Yes, folks, I am talking about Dingy Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, US Senator, and his shady land deal in Nevada, with someone who has ties to organized crime. Yep, but it is ok, because it was all transparent, even though he got paid for land he already sold. Here is the story from the AP, surprising they are covering it. I mean, because, why cover this, because that Damn Denny Hastert, he should resign....for what again, exactly? Oh yeah, for doing nothing....Besides, this land deal, it was a deal you might have with a friend, anyone can do this, it is not like special privilege was involved or Harry Reid is getting a pass, because like, its transparent and everyone can do it, right? I mean, according to Dingy Harry, this was just a "simple land deal." Wrong....
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show.
In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews.
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.
Yes, anyone can buy land, pretend to sell it in exchange for phantom shares in a company, and no one says anything, right? Come on now. Oh yeah, and we all have friends with ties to organized crime....yeppers, perfectly transparent....
And besides that, who knows what other deals Harry may have engineered for money? We can't get these kind of insider deals, and we certainly can't have agreements with friends that are not on paper that result in no tax consequences. You and I cannot do that.
Also, don't you find it ironic Dingy Harry, a man who wants a windfall tax on Exxon, made a 275% windfall himself on this shady deal? And, the man who wants to repeal tax cuts tries to avoid paying them..interesting...
Here's a rough timeline from the AP story:
_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.
Reid hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.
Yep, this stuff is perfectly normal, just a gentleman's agreement between friends, except on friend has organized crime ties and the other is a US Senator from a state where the govt. owns 90% of the land, who knows how that influenced things? Also, notice in the above that it says Brown's company got local officals to rezone the property? Yep, you and I can do that easily. I know, we just walk in. There was probably no influence there by Harry, right? Come on now, this does not pass the smell test.
Where are those bloodsuckers at the IRS? I mean, there is no paper trail on this and we are expected to believe that Harry paid taxes on this invisible windfall? Come on now...What do you have to say Mr. Senator?
"Everything I did was transparent," Reid said. "I paid all the taxes. Everything is fully disclosed to the ethics committee and everyone else. As I said, if there is some technical change that the ethics committee wants, I'll be happy to do that."
The senator's aides said no money changed hands in 2001 and that Reid instead got an ownership stake in Brown's company equal to the value of his land. Reid continued to pay taxes on the land and didn't disclose the deal because he considered it a "technical transfer," they said.
They also said they have no documents proving Reid's stake in the company because it was an informal understanding between friends.
You know, this doesn't pass the smell test either...come on now....he is really trying hard to play the semantics game, and it reeks.
Well, Senator, let's see what the experts say:
Kent Cooper, a former Federal Election Commission official who oversaw government disclosure reports for federal candidates for two decades, said Reid's failure to report the 2001 sale and his ties to Brown's company violated Senate rules.
"This is very, very clear," Cooper said. "Whether you make a profit or a loss you've got to put that transaction down so the public, voters, can see exactly what kind of money is moving to or from a member of Congress."
"It is especially disconcerting when you have a member of the leadership, of either party, not putting in the effort to make sure this is a complete and accurate report," said Cooper. "That says something to other members. It says something to the Ethics Committee."
Other parts of the deal - such as the informal handling of property taxes - raise questions about possible gifts or income reportable to Congress and the IRS, ethics experts said.
It Seems Harry and the wife, you know, doing the transparent thing, I mean, you and I could do the same thing with our friends with organized crime connections, it seems they....
first brought the property in January '98 in a proposed subdivision created partly with federal lands transferred by the interior department to private developers."
Yep, the Dept. of the Interior will just transfer land to anybody....um, yeah, right...
So, Reid is engaging in deals with organized crime figures, giving them Lord knows what in terms of favors, having others pay his taxes, and somehow this is all above board? And the Republicans are the ones who are the culture of corruption....Denny Hastert should resign....um, yeah, right.....
Read more in the article about the corruption....
But remember good ol William Jefferson of Louisiana, the guy caught with money in his freezer....Democrat of Louisiana....remember, but it was all above board too because everyone keeps cash in their freezer, right?
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