January 5, 2006

BLOWBACK:

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid writes a letter (Steve Sebelius, Las Vegas CityLife)

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid writes a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, urging her to reject an Indian tribe's application to open a tribal casino.

One day later, a rival tribe opposing the casino request sends Reid's PAC $5,000, while a second rival tribe ponies up another $5,000.

Coincidence? Or the kind of quid pro quo of which federal indictments are generally made?

The question has been repeatedly asked in the past month, after the Associated Press revealed a massive letter-writing campaign from both Republicans and Democrats on behalf of Indian tribes represented by controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Reid's March 5, 2002 letter (also signed by U.S. Sen. John Ensign) was part of that campaign. Reid has collected a total of $67,400 from Abramoff-connected clients between 2001 to 2004. Ensign took in $16,293, although he has reportedly given that money to the Nevada Patriot Fund, a group that takes care of service members killed in the Iraq occupation.


It seems unlikely that they'll be able to establish quid pro quo for more than one or two guys.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 5, 2006 5:31 PM
Comments

Sounds like Harry Reid was multi-tasking. Writing a letter with one hand, and accepting money with the other.

Posted by: AllenS at January 5, 2006 6:34 PM

The guy messed up. What he should have done was to have his wife pick up a legal fee from the Indians for no work, or maybe have his brother bill them for lobbying or consulting.

Posted by: Lou Gots at January 5, 2006 10:06 PM

harry reid has trouble walking and breathing at the same time.

Posted by: toe at January 5, 2006 11:00 PM

Harry's really trying to make it hard for all the stories on the Abramoff scandal to keep their full focus on Tom DeLay and the other Republicans. And Reed and Congressman Kennedy's refusal to give any of the Jack linked funds back isn't going to be helped by the DNC, which is loudly demanding the Republicans do the same.

Posted by: John at January 5, 2006 11:51 PM
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