The Trib wrote:
WASHINGTON -- Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has been using campaign donations instead of his personal money to pay Christmas bonuses for the 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.
Questioned about the campaign expenditures by The Associated Press, Reid's office said Monday his lawyers had approved them but he nonetheless was personally reimbursing his campaign for the $3,300 he had directed to the staff holiday fund at his residence.
Reid also announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal, highlighted in an AP story last week, that allowed him to collect $1.1 million in 2004 for property he hadn't personally owned in three years.
[...]
On the Ritz-Carlton holiday donations, Reid gave $600 in 2002, then $1,200 in 2004 and $1,500 in 2005 from his re-election campaign to an entity listed as the REC Employee Holiday Fund. His campaign listed the expenses as campaign "salary" for two of the years and as a "contribution" one year.
Reid's office said the listing as salary was a "clerical error" and that the use of campaign money for the residential fund was approved by his lawyers. "I am reimbursing the campaign from my own pocket to prevent this issue from being used in the current campaign season to deflect attention from Republican failures," he said.
Questioned about the campaign expenditures by The Associated Press, Reid's office said Monday his lawyers had approved them but he nonetheless was personally reimbursing his campaign for the $3,300 he had directed to the staff holiday fund at his residence.
Reid also announced he was amending his ethics reports to Congress to more fully account for a Las Vegas land deal, highlighted in an AP story last week, that allowed him to collect $1.1 million in 2004 for property he hadn't personally owned in three years.
[...]
On the Ritz-Carlton holiday donations, Reid gave $600 in 2002, then $1,200 in 2004 and $1,500 in 2005 from his re-election campaign to an entity listed as the REC Employee Holiday Fund. His campaign listed the expenses as campaign "salary" for two of the years and as a "contribution" one year.
Reid's office said the listing as salary was a "clerical error" and that the use of campaign money for the residential fund was approved by his lawyers. "I am reimbursing the campaign from my own pocket to prevent this issue from being used in the current campaign season to deflect attention from Republican failures," he said.
Obviously, this is nothing but a smear tactic by frightened Republicans. Why else would it possibly have come to light in the month leading up to elections after all this time? If the Republicans taught me anything in the Foley case, it's that anything hurtful for your cause is proof that the other side is slandering you out of fear of losing the election. We need to have full investigations into who told the AP the story, who knew about it, which Republicans knew about it and why they didn't come forward earlier. Only then, can we trust the media.
As for the story itself, regardless of the seriousness (or lack thereof) levied on it by the Committees That Be, I don't see it doing much. Remember the queries into the Dennis Hastert land deal? No? Neither does anyone else. Stories where someone takes some money and puts it into this account then transfers their land to this corporation then sells it and splits the capital into.. blah, blah just don't resonate with folks because most folks don't have the inclination to follow the money trails. Especially when it deals with improperly filled out paperwork (as was the case in both the Reid and Hastert deal).
I can't say that I think the $3,300 transfer of funds will do much either. Mainly because it wasn't taxpayer money, it was campaign funds being moved around improperly. Maybe I'll be wrong on it and maybe, in the next hour, some stunning new event will bloom but as it is, I don't see much going on. I mainly wanted to giggle about the timing
