Question Details	Asked By	Asked On
Sen. Reid defends taking free tickets to boxing matches	Itsdb	05/30/06
Harry Reid With hands on heart calling on Republicans to clean up their act with lobbyists AP Photo/J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE Tuesday, May 30, 2006 John Solomon Associated Press Washington -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing. Reid, Democrat of Nevada, took the free seats for Las Vegas fights between 2003 and 2005 as he was pressing legislation to increase government oversight of the sport, including the creation of a federal boxing commission that Nevada's agency feared might usurp its authority. He defended the gifts, saying they would never influence his position on the bill and he was simply trying to learn how his legislation might affect an important home state industry. "Anyone from Nevada would say I'm glad he is there taking care of the state's No. 1 businesses," he said. "I love the fights anyways, so it wasn't like being punished," added the senator, a former boxer and boxing judge. Senate ethics rules generally allow lawmakers to accept gifts from federal, state or local governments, but specifically warn against taking such gifts -- particularly on multiple occasions -- when they might be connected to efforts to influence official actions. "Senators and Senate staff should be wary of accepting any gift where it appears that the gift is motivated by a desire to reward, influence, or elicit favorable official action," the Senate ethics manual states. It cites the 1990s example of an Oregon lawmaker who took gifts for personal use from a South Carolina state university and its president while that school was trying to influence his official actions. Several ethics experts said Reid should have paid for the tickets, which were close to the ring and worth between several hundred and several thousand dollars each, to avoid the appearance he was being influenced by gifts. Two sena tors who joined Reid for fights with the complimentary tickets took markedly different steps. Sen. John McCain, Republican of Arizona, insisted on paying $1,400 for the tickets he shared with Reid for a 2004 championship fight. Sen. John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, accepted free tickets to another fight with Reid but already had recused himself from Reid's federal boxing legislation because his father was an executive for a Las Vegas hotel that hosts fights. In an interview Thursday in his Capitol office, Reid broadly defended his decisions to accept the tickets and to take several actions benefiting disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's clients and partners as they donated to him. "I'm not Goodie two shoes. I just feel these events are nothing I did wrong," Reid said. Reid had separate meetings in June 2003 in his Senate offices with two Abramoff tribal clients and Edward Ayoob, a former staffer who went to work lobbying with Abramoff. The meetings occurred over a five-day span in which Ayoob also threw a fund-raiser for Reid at the firm where Ayoob and Abramoff worked that netted numerous donations from Abramoff's partners, firm and clients. Reid said he viewed the two official meetings and the fund-raiser as a single event. One of the tribes, the Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan, donated $9,000 to Reid at the fund-raiser and the next morning met briefly with Reid and Ayoob at Reid's office to discuss federal programs. Reid and the tribal chairman posed for a picture. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ That's the way to punch at those corrupt Republicans Harry. Things aren't looking too good for the dems election strategy this year, what do you think they're new plan will be - or will they change it at all?
Answered By		Answered On
ETWolverine		05/30/06
Ah, yes, Dingy Harry at his best: accusing others of corruption but maintaining his own innocence in the face of exactly the same activities. I'm not saying that what Reid did was illegal. I'm just saying that if he isn't guilty of coruption, then neither is Delay or Abramoff... not if we're applying the same standards across the board. Elliot

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