Thread: Shock: Harry Reid has an FEC Problem

Shock: Harry Reid has an FEC Problem

BY: Andrew Stiles // March 25, 2014 5:20 pm

Is this the face of a man who would knowingly skirt campaign finance laws to enrich family members? (via Instagram)

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has some questions for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) concerning his campaign’s purchase of more than $16,000 in “holiday gifts” for donors.

It turns out that the gifts were purchased from a jewelry vendor in Berkeley, Calif., who just happens to be Reid’s granddaughter, Ryan Elisabeth Reid, although her full name was not listed on Reid’s campaign filing with the FEC. Jon Ralston reports:

The gifts, I have learned, were purchased from his granddaughter, Ryan Elisabeth Reid, who is a jewelry vendor in Berkeley, CA. The gifts were later passed on to donors and supporters, a Reid spokeswoman told me.

Reid has previously been asked to explain holiday gifts to his Ritz Carlton doorman by the FEC. But in the letter from the FEC sent last week, the agency wants to know what payments of $11,370 and $5,416 (UPDATED) were. “Itemized disbursements must include a brief statement or description of why each disbursement was made,” the letter said.

Reid’s granddaughter is listed only as “Ryan Elisabeth” on the FEC report, which is attached here (see page 166). But her full name is Ryan Elisabeth Reid. …

The FEC wants an answer by April 25. But even if that agency does its usual dithering and wrist-slapping, many will wonder why Reid needs to use campaign funds for holiday gifts to give to supporters and donors and why he enriched his granddaughter in so doing.

In other news, Reid is even less popular than Charles and David Koch, the libertarian philanthropists Reid has described as “un-American.”

UPDATE: In a statement, Reid said he will reimburse his campaign for price of the gifts: “I thought it would be nice to give supporters and staff thank-you gifts that had a personal connection and a Searchlight connection, but I have decided to reimburse the campaign for the amount of the expenditure.”

http://freebeacon.com/blog/shock-harry-reid-has-an-fec-problem/

Old Harry has become a multimillionaire in politics. If he wants to give his granddaughter money and support her business e should use his own money.

Harry Reid v. FEC Update: More Campaign Payments to Granddaughter Revealed, Total Rises to $31,000

BY: Andrew Stiles // March 27, 2014 1:15 pm

h. (AP)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) reacted swiftly to revelations that his campaign had purchased $16,786 worth of “holiday gifts” (for donors) from his own granddaughter, announcing that he would personally reimburse his campaign for the cost of the trinkets. Reid also angrily rebuffed a reporter’s question about the questionable campaign activity, chiding him for describing the amount as $17,000. “Sixteen [thousand dollars], but whatever,” Reid snarked.



Well, Reid looks awfully silly now that previous campaign documents have turned up almost $31,000 in payments to Ryan Elizabeth Reid for “gifts for supporters.” But whatever.

Reid, naturally, thinks everyone should shut up about the whole thing. “This has gone too far and it needs to stop now. I deeply regret any role I had in creating this situation but now, as a grandparent, I say enough is enough,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “I believe my granddaughter is a very talented individual and I admire her work tremendously, but I’ve decided that it would be best to pay for her work out of my own pocket.”

The Federal Election Commission is looking into the matter. Shockingly, this isn’t Reid’s first run-in with the FEC.

Meanwhile, Reid’s campaign to demonize the Koch brothers—for allegedly gaming the campaign finance system to enrich themselves and those around them—proceeds apace. What a guy.

http://freebeacon.com/blog/harry-rei...ises-to-31000/

Harry Reid’s FEC Whoopsie Not His First

BY: Andrew Stiles // March 26, 2014 3:35 pm

othing to see here. (A

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) is in trouble with the Federal Election Commission over his campaign’s purchase of more than $16,000 worth of “holiday gifts” (for donors) from a Berkeley, Calif., jewelry vendor who also happens to be Reid’s granddaughter.
Reid has agreed to reimburse his campaign for the purchase, which the Reid office claims consisted of “coasters, picture frames and other trinkets” valued around $50 each. Yet questions remain:

The Washington Post has asked Reid’s campaign precisely what kind of gifts the money was used to purchase. The campaign has yet to respond to multiple inquiries.

Paul Ryan, an election lawyer at the Campaign Legal Center, said “you’d need to buy a heck of a lot of gifts of ‘nominal’ value to spend $16,000.”

“I’d consider anything over $25 or $30 to be pushing the limits of ‘nominal value,’” Ryan said.

Just don’t try to ask Reid about it, because he gets pretty angry.
You’ll be shocked to learn that this is not Reid’s first run-in with the FEC. In 2006, Reid used campaign funds to pay out bonuses to the staff at the Ritz-Carlton where he resides in Washington, D.C. (It is illegal under federal election law to use campaign funds for personal use.) Here’s an Associated Press story that contains additional examples of Reid’s general shadiness:

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. His office said he got the money to buy the Ritz condo from an earlier house sale.

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.

Reid portrayed the 2004 sale as a personal sale of land, not mentioning the company’s ownership or its role in the sale.

Meanwhile, Reid continues to attack libertarian philanthropists Charles and David Koch for allegedly using their wealth and status to enrich themselves and those around them. Keep it up, Harry!

http://freebeacon.com/blog/harry-rei...not-his-first/

The Grandfather

Column: The autumn of patriarch Harry Reid

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) / AP

BY: Matthew Continetti
March 28, 2014 4:59 am

Another man might have assumed, correctly, that launching a campaign of insult and insinuation against two billionaires would result in renewed attention to his own finances. Not Harry Reid. The Senate Democratic leader since 2005, and the Senate majority leader since 2007, is not one to reflect before speaking.

His mouth runs far ahead of his brain.

In recent years Reid has declared an American war “lost” while our troops still fought overseas; praised President Obama for his “light” skin and “no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one”; asserted falsely and without evidence that Mitt Romney had not paid any taxes for a decade; and said “Why would we want to do that?” when asked if he would fund cancer research during the government shutdown.

Now, with his majority in danger, his president unpopular, his floor agendaobstructed by members of his own caucus, Reid thrashes about uncontrollably. He calls Obamacare horror stories “untrue.” He says Obamacare numbers are not as high as projected because Americans “are not educated on how to use the Internet.” His Senate Majority PAClaunches a $3 million ad campaign tying Republican candidates to two men most Americans have never heard of, two men who, funnily enough,are more popular than Reid.

From the floor of the Senate Reid says these two men, Charles and David Koch, are “un-American,” are trying “to buy America.” Without the terrible specter of the Koch brothers Harry Reid would be disarmed. He has no issue for his Democratic Senators to run on; the minimum wage and climate change are not enough. Nor has he another means of inspiring donors to open their checkbooks. He only has fear, fear of the Kochs, fear of extractive industry, fear of the portion of the elite that favors economic freedom. The Koch brothers, Reid says, “rig the system to benefit themselves.” He should know.

The fact that Harry Reid’s political and influence operation includes his five children has been established for some time. A few weeks ago, when I first heard Reid accuse private citizens of being un-American, I dredged up a Los Angeles Times article from 2003 with the headline, “In Nevada, the Name to Know Is Reid.” Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper’s meticulously researched and reported article begins with the story of the “Clark County Conservation of Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002,” a land bill of the sort that puts people to sleep. “What Reid did not explain” when he introduced the bill in the Senate, Neubauer and Cooper wrote, “was that the bill promised a cavalcade of benefits to real estate developers, corporations, and local institutions that were paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in lobbying fees to his sons’ and son-in-law’s firms.” I wonder why he left that part out.

Firms tied to the Reid family, the Los Angeles Times reported, earned more than $2 million from 1998 to 2002 “from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington.” How much more have they earned in the 11 years since this article was published? Land, energy, water, gaming, and mining—the Reids manage a diversified portfolio.

They are not financial investors but political ones. Reid’s four sons are lawyers, as is his son-in-law. They make their money furthering the interests of paying clients, clients operating businesses in the state represented by Reid.

Those businesses are not necessarily American. After a 2011 trip to China Harry Reid began touting the virtues of ENN Energy Group, a Chinese firm that sought to build a $5 billion solar farm in Nevada. Reid’s son Rory represented ENN, though Rory claimed in a 2012 Bloomberg article never to have discussed “the project with my father or his staff.” Somehow, though, commissioners friendly with the Reid family agreed to sell property to ENN for one-sixth of the land’s appraised value.
The senator repeatedly expressed his support for the project. But ENN could not find a customer for its energy, and dropped its plans last June. In another instance Reid pressured Homeland Security officials to approve the visas of Chinese casino investors represented by Rory Reid. Rory’s brothers should not feel left out, however. Hoover Institution scholar Peter Schweizer says Papa Reid has “sponsored at least $47 million in earmarks that directly benefited organizations that one of his sons, Key Reid, either lobbies for or is affiliated with.”

Who could have been surprised, then, when the Washington Post in 2012“uncovered nearly 50 members who helped direct millions of dollars in earmarks to projects that either held the potential to enhance the surroundings of a lawmaker’s own property, or aided entities connected to their immediate family,” and one of those members was Reid. The Post zeroed in on an almost $22 million earmark, passed close to a decade ago, that financed a bridge over the Colorado River. The bridge connects the gambling resorts of Laughlin, Nev., to Bullhead City, Arizona. Harry Reid owns 160 acres in Bullhead.

Reid and his family appear to work within the confines of the law, which should not be surprising, because Reid writes that law, and illegal activity hurts the bottom line. Others are not so careful. Last year one of Reid’s longtime donors, Nevada lobbyist Harvey Whittemore, was sentenced to two years in prison after being found guilty of violating campaign finance laws. Whittemore used associates as “straw donors” to run around donation limits, giving more than $130,000 in dirty money to Reid’s campaign. His sentence is delayed pending appeal.

This week we learned that Reid’s willingness to funnel other people’s money to members of his family extends to a third generation. On Wednesday the veteran Nevada journalist Jon Ralston reported that Harry Reid had used $31,000 in campaign funds to buy “gifts for my staff and supporters” from his granddaughter, Rory Reid’s daughter, Ryan Elisabeth Reid, a “performing arts professional” living in Brooklyn.

Ryan Reid is the artistic director of the Sprat Theatre Company, which says it receives donations from the likes of the Caesars Foundation, the NV Energy Foundation, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, Keep Memory Alive, one Peter Palivos, and the Clinton Global Initiative. The Caesars Foundation is the charitable arm of Caesars Entertainment in Las Vegas, a Harry Reid contributor. A Caesars spokesman told Real Clear Politics that the Caesars Foundation had funded a proposal from Keep Memory Alive to bring Ryan Reid’s play to Vegas, because she needs the help. Keep Memory Alive and the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health are philanthropies founded by Larry Ruvo, general manager of Southern Wine and Spirits of Nevada, member of the American Gaming Association board of directors, and donor to Harry Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund PAC. Peter Palivos is a Las Vegas developer, Reid donor, onetime client of Rory Reid, and convicted felon. NV Energy is another Reid donor; a spokesman for that company told Real Clear Politics, and should probably tell the Sprat Theatre, that the theatre’s grant proposal is still under consideration. You have heard of the Clintons.

I have not seen the Sprat Theatre’s new piece, “One Day in the Life of Henri Shnuffle,” which concerns “moments of the title character’s life, from youth to old age, to demonstrate a fuller understanding of aging, Alzheimer’s, and the way others live,” but I do not doubt for a moment that it is so innovative, so compassionate, so compelling and cathartic that the numerous corporate and private sponsors who are financing its Vegas stint this coming October are writing their checks based totally on merit, without a moment’s thought to who Ryan Reid’s father and granddad are. There can be no other way: We all know the motives of liberal Democrats are pure, their hearts true, their lives guiltless of the favoritism and nepotism and self-interest and ideological blindness of Republicans and conservatives. Harry Reid is willing to go the extra step. He did nothing wrong in handing $31,000 of his donors’ money to his granddaughter, he told reporters, but he plans to reimburse his campaign anyway. What a saint.

“I must study politics and war,” John Adams said, “that my sons may have the liberty to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, and naval architecture, navigation, commerce, and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain.” In Harry Reid’s America a man must win political office so that his sons may have the liberty to practice law and register as lobbyists, engage in rent-seeking and government relations and crisis management and communications, in order to give their children a right to live in Brooklyn, to enroll in the New School, to visit the Vermont Studio Center, to have cronies finance their off-off-off-Broadway shows, to enjoy their allowance from grandpa. This is the arrangement put before the voters this coming Election Day; this is the “system” rigged to benefit the family Reid; this is the configuration of power that Charles and David Koch want to disrupt. How awful of them. How “un-American.”
http://freebeacon.com/columns/the-grandfather/



Fascinating book for those that are interested.

Harry: Money, Mob & Influence In Harry Reid's Nevada

​
by Daxton Brown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's connections to money, mob and influence in Nevada going back fifty years (fourth edition). Revelations from Reid's first campaign manager and others paints a picture of a politician taking money on the side. Most shocking is the polygraph backed claim that Harry Reid took unreported donations from pimp Joe Conforte of the Mustang Ranch brothel in the years leading up to Reid's time on the Nevada Gaming Commission. Conforte's links to mob figures like Jimmy 'the Weasel' Fratianno and Johnny Simone mean the mob knew Reid was on the take. Also disturbing are accounts of Reid's long friendship with a lawyer to many of the most notorious strip clubs in Las Vegas - some of whose owners just did jail time for bribery and were Reid's political proteges. Oscar Goodman, Las Vegas Mayor and lawyer to the mob also enters the picture. Sweetheart treatment of land developers, the G-Sting scandal, fat cat campaign contributors and more taint the record of Senator Reid, one of the most powerful politicians in the U.S. and therefore the world.http://www.amazon.com/Harry-Money-Influence-Reids-Nevada/dp/1450584322

AIRING HARRY REID’S DIRTY LAUNDRY

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A Western Journalism Exclusive By Steve Baldwin

Senator Harry Reid claims to be an ethical politician and he often employs his Mormon religion in order to demonstrate his alleged immaculacy. However, the reality is that he is, in fact, one of the most ethically challenged politicians in office today. This report will review his alliances with corrupt individuals, his support of ACORN, his ties with organized crime figures and his chronic failure to comply with campaign finance laws.



Harry Reid’s Alliance with Jack Abramoff
Soon after the Jack Abramoff scandal broke, Reid took the lead in attacking Republicans for fostering a “culture of corruption.” (1)

But shortly after making these comments, it was reported that Reid took almost $68,000 from Abramoff’s firm, its PAC and its Indian casino clients. (2)
Reid then tried to distance himself from Abramoff, stating, “[D]on’t lump me in with Jack Abramoff. This is a Republican scandal. Don’t try to give any of it to me.” (3)

Here’s the key passage:

Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful in Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and Reid’s staff had frequent contact with the disgraced lobbyist’s team about legislation….Reid collected nearly $68,000 in political donations from Abramoff’s firm, lobbying partners and clients…Abramoff’s firm also hired one of Reid’s top legislative aides as a lobbyist. (4)
The bulk of the donation money came from Indian tribes who were Abramoff’s clients, most of whom owned casinos in the region. Reid’s letters were meant to influence the Interior Department to reject applications that would allow certain Indian tribes to open up new casinos. Reid was not acting in opposition to gambling, but was rather protecting the existing Indian casinos (Abramoff’s Clients) from having new competition in their regions. (5)

Reid Protects ACORN from Investigation



There is little doubt that ACORN is used by the Democrat party to fabricate voters and register illegal aliens in order to benefit their politicians. What’s more, there is little doubt that ACORN efforts benefited Reid’s campaigns.

The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that the Las Vegas office of ACORN has been engaged in massive fraud. At least 48% of the registrations turned in by ACORN are fraudulent.

Indeed, it was so obvious that the ACORN Las Vegas office was raided by authorities. They found that 59 inmates from a work-release program at a nearby prison were employed by ACORN and found numerous irregularities. Its field director, Christopher Edwards, pled guilty to two gross misdemeanor counts of conspiracy.

Despite these findings, when the US Senate voted 83-7 to block ACORN from bidding for additional federal grant money, Reid refused to hold a hearing on ACORN’s activities. Even after the scandal broke revealing that ACORN was assisting an underage prostitution operation, Reid claimed such an investigation of ACORN by Congress might distract attention from more important issues. (6)


Another publication reported that Reid wrote Senator Vitter to inform him that his call for an ACORN investigation was driven by his political bias!

In his letter to Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), the majority leader said he would rather not “ask our committees or this Congress to do anything that would detract from efforts” to address bigger priorities, including healthcare reform and economic recovery. He also expressed his concern that Vitter’s “interest in this matter is driven, at least in part, by partisan political views.” (7)

Perhaps Reid’s attitude here is due to the fact that the group which seems to be running ACORN, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), contributed nearly $50,000 to Reid’s campaign committee and leadership PAC. (



Reid’s Relationship with George Soros

George Soros is a foreign-born billionaire who is the single largest funder of many Anti-American groups: Move-On.org, Democracy Alliance, Media Matters, Health Care for America Now, Center for American Progress, and Campaign for America’s Future, just to name a few. Soros wants to destroy the principles America was founded upon and turn it into a “socialist paradise.”

Soros is a convicted inside trader who supports open borders, gay rights, abortion rights, increased union power and is hostile to the free enterprise system, even though he made billions off of it. He made his money in a very unethical and, many believe, illegal way – international currency speculation and manipulation.

Some believe his fortune was made from drug smuggling since his empire is based offshore in the Netherlands Antilles; the CIA describes this location as “a transshipment point for South American drugs bound for the US and Europe; money–laundering center.” (9)

But Soros’s shady background did not dissuade Reid from taking money from him. Since becoming the Senate Minority leader in 2005 and then the Majority leader in 2007, Reid has had operational control of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. While fundraising for the DSCC, Reid took over $220,000 from Soros, the Soros Fund Management, and various Soros family members. (10)

Reid Violated Federal Election Law by Using Campaign Funds for Christmas Bonuses

In 2006, it was reported that Reid paid Christmas bonuses to staff at the luxurious Ritz Carlton where he lived, using campaign funds. Federal Election law prohibits candidates from using campaign funds for such activity. (11)
Reid Uses his Office to Financially Benefit his Sons
Harry Reid has four sons who all work for Nevada’s largest law firm, Lionel, Sawyer & Collins. All of them have benefited from Reid.
Here’s how the Los Angeles Times puts it:

But Harry Reid is in a class by himself. One of his sons and his son-in-law lobby in Washington for companies, trade groups and municipalities seeking Reid’s help in theSenate. A second son has lobbied in Nevada for some of those same interests, and a third has represented a couple of them as a litigator.

In the last four years alone, their firms have collected more than $2 million in lobbying fees from special interests that were represented by the kids and helped by the senator in Washington.

Apparently such activities are not illegal. They should be. They are certainly unethical. The article details half a dozen examples of specific legislation pushed by Reid which benefited his sons. (12)

The Coyote Springs Land Deal

Reid accepted donations from a key Chinagate fundraiser: John Huang.Huang was responsible for arranging illegal contributions for the Clintons; in return their administration signed off on hi-tech exports that helped China upgrade its weapons systems.

Indeed, part of it was originally intended for target practice for a defense contractor, part of it was a habitat for the endangered desert tortoise, part of it was for a power line right of way, and much of the property contained a fragile system of streams important to the local ecosystem.

But Whittemore was also a large donor to Reid. Whittemore and his family gave over $50,000 to Reid and his leadership fund over the last decade.Reid’s sons also received contributions for their campaigns. (13)
So they obviously came to an agreement: Whittemore poured money into Reid’s campaigns and Reid cleared the obstacles, allowing Whittemore to develop land for housing that was previously thought impossible to develop.

Reid inserted language in a land management bill that reallocated the power line corridor. Regarding the tortoise issue, he persuaded the Bureau of Land Management to swap that part of the property for land adjacent to the property. Then he persuaded the EPA to lesson their opposition to the project on grounds that it impacted the ecosystem of the area.

The Los Angeles Times covered the story:

Yet the valley – an hour northeast of Las Vegas – is on its way to becoming a real estate development of historic proportions, with as many as 159,000 homes, 16 golf courses and a full complement of stores and service facilities. At nearly 43,000 acres, Coyote Springs covers almost twice as much space as the next-largest development in a state famous for outsized building projects.

Helping make Coyote Springs come alive was an alliance between a multimillionaire developer and one of the highest-ranking members of Congress: Nevada Democrat Harry Reid, the Senate minority leader and a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee.

The relationship between developers such as Harvey Whittemore and politicians such as Reid is especially close in Nevada, home to a small fraternity of movers and shakers, powerful demands of rapid population growth and a huge amount of federally owned land.

Over the last four years, Reid has used his influence in Washington to help the developer, Nevada super-lobbyist Whittemore, clear obstacles from Coyote Springs’ path. At one point, Reid proposed opening the way for Whittemore to develop part of the site for free – something for which the developer later agreed to pay the government $10 million. As the project advanced, Reid received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Whittemore. The contributions not only went to Reid’s Senate campaigns, but also to his leadership fund, which he used to help bankroll the campaigns of Democratic colleagues. (14)
Reid Collects $1.1 Million Windfall on Property he didn’t Own

In 2006, it was reported by the Associated Press that he collected $1.1 Million on land he hadn’t owned in three years. As the AP reports:

Senate Democrat 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. ….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. (15)

The Del Webb Land Swap

A corporation called Del Webb wanted to acquire and develop 4,700 acres of prime federal land outside of Las Vegas. In order to make this transaction work, Del Webb wanted to use a federal program that swaps federal land for private land that is supposed to be environmentally sensitive. However, the land being offered by Del Webb for the swap was inferior land and not even close to the value of the federal land that he desired. Thus, the taxpayers would take a loss with such a swap.

There were also a lot of other obstacles and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) opposed it for numerous reasons. Once again, Reid intervened with Federal agencies to make it happen; and once again, Reid’s campaign received over $50,000 from Del Webb for his efforts.

Indeed, Del Webb hosted a fund-raiser for Reid at its Phoenix headquarters. As Human Events reported:

In the early 1990s a helpless corporation, Del Webb, wanted to realize its personal dream and develop some land outside Las Vegas. There was just one problem: the government owned much of it and it wasn’t for sale!

Employing the simple Reid Estate wealth building system, Del Webb hired a former Reid aide, donated $18,000 to Harry Reid’s campaign fund and then did the obvious
next thing: it purchased “environmentally sensitive” lands 400 miles away near Lake Tahoe.

After two letters to the Interior Department from Sen. Reid and a personal meeting organized by him, atwhich a government employee said he felt “pressured” by Reid, the Interior Department allowed Del Webb and its partners to swap that environmentally valuable land near Lake Tahoe for the environmentally worthless (but commercially valuable) land in Las Vegas. Reid claims to have done nothing unusual. (16)



Harry Reid Tied to Chinagate Figure

Reid accepted donations from a key Chinagate fundraiser: John Huang. Huang was responsible for arranging illegal contributions for the Clintons; in return their administration signed off on hi-tech exports that helped China upgrade its weapons systems.

Reid then later pushed for the Senate confirmation of the judge who let Huang off with just a “slap on the wrist.” As NewsMaxreports:

In June 1999, Huang’s case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard Paez, who had six months earlier been nominated to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by President Clinton. Critics says the assignment presented a massive conflict of interest for Judge Paez, a concern fueled by the sentence he meted out to the Clinton donor in Aug. 1999.

Sen. Reid’s former donor received a mere $10,000 fine, 500 hours of community service and one yearprobation. When Paez’s 9th Circuit nomination came up for Senate confirmation, Republicans cried foul. Sen. Jeff Sessions complained that Paez had violated Justice Department sentencing guidelines that required Huang to serve jail time, calling the plea bargain “a dangerous agreement” and “a debasement of justice.”

But Sen. Reid went to bat for Huang’s judge, after being asked to reach out to other Mormon Senators by Mrs. Paez, a fellow Mormon. “That’s what I did,” Reid told the New York Times. (17)



Reid Accepted Free Boxing Tickets while a Related Bill was Pending

The AP first reported this ethical lapse:

Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) 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 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. (18 )

Reid – A First Class Porker

In 2009 alone, Harry Reid requested money for pork projects that ended up costing taxpayers $229,773,429.

Reid was responsible for diverting taxpayer money to all kinds of projects that should have never been the responsibility of the Federal Government. A few examples include:

• Local transportation projects
• Private research institutes
• Research on water
• Research on job training
• Lake Tahoe bus facilities
• University projects
• Boys Town
• Railroad projects
• Economic development projects for the town of Wells
• Copper wire theft protection programs for Las Vegas
• Lighting demonstration projects
• Wastewater improvements for city of Henderson
• Water treatment for city of Goldfield
• School counseling projects for Las Vegas schools
• Arts center for Las Vegas

While many of these projects may have merit, they should be funded at the city, county or state level. Forcing taxpayers nationwide to fund projects in Las Vegas or for sewage improvement for Goldfield is outrageous. (19) These projects alone were just in 2009!

One project Reid obtained $54 million for was for a “Magnetic Levitation Train.” The train would go from Disney Land to Las Vegas, but the project was opposed by the Department of Transportation. Nonetheless, numerous companies and individuals tied to this project gave Reid a total of $28,749.

One taxpayer group denounced the project as:

“[A] train to nowhere….We’re wasting tens of millions of dollars on a project nobody believeswill be built except Harry Reid.” (20)

As Business Week Writes:

But Reid has pressed ahead, earmarking $9 million between 2000 and 2004 and winning a $45 million authorization in last year’s federal transportation bill. It’s just one small example of how congressional leaders can keep projects alive and how difficult it will be for reformers to stamp out earmarks — the hidden pots of cash that lawmakers tuck into spending bills for favorite projects or constituents. (21)

Reid’s love of pork knows no limits—most of the time it ends up benefiting him in some way or another. One earmark funded a bridge that was to be built in Laughlin, Nevada. The bridge would increase the value of all the property in that area, but what Reid played down, however, was the fact that he owned 160 acres of the land where the bridge was to be built. (22)

Reid even diverted money from the 2009 Defense Budget appropriation bill. So instead of defense funding going to our soldiers to help fight terrorism, Reid diverted this money to projects such as a Reno fire station, a “renewable energy” plant for the National Guard, and ammo “recycling.” (23)

Incredibly, when Reid first became Senate Minority Leader, he vowed to reform earmark abuse. Since then, not only has he failed to reform the abuse, he has become one of the biggest earmark abusers in the Senate.

Reid’s Positions On Issues
Overall Ratings

Some believe Reid is a moderate, but there’s really nothing to substantiate that, except for perhaps his stance on the issue of gun control. Regardless, his most recent ratings are fairly liberal:

His ACU ratings have ranged from 26 in 2003 to 0 in 2007, but since 2002, the average has been 12. His ACLU rating is 44; his ADA rating is a perfect 100; his League of Conservation Voters and NARAL ratings are also perfect 100s; and his pro-Union vote, according to SEIU, is 92.

In other words, he’s hard left on abortion, environment, and union issues. Some commentators have tried to claim that Reid is pro-life because he says he is “personally” opposed to abortion. Well, so is Ted Kennedy and the fact of the matter is that Reid has perfect ratings with all pro-abortion groups.

Gun Control
Even concerning gun control, much has been made of the fact that Reid is allegedly conservative on that issue. However, that’s not totally accurate.

While the NRA gave him a “B” in 2004, Gun Owners of America gave Reid an “F” four out of the last six years.

Moreover, the Coalition to Stop Handgun Violence gave him a perfect 100 in 2000 and the Brady Gun Control Group gave him a 71 in 2003. Indeed, just within the last year Reid supported these anti-gun actions:

* Voted for the Stimulus Bill which contained anti-gun language

* Voted for legislation that expanded the amount of land covered by the national parks gun ban.

* Voted to confirm Attorney General Eric Holder who doesn’t believe the 2nd Amendment is an individual right.

* Voted to confirm dozens of other anti-gun appointees, including the Sotomayor nomination to the US Supreme Court, even though she wrote an opinion that the 2nd amendment did not apply to the states.

* Voted to block legislation to repeal the unconstitutional gun ban in the District of Columbia

Homosexual Issues

On Homosexual issues, Reid told gay rights activists that he opposes his own church’s views on homosexual marriage. He actually criticized the LDS church for backing Prop. 8, the measure which banned same-sex marriage in California.

Reid also signed a letter supporting an anti-Prop 8 march. (24)

But this shouldn’t be surprising since Reid has always voted for gay rights legislation and has received funding from the leading homosexual PAC, the Human Rights Campaign. (25)


War on Terrorism

On foreign policy issues, Reid appears to be clueless. He called for the United States to pull out of Iraq and then laughed about the consequences of doing so. As most experts say, a pull out of our troops would lead to total chaos and ethnic cleaning on an unprecedented level. (26)

Reid also said the surge would not work in Iraq before it even had a chance to work—There’s little doubt such rhetoric demoralized our troops. (27)

Health Care

On Health care, Reid obviously supports socialized health care and has called opponents to Obama’s health care plan “evil mongers.” (28 )

Indeed, Reid parroted fabricated facts given to him by the Soros-funded, pro-socialist medicine group “Health Care for America Now.” He claimed that profits for health insurance companies rose 450% since 2000:

There is no business in America that makes more money than the insurance industry – over the last 10 years their profits have increased by 450 percent. (29)
But, according to numerous studies, the average profit margin for health care insurance groups has been 3 to 3.5 % annually, a figure that is less than many industries. (30)

Social Security

According to Reid: “Social Security is the most successful program in the history of the world,” even though it is headed toward collapse. (31)

Ironically, Reid, as a member of Congress, introduced a bill that would allow members of congress to opt out of social security. (32)

Taxes

One of the most shocking statements made by Reid is his claim on a television talk show that the paying of income taxis voluntary.

“Our system of government is a voluntary taxation system.”

His most recent rating with the National Taxpayers Union is 7%, making him one of the most reckless spenders in congress.

Environment

Reid’s views on energy and the environment are unbelievable. He wholeheartedly believes in global warming and will support any and all legislation that will cripple American industry in order to bring us in compliance with the demands of the radical environment movement.

His attitude toward our natural resources is stunning; he told one group this:

“Coal is making us sick…oil makes us sick. Its global warming, it’s ruining our country. It’s ruining our world.”

Reid opposes all oil drilling, including drilling in ANWR. He opposes nuclear energy; His solution for American energy crisis is solar and wind energy, a ridiculous notion according to energy experts. While economical, solar and wind energy can never meet all our energy needs.

Naturally, Reid supports the Cap and Trade legislation. (33)


Immigration

Reid supports amnesty for all illegal aliens and introduced a bill last January that would do just that. The bill contains provisions which are anti-border security and even cite the unification of homosexual partners as justification for the amnesty!(34)

But Reid has also been in favor of open borders. He led an effort to block an amendment that required citizenship verification for those who receive stimulus funds. (35)

When Senator John Cornyn introduced an amendment to end the “Catch and Release” policy, Reid prevented a vote on it. (36)

In 2001, Reid placed an earmark in a bill that would give $5 million to the National Council of La Raza, a radical Hispanic group that advocates open borders. (37)

Harry Reid’s Mob Connections

The connections between Harry Reid and the Mafia are quite numerous, but much of it is complicated.

Ironically, Reid wants to build a $50 million dollar “Mob Museum” in Las Vegas, paid for by the taxpayers. (3 Indeed, Reid inserted this money into the Stimulus Bill. Why does Reid want to glorify a murderous bunch of thugs? Does he have fond memories of the days when the Mob ran Las Vegas?

Reid likes to claim he was responsible for chasing the Mob out of Las Vegas and portrays himself as some type of hero by claiming to have “cleaned up Las Vegas and ushered in a new era of responsibility.” (39)

The fact is that the Mob may not be as involved with the casinos as they once were, but they are still heavily involved in Las Vegas and Reid knows this. In fact, the mob has moved into sports betting. Indeed, in a report requested by the U.S. Congress in 1999, the National Gambling Commission estimated illegal sports betting generates around $80 billion; half of that figure betted on football games. (40)

I will outline the major links Reid has with the Mob; most of this is taken from a 4-part report by a mysterious author with the alias “Fedora,” all of which can be accessed in the footnotes.

What Former FBI Agent Joseph Yablonsky Says

Yablonsky was a FBI special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office for four years, until his retirement in 1983. When interviewed by journalist Del Tartikoff in 1996 Yablonsky was asked questions about many Las Vegas figures, including Reid:

Yablonsky: “Harry Reid is a mealy-mouth, and he was in their pocket just like the rest of them. Of course, there’s certain things I know I can’t speak about because of Privacy Act considerations. But he’s a worm, and he was a congressman, back there, representing Mr. Greenspun, you now, trying to agitate in terms of my removal. But all you’ve got to do is
read the pone he read when they had that phony Sinatra licensing.”

Tartikoff: “He wrote a poem?”

Yablonsky explained that, even though Frank Sinatra has lost a gaming license in the State of Nevada back in 1963 after evidence surfaced that mobster Sam Giancana was the real owner of the Cal-Nevada Lodge at Lake Tahoe and that Sinatra was merely a mob-friendly figurehead, Sinatra was back before the state Gaming Control Board in the late ‘70s, seeing a gaming license again.

“After this ridiculous hearing,” he said, “when Sinatra went up for licensing which had no adversary witnesses – McNeil-Lehrer played a half-hour of it on their program without even making a comment, it was so obvious. And when it came up to the Gaming Commission, which you know is [the top tier of] a two-tiered system, Reid was the chairman, and he read this kiss-ass poem. He’s a faker.” (41)

So here you have the former head FBI agent in charge of investigating the mob in Las Vegas admitting Reid was “in their pocket” and relating how Reid voted to return to Sinatra his license to own gaming casinos, even though the Gaming Commission had access to plenty of information indicating that Sinatra remained connected to the Mob.

The Gaming Commission, led by Reid, dismissed strong evidence presented by FBI informants and other police reports. During the proceedings, Sinatra lied about his relationship with Mobster Willie Moretti, claiming he was just “a neighbor.” Sinatra denied making a pay-off to Lucky Luciano and acted like he didn’t know Sam Giancana. When Sinatra was questioned about a 1976 photo of himself with a group of prominent Gambino family mobsters, Sinatra claimed that he didn’t even know these men and that one of them wanted a picture with him and “before I realized what happened, there were approximately eight or nine men standing around me and several other snapshots were made.” (42)

This outrageous pack of lies was accepted by Reid who told the New York Times that he found Sinatra’s defense convincing! As New York Times reporter Robert Lindsey recounted:

All the old charges appeared to have been dispensed with. Yet, at least some observers said afterward that they felt there was less to the hearing than met the eye. Mr. Sinatra was treated with a kind of awe. He and his lawyer-manager, Milton Rudin, appeared to know many of the panel’s questions in advance. Board investigators seemed to base many of their conclusions solely on the singer’s own word; on some points, their fact-finding appeared to have been naively superficial. . .
Several times, when asked a potentially embarrassing question, Mr. Sinatra said that his memory failedhim; he also gave some puzzling replies. In answering a question about the incident that led to the loss of his gaming license in 1963, he firmly denied knowing that the late Sam Giancana, a Chicago mobster, had visited the Cal Neva Lodge in violation of state laws barring gangsters from casinos. But when asked if he had ever admitted knowing Mr. Giancana was there, he answered, ”I might have said almost anything; if I said it, I don’t believe I meant it because I never saw him.”. . . Whatever Mr. Sinatra’s relationships might have been with the underworld, no matter whether he had been treated unfairly by the press, as he claims, there appeared to be a desire at the hearing to reinstate him, if for no other reason than that he’s good for business. (43)

After Reid and his fellow gaming commissioners awarded Sinatra gaming rights regarding Caesars Palace, Caesars Palace donated at least $8,000 to Reid. (44)

Reid’s Ties to Mob Attorney Jay Brown

Jay Brown is a partner with Reid in a shady land deal that yielded $1.1 million for Reid, a transaction that he failed to report. Brown goes way back with the Mob mostly as one of the Mob’s main attorneys. Brown and his law firm have been counsel for numerous high profile mob cases. As the Washington Post reports:

“Brown’s name has surfaced in federal investigations involving organized crime, casinos and political bribery since the 1980s.” (45); (46); (47)

Brown was also the attorney for a mob-controlled bar called the Crazy Horse and has close ties to the Bononno crime family.

Brown is also a huge donor to Reid, giving him or to his leadership fund close to $60,000. (48

Reid has Four Sons who Work for a Law Firm that Defends Mobsters

All four of Reid’s sons have worked for Lionel Sawyer & Collins, a firm that also employs John Dawson, an expert in transferring assets offshore. It is believed that Dawson is involved with hiding the assets of convicted Mobster Rick Rizzolo, who was in trouble with the law for using his Crazy Horse bar to engage in illegal activities. Many people were beaten in this bar, some died, but those suing Rizzolo had a difficult time getting their money due to Rizzolo’s assets being hidden. John Dawson’s brother Kent was appointed to the Federal Bench by Senator Reid. And Kent Dawson, as Judge, has a history of giving out lenient sentences to mob connected people. Both Kent and John Dawson are heavy donors to Harry Reid. (49); (50); (51)

The Reno managing partner of Lionel Sawyer & Collins is Frederick Whittemore, whose clients have included casino mogul Steve Wynn, identified in a Scotland Yard report as a front man for the Genovese Mob family and connected to some high profile drug dealers. (52)

Moreover, Rory Reid and Mob attorney Jay Brown both acquired stock in American Enterprises, a company that operates the Table Mountain Indian casino near Fresno, California and Brown became an agent for this company.

A short time later, Brown and other officers of this company gave Reid campaign contributions. (53) Is it illegal for Harry Reid’s son to invest in the gaming business along with Mob lawyers and then used their connections to donate to Harry Reid? No, but it certainly raised the question of why so many mob-connected people want to keep Reid in power.

Reid was Investigated for Accepting Mob Bribes as Head of the Nevada Gaming Commission

While Reid was cleared of this charge, lots of questions remain. Federal authorities were unable to prove Reid was being bribed. However, the main evidence for this was a tape recorded conversation involving Kansas City Mobster Joe Agosto. Unknown to Agosto, the FBI was taping him:

“I’ve gotta Cleanface in my pocket.”

Cleanface was the codename Agosto gave Reid. At the time, Reid was chairman of the all powerful Nevada Gaming Commission.

But there was other evidence that Reid favored the Mob while serving as chairman of the Nevada Gaming Commission. One of his first acts was to approve the sale of the Hacienda Hotel/Casino to an individual named Paul Lowden despite objections by the state’s Gaming Control Board having to do with “hidden associates” of Lowden’s. Lowden later gave $6,000 in campaign contributions to Reid. (54); (55)

Reid also led the Nevada Gaming Commission in approving a deal that allowed associates of Agosto to skim money from the Tropicana. What’s more, Reid also approved applicants for some projects proposed by the Del Webb Corporation, also known to be connected to mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. (56)

Indeed, Reid’s tenure on the Nevada gaming Commission appears to have involved approving quite a few projects for people with mob connections. Moreover, it was Jimmy Carter’s Justice Department which “cleared” Reid of the charge of accepting mob bribes. This was a highly politicized department that was also unable to come up with any prosecutions in the Billygate, KoreaGate, ABSCAM, or BCCI scandals, despite massive evidence of corruption. (57)

It was Mob attorney and sometime Reid business partner, Jay Brown, who was accused of funneling casino money to Reid to influence his votes on the Gaming Commission. FBI informants had fingered Brown but when the grand jury questioned him, he took the fifth and refused to turn over the financial records for the Tropicana Casino, for whom he served as counsel. As a result of Brown’s obstructionism, the Justice Dept probe ended up going nowhere. For years after this, Brown was a heavy donor to Reid. (58; (59)

Essentially, Reid now has a political career and is able to claim he was never charged with bribery, all because the jury refused to believe an FBI information AND due to his buddy, Jay Brown, taking the fifth. No exactly a ringing endorsement of Reid’s honesty.

Reid has accepted money from many mob-connected people:

• Morris Shenker, a mob attorney associated with the St. Louis Mafia, Meyer Lansky, Jimmy Hoffa and the Dunes Hotel. He funneled campaign money to Reid through his daughter Patty.
• Moe Dalitz, associated with the Cleveland mob. He gave Reid $1,500.
• Irwin Molasky & Merv Adelson. These were Dalitz partners in the Rancho La Costa development. Molasky has given at least $15,000 to Read and Adelson have given at least $40,000 to either Reid, his leadership committee or the DSCC which Reid controls.
• Ed & Fred Doumani, associated with the Chicago Mob, gave at least $6,000 to Reid and the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee.
• Kirk Kerkorian, former owner of Caesar’s Palace, has Mob ties and gave over $100, 000 to Reid or DSCC.
• Steve Wynn, connected to the Genovese mafia family, gave Reid at least $19,000.
• Sam & Edgar Bronfman. Sam was a bootlegging associate of Meyer Lansky. Edgar is his son. Both have made substantial contributions to Reid
• Joseph Alioto. Alioto is a San Francisco politician related to Milwaukee Mafia boss John Alioto and was implicated in the Koreagate bribe scandal. He is his wife gave $5,000 to Reid. (60); (61)

Footnotes:
1) Las Vegas Sun, 12/20/05
4) Associated Press, 2/9/06
5) Ibid
6) Las Vegas Review-Journal, 9/25/09
7) The Hill, 9/22/09, “Sen. Reid rebukes Sen. Vitter on ACORN.”
11) Associated Press, 10/16/06, “Reid Used Campaign Money for Christmas Bonuses at Personal Condo.”
15) Associated Press, 10/11/06, “Democrat leader reaped $1.1 million from sale of land he didn’t own.”
19) This info is from the 2009 Pig Book, published by Citizens Against Government Waste
21) Ibid
22) Los Angeles Times, 11/13/06, “Will the Pork stop Here?”
23) See Department of Defense Appropriations bill, 2010, 9/10/2009
24) The Salt Lake Tribune, 10/13/09, “Reid rips LDS church’s Prop. 8 support.”
26) Sen. Harry Reid press conference, 4/3/07
27) Human Events, 4/20/07, “Harry Reid, Loser.”
2 Wall Street Journal, 8/18/09, “Harry Reid’s Evil Moment.”
29) CNS News, 8/13/09, “Rockefeller uses Health-Insurance Profits stats calculated by ACORN-backed group.”
30) Ibid
31) Face the Nation, 4/10/05
32) H.R. 3589, 7/18/83
43) Ibid.
44) Ibid.
52) Ibid
53) Ibid
51) Ibid
52) Ibid

http://www.westernjournalism.com/exc...dirty-laundry/

Interesting that this happened yesterday Rizzolo lost.

State Supreme Court Upholds Vegas Strip Club Order

March 27, 2014 6:12 PM

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has upheld a $9 million judgment against the former owner of a Las Vegas strip club where a customer was left paralyzed after a bouncer beat him in a dispute over an $80 bar tab.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that the court upheld an earlier ruling in Clark County that Rick Rizzolo, former owner of the Crazy Horse Too Gentlemen’s Club, owes the money to Kirk Henry and his wife, Amy.

The Kansas couple first filed suit in Las Vegas against Rizzolo and the strip club shortly after the incident in 2001. Kirk Henry was paralyzed from the neck down.

Rizzolo was sentenced to a year in prison in 2007 and fined $250,000 for federal income tax violations.

http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2014/03...ip-club-order/

Relates to this:

Did the taxpayers bail out Rick and Lisa Rizzolo?

By Steve Miller (Bio and Archives) Monday, August 17, 2009 Comments at bottom of page | Print friendly | Subscribe | Email Us

LAS VEGAS - New information has surfaced regarding additional money allegedly being hid by the wife of convicted racketeer Rick Rizzolo.
Local mortgage brokers report that Lisa Rizzolo mortgaged the couple’s million dollar Canyon Gate estate in October 2006, took a cash back for around $950,000, then put the money in off shore accounts so it cannot be accessed by creditors.

According to the couple’s veryquestionable 2005 divorce, Lisa was given three houses; one in Las Vegas; another in Newport Beach; and the third in Chicago. All three were owned free and clear. Now, information has surfaced indicating Lisa placed a first mortgage on at least one of the properties, and the proceeds she received are not being reported.
According to the Clark County Recorder, Lisa filed the following document on October 4, 2006:

Record Date : 10/4/2006 4:34:00 PM # of Pages: 1 Book Type: OR Book / Page: 0 / 0 Document Type: (SUBREC) SUBSTITUTION/RECONVEYANCE 1st Party: INDYMAC BANK FSB 2nd Party: RIZZOLO, LISA Parcel # 163-05-711-072

Real estate records indicate the INDYMAC first mortgage was arranged by asset protection lawyer John Dawson.
The mortgage was granted months before the Las Vegas residential real estate market began its free fall. The federal government seized INDYMAC in July 2008, twenty one months after the Rizzolos mortgaged their house. INDYMAC had the habit of making bogus loans.
In HENRY v. RIZZOLO Interrogatory No. 19, Page 11, an attorney for unpaid beating victim Kirk Henry asked Lisa to reveal: “...any creditors you have at the present time and the amount and terms of the debt along with any property which you claim is exempt from collection by Plaintiff or any other creditors.” Ms. Rizzolo’s response was “...there is also a Deed of Trust on the Real Property located at 8632 Canyon View Drive, Las Vegas , Nevada 89117 with a balance owed of approximately $950,000.”
According to the 08/14/2009 Zillow.com, the 5 bedroom, 6 bath, 5,763 sq. ft. house located at 8632 Canyon View Drive on the Canyon Gate golf course in Las Vegas sold on 08/29/2006 for $735,000 to a trust owned by none other than Lisa Rizzolo!
The Clark County Assessor lists the seller as:

163-05-711-072 RIZZOLO LISA 20051108:05973 11/08/2005 NO STATUS 200 SUBDIVIDED LOT

and the buyer as:

163-05-711-072 RIZZOLO LISA M SEPARATE PPTY TR RIZZOLO LISA M TRS 20060829:06025 08/29/2006 NO STATUS 200 .37 AC

It appears the successor to INDYMAC—the taxpayers—took a $190,000 loss when Lisa sold the house to herself for less than she owed in what is called a “Short sale.” It’s not known whether Lisa has been making payments on the loan, and if so, where she’s getting the funds?
In 2006, Rick Rizzolo plea bargained with federal prosecutors. He agreed to pay Kirk Henry $9 million dollars; $4.5 million to the IRS; $5 million to another defunct California bank; and the rest to assorted creditors in exchange for a light prison sentence. Rick served less than a year in federal prison, and since his release in 2007 has refused to pay any of his obligations by pleading poverty.
Even though he stiffed his creditors and can’t afford an attorney, Rizzolo (LV Sun photo) is regularly seen at a new bar-restaurant called “Daddy Mac’s Beach Grill” in Henderson. According to sources, Rizzolo is there every night dropping $100 bills into the poker machines while getting “blasted.” My insider says Rick told him the other night that this is “his joint,” and he is “partners” with the alleged owner Doug MacDonald, a former Piero’s bartender. Piero’s is one of Rizzolo’s favorite haunts in Vegas, and its sister restaurant The Ritz is his known hangout in Newport Beach.
In the meantime, attorney John Dawson arranged for Lisa to stash all the couple’s liquid assets in off shore accounts, and to transfer her real estate to a bunch of questionable trusts and LLC’s.
Dawson also serves as the Resident Agent for the Crazy Horse Too’s parent corporation, “THE POWER COMPANY, INC,” and several other Rizzolo owned entities.

THE POWER COMPANY, INC. Business Entity Information Status: Active File Date: 6/19/1972 Type: Domestic Corporation Corp Number: C1966-1972 Qualifying State: NV List of Officers Due: 6/30/2008 Resident Agent Information Name: JOHN E. DAWSON, ESQ. Address 1: 300 S. FOURTH ST. Address 2: SUITE 1700 City: LAS VEGAS State: NV Zip Code: 89101 https://esos.state.nv.us/SOSServices...orpSearch.aspx

What I find most amazing is that Dawson’s employer, Lionel Sawyer & Collins, 300 S. Fourth St., Las Vegas, allows him to associate with known criminals! This is the law firm that also employs the lawyer sons of United States Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Is this a case of “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire?


The Rizzolos stashed their $6 million from mortgage cash backs in off shore accounts arranged by Dawson, the brother of United States Federal Court Judge Kent Dawson who was appointed for life by U.S. Senator Harry Reid (left), the business partner of Jay Brown who was a former Crazy Horse Too attorney and resident agent for the Power Company, a corporation owned by racketeer Rick Rizzolo. Judge Dawson presided over the trials of 15 Crazy Horse defendants, and let them all off with slaps on the wrist after they participated in years of beatings and robberies at the topless bar. During the trials, Judge Dawson also neglected to disclose that his brother was the attorney hiding the assets of the former employer of the 15 defendants.

Senator Reid should realize that he’s being judged by the company he keeps.

This was the second time the Rizzolos took advantage of an about-to-fail California bank. On February 18, 2008, INSIDE VEGAS reported that the now defunct Security Pacific Bank placed a first mortgage on the couple’s soon-to-be-seized topless bar, and loaned them $5 million dollars even though they had been previously warned of the impending seizure. Rick and Lisa did not pay one payment on the loan. Security Pacific was seized by the federal government in November 2008.
The only difference between the two questionable mortgages is that the government took possession of the asset used to secure the $5 million Security Pacific first mortgage —the Crazy Horse property, but has not yet seized the Canyon Gate mansion used to secure the $950,000 INDYMAC first mortgage.
Rizzolo foolishly used a different law firm, Patti & Sgro, to arrange the Crazy Horse mortgage, and he suffered the consequences. Rizzolo lost his most valuable asset.
However, the Rizzolos hired the best advisor available to help them hide the rest of their ill-gotten assets, John Dawson of Lionel Sawyer & Collins. By doing so, the couple has been able to retain the majority of their assets and cash. I broke the news of John and Kent Dawson’s involvement in my September 10, 2007 INSIDE VEGAS column. The information I provided has gone unchallenged.
(John E. Dawson ~ Lionel, Sawyer & Collins ~ is a featured speaker at The Southpac Offshore Planning Institute ~ The 2009 Annual Conference ~ Encore at the Wynn Las Vegas, October 1 & 2, 2009. He will discuss “Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Do They Really Work?” 1:30pm - 2:15pm ~ Thursday, October 1. It’s not known whether he will use the Rizzolo’s case as an example of “Domestic Asset Protection Trusts: Do They Really Work?”)
Two now-defunct California banks loaned the Rizzolos cash at a time when Rick’s name was plastered all over the Nevada and California media for his racketeering activities. It was no secret when the loans were made that the couple was in deep financial trouble. Those shaky loans being made at such a time in a borrower’s history has caused speculation among courthouse observers. Were several former bank loan officers bribed into approving the Rizzolo’s loans?
“Based on our investigation and the information provided by RicRiz’s representatives, we concluded that the allegations regarding Rizzolo’s involvement in unspecified criminal activity were not verifiable, and that some of the rumors were affirmatively inaccurate. Accordingly, I and others recommended proceeding with the loan, which closed on November 3, 2005.” - Gregory Alcala, 1st Vice President and Manager, Real Estate Loan Underwriting for Security Pacific Bank.
Was it a mere coincidence that two very troubled California banks saw the Rizzolos in the most favorable light?
Security Pacific (the taxpayers) did not receive one dime in repayment of the loan, and INDYMAC (the taxpayers) may suffer the same fate. In the meantime, the $6 million remains in the Rizzolo’s hands.
INDYMAC and Security Pacific specialized in mortgages that were written for borrowers who weren’t required to provide proof of their income and assets in order to get loans. The two banks obviously did not do their due diligence with the Rizzolos because they turned over the money to the couple months before, or soon after Rick began his well publicized prison sentence.
With ample liquid assets stashed off shore to pay all the Rizzolo’s debts, U.S. Judge Philip Pro has set a hearing for September 15, 2009 at 10:30 AM to decide the next phase in this eight year long civil case.
At the hearing Judge Pro is expected to rule on whether the Rizzolos can continue to keep their hidden assets, or whether the assets should be seized to pay the couple’s over $27 million in unpaid debts.
Either way, this case has already set records for how long criminals can remain in possession of ill-gotten assets hidden in off shore accounts.
Rick Rizzolo is expected to act as his own attorney at the hearing and request that the entire eight year long case be transferred back to state jurisdiction where he has friends in the Nevada Supreme Court and Clark County District Court. As a Pro Se litigant, he claims to have personally authored over a half dozen legal Motions (without once using the “F” word?) that must be decided by Judge Pro. However, many suspect that Rizzolo was not the actual author, and will soon hire new attorneys who will claim they need additional time to prepare his case thereby stalling the resolution for several more months.
Some observers speculate that because Kirk Henry has been a quadriplegic since 2001 when his neck was broken by one of the Rizzolo’s employees, Rick Rizzolo wants to stall the case long enough for Henry to pass away, then attempt to settle with his family for dimes on the dollar.
Judge to rule on Rick Rizzolo’s Pro Se Motions (in bold print):

Full docket text for document 163: MINUTE ORDER IN CHAMBERS of the Honorable Judge Philip M. Pro, on 8/5/2009. By Deputy Clerk: Donna Andrews. At the Motion Hearing set for 9/15/2009 at 10:30 AM,the Court will hear argument on the following additional motions: [153] Defendants’ Objection to the Court’s Order (#151) Granting Plaintiffs’ Motion for Enlargement of Time; Defendants’ Motion for Hearing to Stay Discovery Pending Decision on Dispostive Motions or Certification of Questions of Law to the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada; [160] Defendants’ Notice of Plaintiffs’ Failure to Join Indispensable Parties and Defendants; [161] Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint, Objection and Motion to Dismiss Second Amended Complaint, First Alternative Motion for Summary Judgment; Second Alternative Motion to Certify Questions of Law to the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada.

Hopefully, Judge Pro’s patience is being tested and he will finally issue a ruling that brings justice to this protracted case during Kirk Henry’s lifetime. Then we may finally learn if the taxpayers will get what they’re owed in back taxes, interest, penalties, and the cost of bailing out banks that made questionable loans to racketeers.
Earlier this year, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve took the bold step of committing more than $1 trillion in financing for loan purchases. According toCNNMoney.com, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner last February detailed his plan to rescue the financial sector and “Help banks cleanse their holdings of ‘toxic’ assets to get private lending up and running again.”
Are the two Rizzolo mortgages what Geithner meant by helping banks cleanse their holdings of toxic assets? Or are taxpayers being forced to cover certain bank’s bad loans and let crooked borrowers hide the proceeds in off shore accounts? If so, this may be a perfect example of The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 gone wrong.
http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/13831

Steve Miller, is a former Las Vegas City Councilman. In 1991, the readers of the Las Vegas Review Journal voted him the “Most Effective Public Official” in Southern Nevada. Miller writes internationally syndicated columns on organized crime and political corruption for Rick Porrello’sAmericanMafia.com.

An interesting note:

Judge Dawson was a Justice of the Peace when he was appointed by Harry Reid to be a Federal Judge with a lifetime appointment.