WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid announced Monday he is amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal that allowed him to collect $1.1 million for property he hadn't personally owned for three years. The Nevada Democrat also disclosed he failed to report two other smaller land deals on those same reports.Reid acted several days after The Associated Press reported the senator didn't disclose to Congress that he first sold land to a friend's company back in 2001 and took an ownership stake in the company. He didn't collect the seven-figure payout until the company sold the land again in 2004 to others.
Reid portrayed the 2004 sale as a personal sale of land, making no mention of the company's ownership or its role in the sale. Reid said his amended ethics reports will list the 2001 sale and the company, called Patrick Lane LLC. "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," Reid said in a statement issued by his office.
Reid said he believed the 2001 sale did not alter his ownership of the land but that he agreed to file the amended reports because "I believe in ensuring all facts come to light."
Funny how that works...after the fact.
Reid blamed the AP story as the "latest attempt" by Republicans to affect the election. AP reported last week that it learned of the land deal from a former Reid adviser who had concerns about the way the deal was reported to Congress.
BwooouupÂ… BwooouupÂ…All hands on deckÂ…engage Damge Control sequence Â…this is Not a drillÂ…I repeatÂ… this is NOT a drill.
Reid also announced he failed to disclose two other land transactions on his prior ethics reports and would account for those on his amended reports. The first, he said, involved the sale in 2004 of about one-third acre of land in 2004 he owned in his hometown of Searchlight, Nev. And, he said he had not reported his ownership since 1985 of a quarter acre of land his brother gave him in 1985. Reid blamed the failure to disclose those transactions previously as "some clerical errors and two minor matters that were inadvertently left off my original disclosure forms."
ItÂ’s a simple matter reallyÂ… in multi-million dollar land deals that require the influence of a public officialÂ…these minor clerical errors inadvertently happen alllll the time.
Reid had asked the Senate Ethics Committee last Wednesday — after the story broke — for an opinion on the 2001 land sale but decided to amend the 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 the AP story.
Rehash of shennanigens at link