Harry Reid, aka Pinky aka Dirty Harry is another Washington DC crook who tries to avoid suspicion by constantly accusing others of wrongdoing. Putting up a smoke screen in other words.

What we have here is a member of the Senate Ethics Committee preaching about violations while he himself is violating ethics requirements:



In the wake of the 2006 corruption conviction of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, media criticism led over four dozen Congressmen, as well as President Bush, to return campaign donations associated with Abramoff. Reid did not receive any contributions from Abramoff, but Reid had contact with clients and lobbying partners of Abramoff,[citation needed] and Reid's campaign received over $60,000 in contributions from these groups, including about $50,000 from Native American gaming interests. Several times, Native American tribes that were clients of Jack Abramoff donated money to Reid after Reid's votes produced favorable results for the tribes. According to an Associated Press article, "Reid collected donations around the time of each action. Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in collecting contributions around the times they take official acts benefiting donors."[19] Among dozens of contacts between Abramoff's lobbying team and Reid's office, were several discussions about a bill to raise the minimum wage of the Northern Mariana Islands. Reid supported the bill, which Abramoff's clients opposed. Some claim that privately he was working against it, though have noted no evidence to support their claims.

Reid said that the contributions and contacts were legal and his actions were proper. He also described the Abramoff affair as "a Republican scandal," referring to Abramoff's felony conviction for making illegal contributions to Republican Congressman Bob Ney and his close affiliation with the Republican K Street Project. [23] A spokesman said that Reid had never met Abramoff personally, that neither Reid nor his campaign has ever received money directly from Abramoff, and that his legislative work was done on behalf of his Nevadan constituents.

Boxing tickets

In May 2006, John Solomon of the Associated Press erroneously reported that Reid had accepted free tickets valued at hundreds of dollars each for three boxing matches between 2003 and 2005 from the Nevada Athletic Commission, though it was later reported that Reid had in fact received "credentials" intended specifically for public officials, which, not being retail tickets, have no selling price. At that time and afterwards, Reid, a former amateur middleweight boxer and boxing judge, supported legislation to create a federal boxing commission, which had the potential to dilute the state commission's authority. After receiving the tickets, Reid voted for the legislation, which was opposed by the state commission.

Senate ethics rules permit gifts from such governmental agencies, but advise caution "where it appears" that the gift is an attempt to influence, and also state that repeatedly taking otherwise permitted gifts should be avoided. A former House ethics lawyer said that it would have been "the more cautious thing, the more prudent thing" for Reid to have paid for the credentials or refused them. However, the promoter of the fights said that it would have been illegal for Reid to have paid for the credentials.]

Las Vegas land deal

Some have accused Harry Reid of collecting a $1.1 million windfall on land he owned through a limited liability company (LLC). In 1998 Reid bought a plot of land for $400,000. One of the sellers was a developer who arranged a land swap to protect environmentally sensitive land in exchange for improvable property that Reid supported. In 2001, it is alleged that he sold that land to the LLC for $400,000 in exchange for an equivalent ownership percentage of the LLC and, when the LLC sold the land, Reid made a profit. However, many media reports indicate the allegations are false.

The deal was structured by former casino attorney Jay Brown, a long time friend who some had alleged was associated with political bribery and organized crime, although these claims have never been proven. If it's determined that Reid failed to disclose the a sale to a company owned by a friend and his subsequent ownership interest in the company, it would violate Senate rules according to former Federal Election Commission overseer Kent Cooper. The allegations against Reid also claim that Brown paid a small portion of Reid's taxes on the ownership stake, and that Reid continued to report to Congress that he still owned the land for 3 years after he sold it to the LLC he partially owned...