attempt to do just that.

“Republicans may believe in cover-ups. I believe in ensuring all facts come to light.

“Last week, a highly misleading report by the Associated Press implied that I made a profit selling land I no longer owned. That article was wrong. Here are the facts: I bought the land in 1998, I sold it in 2004, and I listed my ownership of the land on official Senate disclosure forms every single year.

“Now I have taken an additional step. Today, 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. As the amended forms make clear, this routine legal move in no way altered my actual ownership of the land. On each disclosure form after 2001, I have added a note to clarify that the land already disclosed in detail on those forms was owned by me through the LLC.

“The Ethics Committee has not yet advised me whether I should file these amended forms, but even if I am not required to do so I am happy to go beyond what is needed to provide the fullest disclosure. The amended forms make clear what was true all along – I owned the land through the LLC when I sold it in 2004.

“Also, in the course of preparing the amended disclosure forms, my staff has identified some clerical errors and two minor matters that were inadvertently left off my original disclosure forms. First, in 2004 I sold about one third of an acre in my hometown of Searchlight. Second, a quarter acre of land that I received from my brother in 1985 appreciated in value above the $1,000 reporting threshold at some point in recent years. Both of these items will be listed on my amended disclosure forms.

“Finally, I have acted today to respond to another issue some plan to raise. I have sent a personal check in the amount of $3,300 to my political campaign to fully reimburse the campaign for donations it made over several years to the employee holiday fund in my apartment building. These donations were made to thank the men and women who work in the building for the extra work they do as a result of my political activities, and for helping the security officers assigned to me because of my Senate position. The donations came from my campaign – no taxpayer dollars were ever involved.

“When the campaign first donated to the holiday fund, its experienced lawyer William Oldaker advised us that such donations were permissible. The campaign's current lawyer, Marc Elias, says the same thing. Nonetheless, 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.”

[rodeodance]

29. thanks. i have not read this.

[onenote]

36. Reid's lawyer, Bill Oldaker is a smart guy

If Oldaker says it was okay, I have to believe there is a strong argument that its okay.

[Lance_Boyle]

22. Know what? Fuck Harry Reid.

Yeah, he's got a "D" behind his name, but that doesn't make him immune to being a crooked shitbag. Poor baby can't fund tips for his Ritz Carlton staff out of his own pocket? Maybe he's living beyond his means. Doesn't mean political contributors ought to foot the bill. Fuck Harry and his Ritz Carlton digs. He's no better than you and me, and he doesn't deserve that lap of luxury lifestyle any more than you or I do. American Democracy could without the Dirty Ds, too.

[Nozebro]

24. Harry Reid: an American man with typical middle-class (corrupt) values

You are exactly right, and Reid is one of the main reasons why so many people don't bother to vote, or else they vote for third-party candidates like RALPH NADER - who may be the last honest and good man in public life today.

[brentspeak]

28. A Ralph Nader fan who also defends Condi Rice's ineptitude?

Strange mix.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=2295657&mesg_id=2295689

[Nozebro]

32. Pls. translate into plain English what you're trying to say here.

nt

[Swede]

34. Read post five.

Then eat some crow.

[zreosumgame]

37. seems pretty plain to those of us who do not have our heads up our ass

or is it someon ele's ass you are snuggling up to?

[Lance_Boyle]

39. I read post #5

If that's crow, it tastes like smarmy rich-man's shit. I repeat - fuck Harry, fuck his Ritz-Carlton digs, and fuck anyone who feels the need to defend this "but I *deserve* to live like a king" bullshit from our "representatives."

[Swede]

43. This is a smear by a reporter with a not so hidden agenda.

Plain as day,unless you agree with his agenda.

[zreosumgame]

23. so AP is now totally 'FAUX'ed'-up' it seems

they include their false 'story' from last week to pro up this little piece of propaganda.

[Norquist Nemesis]

26. I guess the land deal hit just wasn't going to pan out

Funny how Reid goes to the ethics committee asking for a finding...meanwhile a land deal Hastert had "earning" him at least twice as much has fallen into the memoryhole.

[savemefromdumbya]

30. Wasn't Hastert linked to the Turkish Council laundering and bribes?

more than just a land deal!

Former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds is accusing the FBI of covering up improper contacts and financial dealings between certain Turkish nationals and the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert. We speak with Sibel Edmonds and Vanity Fair journalist David Rose. you know the rest....

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/08/10/1346254

[Norquist Nemesis]

31. Yup! That too! n/t

[savemefromdumbya]

33. when he resigns this may be the real reason

[Norquist Nemesis]

35. DCCC needs to pony up some cash for a commercial

and remind the good folks of the 14th District about it. :)

[Stand and Fight]

38. John Soloman needs to get a life...

This guy has some kind of hard-on for Senator Reid, and each and every time it amounts to nothing. What a moran!