Patterico's Pontifications

10/16/2006

Dirty Harry Is Feeling Lucky: The L.A. Times Ignores Every New Revelation About His Ethics Troubles

Filed under: Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 8:38 pm



Captain Ed has a compelling piece in today’s New York Post about Dirty Harry Reid’s shady land shenanigans. Meanwhile — coincidentally? — Reid has decided to amend his disclosures.

And there is a new revelation: that Reid has violated federal law by using campaign donations to pay personal expenses. He’s paying it all back — of course, after being called on it by the AP. What did the Atlanta Journal-Constitution say? Oh yes: “Reid’s ethics meter only seems to work when it’s too late.”

Oh . . . and there is nothing new about any of this in the L.A. Times. Nor have I heard a word back from the reporters who used to be hard on Reid’s trail.

UPDATE 10-17-06 12:24 a.m.: The paper has finally come out with this three-paragraph blockbuster story. Savor the detail:

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for 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.

Reid’s office said his lawyers had approved the payments but he nonetheless was personally reimbursing his campaign for the $3,300 he spent.

Reid also announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million in 2004 for property he hadn’t personally owned in three years.

Well, there you have it, then.

17 Responses to “Dirty Harry Is Feeling Lucky: The L.A. Times Ignores Every New Revelation About His Ethics Troubles”

  1. “Nor have I heard a word back from the reporters who used to be hard on Reid’s trail.”

    That’s because there’s an election coming and the forces of evil are afoot.

    Christoph (9824e6)

  2. […] On so very many levels, but take this for example. Since the news broke about Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid’s shady Nevada land deal and his illegal using of campaign funds to pay for Christmas bonuses at his personal condo, the LA Times has been mute on these stories. As Patterico says: Oh . . . and there is nothing new about any of this in the L.A. Times. Nor have I heard a word back from the reporters who used to be hard on Reid’s trail. […]

    “Okie” on the Lam » Why Is the LA Times Bad? (e2cef7)

  3. many of us assume they’re all a little crooked, so light to moderate graft is kinda “dog bites man”. “man bites congressional page” seems more newsworthy. he also gets a little more slack cuz he isn’t a republican.

    assistant devil's advocate (a2f780)

  4. For your information, this extremely short post went up today: Sen. Reid’s Campaign Funds Paid Staff Bonus

    In the two paragraph “article” there is mention of both of the current Reid scandals. It’s not much, but maybe a place holder until more comes out?

    Adam (63c2da)

  5. shady land shenanigans?

    According to this article, there was no sale involved. No sale, no scandal.

    Theres only one problem. Reid of Nevada didnt actually sell the real estate in 2001. What he did was transfer it toget thishimself and the same friend he bought it with in 1998

    [Read other articles. There are experts who disagree. I guess it depends upon what the meaning of sale is. We’re back in Clintonland. — P]

    Psyberian (9b3c88)

  6. Poor Psy. Working this one soooo hard.

    sharon (dfeb10)

  7. […] And now he’s illegally dipping into his campaign fund as though it was his own personal petty cash drawer: And there is a new revelation: that Reid has violated federal law by using campaign donations to pay personal expenses. He’s paying it all back — of course, after being called on it by the AP. What did the Atlanta Journal-Constitution say? Oh yes: “Reid’s ethics meter only seems to work when it’s too late.” […]

    UrbanGrounds » Blog Archive » Dirty Harry Reid (d0cee9)

  8. Some poor republican law clerk/page with an accounting degree is staying up nights sweating over public documents trying to get something, anything, against Reid. And he’s not allowed to go home at night until he’s come up with at least one articulable theory that Reid violated some rule. That’s the only explanation I can think of for these crazy allegations.

    Harry Reid is *rich*. He owns a $750,000 condo as a *second home*. The alleged wrongly-spent funds — which amount to less that $1,000 dollars per year — are accounting errors, he says. And the evidence indicates that’s a pretty good explanation, considering the fact that Ried had absolutely nothing to gain by slipping less than a grand a year to the staff of the hotel where he lived while he worked in Washington.

    Like the Vegas land deal, this is a contorted, desperate effort to create a story out of nothing. Of course, it’s thrilling to people who would like to say bad things about democrats. Because, after all, if the democrats are criminals, you don’t have to worry about an actual side-by-side comparison of how they might to their *actual jobs*.

    Granted, the democrats are doing the same thing in spades with the moronic Foley scandal. But I really wish I could find some substance this election to give me some hope that one or the other (or both) of the choices in various races might have something good to offer.

    All I’m seeing lately is people trying to scare me away from the candidates of the opposing side.

    Phil (88ab5b)

  9. He owned the property with a friend and they put it in an LLP or LLC. Then a couple of years later, they sold it.
    That’s all.

    Seth Edenbaum (5e7461)

  10. The lesson here seems to be that old story about people who live in glass houses – throwing stones. It had meaning when I was a kid and it still holds true. Time for Reid to take a backbench seat and let our senator Durbin take over ( Heaven help us )

    Ray Simpson (ffddf3)

  11. This, dearest Phil, is our dilemna. It is a travesty that American elections have degraded to the level of a choice between the lesser of two evils.

    I live in New Mexico, in Heather Wilson’s 1st Congressional District. The race is being hailed as one of the tightest in the nation; consequently, I worked as a communications intern for Patricia Madrid, thinking that for all the talk I did, I’d better get involved.

    Madrid, as far as I can tell, is a terrible candidate, lacking the guts to do anything more than toe the party line in the most non-committal way possible. Yet, come election day, many who share my opinions regarding Ms. Madrid will get out of bed and vote for her.

    Lesser of two evils.

    Total B.S.

    Leviticus (43095b)

  12. I guess it depends upon what the meaning of sale is.

    It shouldn’t, because it’s clear this wasn’t a sale, but a capital contribution.

    jpe (f8c26c)

  13. In their defense, the LAT has published two Reid exposes:

    freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1383921/posts
    tinyurl.com/g4lvn

    FWIW, Cap’n Ed says the second story has some bearing on the (latest) scandal.

    Possibly being corrupt is one thing, but turning your back on American citizens in need is another. The scandal no one wants to mention involves Reid doing that very thing:

    http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/003871.html

    LAT can't ask "cui bono?" (05c6a0)

  14. I think what all this is bringing to lite is the fact that most professional politicians are out of touch with voters, ridicuolsy rich, and seemingly above the law.

    I say we scrap ’em all and start fresh.

    AndrewGurn (c37ea2)

  15. Selah

    Leviticus (3c2c59)

  16. I think maybe HARRY REID should be forced to resign he has shown he is like most liberal politicians he cant be trusted

    krazy kagu (520f84)

  17. Spurwing Plover, is that you?

    We miss you at Ace of Spades.

    EFG (65906c)


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