Hung Up on Ethics

What a surprise.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) hung up on the AP when questions got a little too close for comfort about his ethical dealings on a land deal that netted a sweetheart $1.1 million deal. Now, that's the kind of media management that deserves kudos. Just a wee bit more subtle than the Dick Cheney "Go f-bomb yourself."

Imagine if Denny Hastert hung up on the AP over questions about Foleygate. The holy hell that would break loose wouldn't cease for days. This gets not much more than a footnote and a Drudge headline (though one shouldn't underestimate a Drudge headline).

As to the meat and potatoes of the situation here, check out Ed Morrissey for more. Lots of shennanigans here - Reid made $1.1 million on a property he didn't even own.

The Nevada Democrat's 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. He's never been charged with wrongdoing _ except for a 1981 federal securities complaint that was settled out of court.

Land deeds obtained by The Associated Press during a review of Reid's business dealings show:

_The deal began in 1998 when Reid bought undeveloped residential property on Las Vegas' booming outskirts for about $400,000. Reid bought one lot outright, and a second parcel jointly with Brown. One of the sellers was a developer who was benefiting from a government land swap that Reid supported. The seller never talked to Reid.

_In 2001, Reid sold the land for the same price to a limited liability corporation created by Brown. The senator didn't disclose the sale on his annual public ethics report or tell Congress he had any stake in Brown's company. He continued to report to Congress that he personally owned the land.

_After getting local officials to rezone the property for a shopping center, Brown's company sold the land in 2004 to other developers and Reid took $1.1 million of the proceeds, nearly tripling the senator's investment. Reid reported it to Congress as a personal land sale.

The complex dealings allowed Reid to transfer ownership, legal liability and some tax consequences to Brown's company without public knowledge, but still collect a seven-figure payoff nearly three years later.

Where can I get a deal like that? Oh wait, you've got to be a member of the Senate to pull something like this off.

Don Surber takes note of all the poor folks in Congress. By poor, I mean by Congressional standards, not what you or I would consider poor. Harry Reid is poor by Senate standards, ranking only 31st among Senators. Awww. Guess he was trying to raise his position.

Others blogging: Powerline, Steve Verdon, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, and Dan Riehl.

UPDATE:
Jack M. posting at Ace raises some interesting questions about the sources of the information used in the AP article. It suggests a well-placed senior staffer was involved, and that can't be good news for Reid at all. Read it all.

Technorati: harry reid, land deal, nevada, windfall, congress, culture of corruption.