Reply #16: Reid used campaign money for bonuses

[rodeodance]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061017/ap_on_go_co/reid_land_windfall;_ylt=AgPUEVXzCLrbaKAV43jrvI6MwfIE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM-

Reid used campaign money for bonuses

By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 17, 8:33 AM ET

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.

In that matter, the senator hadn't disclosed to Congress that he first sold land to a friend's limited liability company back in 2001 and took an ownership stake in the company. He collected the seven-figure payout when the company sold the land again in 2004 to others........