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twitterHarry Reid true to his word to John Ensign
Majority leader, like potential GOP opponent, calls scandal ‘personal matter’
Steve Marcus
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., left, talks with Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., on Aug. 25. The two have had a nonaggression pact since 2000.
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sue Lowden
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Carson City — National Democrats sent out a missive Monday morning saying that with Sen. John Ensign under fire, and national Republicans running from him, there was “one person still defending him: Sue Lowden.”
It was part of an ongoing attempt by Democrats to tie Ensign, the Nevada Republican embroiled in an ongoing scandal, to Lowden, who is seeking the Republican Party’s nomination to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
But Ensign still has at least one other friend in Nevada — Reid.
Through a spokesman Reid said that Ensign’s affair with the wife of a staff member, who also worked for him, is a “personal matter.” That despite a report in The New York Times last week raising allegations that Ensign helped secure employment for Doug Hampton, a former top aide, who apparently went on to lobby the senator’s office in possible violation of the federal one-year lobbying ban. Ensign had been having an affair with Hampton’s wife, Cynthia.
“The ethics committee said they’re looking into it. Sen. Reid is going to stay out of it,” Reid spokesman Jon Summers said. “Sen. Reid believes it’s a personal matter.”
Asked if that meant Reid did not support the ethics investigation, Summers said, “They’re already involved ... You have my comments on the matter.”
Nevada’s two senators have since 2000 abided by an agreement that the two will not criticize each other. The Ensign scandal is sure to test that relationship.
Reid, who faces a difficult reelection campaign, in remaining silent risks being seen as more concerned with preserving his relationship with Ensign than speaking out against questionable ethical behavior — a position that could offend his base.
Many, however, believe Reid would benefit most from remaining silent and seeing a weakened Ensign remain in office. An Ensign exit would remove what appears to be an easy target for Democrats.
Jennifer Duffy, a senior analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington, said that before Friday’s report in The Times, she understood Reid’s silence. “It was a touchy thing — a Senate colleague, he still has to work with him on Nevada issues. Maybe it was a safer thing to stand to the side,” she said.
That is no longer the case, she said. “Now they have seemed to have found a much more compelling reasons for an ethics commission investigation, and potentially a Department of Justice investigation, it’s going to be harder for him to sit on the sidelines.”
She said heat could come from members of Reid’s Democratic base, some of whom are already complaining about his moderate positions on a variety of issues, from his vote in 2002 authorizing the war in Iraq to what they see as a lack of involvement in the health care reform debate.
“Reid needs an enthusiastic base right now. He needs them to work for him, come out to vote for him,” she said. His neutrality on Ensign “becomes one more item on the laundry list for the left” that leaves them lukewarm to the Senate leader.
Erin Neff, a former Nevada political columnist who heads the liberal Progress Now Nevada, said Reid is doing a “tap dance” best explained by the nonaggression pact Reid and Ensign agreed to nearly a decade ago.
Although she supports Reid’s reelection, she said, “If there’s some kind of charges that come out, there’s some type of criminality or ethical violation, I expect to see a different tone from Harry Reid.”
(Neff’s nonprofit group received 3.5 percent of its funding from Reid’s political action committee, she said.)
If Reid remains silent on Ensign it also would muddle a line of attack against Lowden for her continuing to embrace Ensign.
Lowden on Monday told Sun columnist Jon Ralston: “I’m on the record as saying that I would appreciate his (Ensign’s) support. I’ve been up and down this state and he has support throughout this state ... I am saying that is a personal issue and you need to calm down about that.”
Robert Uithoven, a political consultant working for Lowden, called Democratic attacks on Lowden hypocritical because they ignore Reid’s nearly identical position.
“I think Harry Reid’s Washington allies are inconsistent with what Harry Reid has said about it,” Uithoven said. “What Sue Lowden has said is consistent with what Sen. Reid has said. What happened is private between Sen. Ensign, his family and colleagues. Until and unless it’s proven otherwise, it’s a personal matter.”
The nonaggression agreement goes back to 2000, when Ensign was elected to the U.S. Senate. Both agreed not to publicly or privately criticize the other, and to work together on Nevada issues.
After Ensign initially disclosed the affair at a June news conference, Reid said: “Everyone knows that Sen. Ensign and I had a very difficult race in 1998. We have become friends since then. I’m concerned about his family, and I hope he works his way through this.”
After the scandal erupted, Ensign’s and Reid’s offices continued sending joint news releases touting legislative accomplishments the two have made in Washington.
A Democratic source insisted that Reid’s neutrality has nothing to do with the nonaggression agreement, saying that he was also silent during the early stages of investigations of other senators, such as David Vitter, Larry Craig and Ted Stevens.
Another Democratic source said the silence from Democrats was just smart, self-interested politics.
“They’ve given themselves enough rope. John Ensign is the best thing to happen to us in a long time,” said one Democratic source. “We’re taking the high road, and letting Republicans do the heavy lifting for us by calling for him to resign.”
But this kind of politicking drew a sharp response from ethics watchdogs.
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said, “The rest of the country knows that Sen. Ensign’s conduct was deplorable. It shouldn’t be impossible for a member of senate leadership to say so.”
The latest allegations that Ensign helped former staffer Doug Hampton secure lobbying clients “makes it a matter well beyond the senator and his family,” she said.
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Locally owned and independent for more than 50 years.
January 5, 2009 LVMPD report 1590 names suspects in the wrongful deaths, abuse and neglect of Las Vegas children. While this record has "disappeared", Sen. Reid went to the FBI. Now he's withdrawing from pursuing the matter. At the source of the report is his son, Rory Reid. YOUR RIGHT!
Crew is funded by Democrats and it is ran by Democrats.
Hmmmmmm.....they are pushing hard on Ensign but only make mild statements about Rangel.
In fact, if you look on their site about Rangel it is almost a campaign ad for Rangel.
The Sun is lib fake newspaper.
They push smoke and mirror organizations like Crew that are really Democratic organizations.
Good or bad articles about Harry are OLD NEWS!!! WE are wise to Harry and his self serving ways. He is tooooooooooooo far gone to ever serve in politics again. He is out in 2010 and a new fresh person who wants to lisen to us is in. VERY SIMPLE!!!
Going back to being a veterinarian?
Even the "little animals" will make Ensign "wash up" because they're concerned where his hands have been!!!
Shut up! Neil Bush stole $1 billion form Denver's Silverado Bank and didn't pay any income taxes on his loot. Floyd Mayweather should fund a national Black "tea-baggers" protest bus tour "IMPEACH ENSIGN". I can still hear the GOP and John Birch Society chanting, "IMPEACH EARL WARREN" (former SCOTUS chief justice). Warren (GOP) made a lot of rulings favoring civil rights for Black folks.
Back to BFF! Obama, Reid, Biden, Holder, and Gates, are also Ensign's buddies. They should have STRIPped this clown of his TOP SECRET security clearance 2 months ago. And that of U.S. Sen. Coburn's too. He conspired with the ENSWINe Klan to cover-up John's panty-gate.
Obama and Holder, time to stop humming and singing stanzas from "We Shall Overcome".
Well of course Reid is standing by Ensign because if Ensign whethers the storm he will now owe Harry Reid. Not to mention next to Ensign Reid almost looks acceptable.
Harry Reid's being polite. Do I agree with it? No, not when there's criminal behavior involved. Frankly, he just needs to let Johnny Casino have it.
Still, it's not like he was the chairman of Johnny Casino's party or proudly proclaiming that he wants his support. Sue Lowden and Lil' Tark Shark still have a lot of 'splainin' to do.
Ensign's non-story continues to fixate the Sun staff of hack reporters and some of their liberal Marxist readers.
atta boy harry...
thank god we have some adults in washington...
just sit back and watch the stupid pathetic republican liars eat their own...
with all of their phoney religious righteousness...
it makes for great sport...
besides...
the ace in the hole is johnnie boy ensign has yet to face the music...
just wait til that little maggot holds a function open to the public...
damn that is gonna be fun...
i'll make sure my voice is primed and ready to go...
and props...
we will need props...
just off the top of my head...
something with blow up dolls...
with the obligatory references to "the family cult" and "promise keepers"...
what a scum bag johnnie boy ensign is...
and...
what a scum bag sue lowden is...
imagine this pathetic witch asked for ensign's support...
man i can't wait til we destroy her blind ambition...
she is not qualified...
period...
end of story...
and i wonder if there are a ton skeletons in her closet...
three words...
fun, fun, fun!!!
Does Harry "consult via prayer" with the Spirit of Joseph Smith before he decides how to move forward on a particular issue?
Voters need to know!
Harry Reid doesn't remember if he is a Democrat or Republican. It is time to go Harry ! Please, please, pretty please...go away. Go Away for Good of all of Nevada.
Virgil A. Sestini
i know Harry Reid is a Mormon but I have no idea what religion John Ensign is
This is abetting. How crude. Reid is off base and needs to see a consultant.
reid needs all the help he can muster to keep his senate seat; instead of standing on his two feet like a man and calling out ensign for what he is, he joins the enablers like afvet and rockhead for what a great guy ensign is. thats why vegas ranks at the bottom for the country's dumbest city.
LIAR(S)!!!
They Lied: Watchdog Says Treasury, Fed Knew Bailed-Out Banks Weren't 'Healthy'
Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), says that despite multiple statements on Oct. 14 of last year that these nine banks were healthy and only receiving government funds for the good of the country's economy, federal officials knew otherwise.
"In addition to the basic transparency concern that this inconsistency raises, by stating expressly that the 'healthy' institutions would be able to increase overall lending, Treasury may have created unrealistic expectations about the institutions' condition and their ability to increase lending," Barofsky says. "Treasury and the TARP program lost credibility when lending at those institutions did not in fact increase and when subsequent events -- the further assistance needed by Citigroup and Bank of America being the most significant examples -- demonstrated that at least some of those institutions were not in fact healthy."
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=8748299
In addition to voting to give billions of dollars to UN-HEALTHY banks and insurance companies. Harry Reid was the senior ranking congressman for the TARP Compromise Committe that REMOVED the bonus restrictions!
http://www.popmodal.com/video/2208/AIG-S...
Harry Reid has a history of investing in Banks, Insurance and Health Care companies!
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/tony/sn...
According to watchdog Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general for the program, it is "highly unlikely" that taxpayers will ever get paid.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/year-anni...
= FRAUD
Why are Reid and Pelosi fighting to keep the latest proposed health care legislation off of the internet? Are they afraid of an informed citizenry?
There is an obvious correlation between Las Vegas' ranking on the smart cities list and the quality of our elected officials.
No bank may be permitted, under any circumstances, to have outstanding more in unsecured lending than it has in actual excess capital.
In point of fact any bank which has outstanding more in unsecured lending than it has in excess capital is at that moment insolvent, in that it has no security against the amount outstanding in loans that exceed excess capital.
Now here's the nasty: It is illegal in many states for a bank to accept a deposit while in this condition. As just one of many examples (Nevada):
1. It is unlawful for a president, director, manager, cashier or other officer or employee of any bank to permit the bank to remain open for business, or to assent to the reception of deposits or the creation of debts by the banking institution, after he has knowledge of the fact that it is insolvent or in failing circumstances. An officer, director, manager or agent of a bank shall examine the affairs of the bank and shall know its condition. Upon the failure of any such person to discharge his duty of examination, he must be held, for the purpose of this title, to have had knowledge of the insolvency of the bank, or that it was in failing circumstances, and shall be deemed to have assented to the receipt of deposits while the bank was insolvent or in failing circumstances. A person who violates the provisions of this subsection is individually responsible for deposits so received, and all such debts so contracted, but any director who has paid more than his share of such liabilities has a remedy at law against other persons who have not paid their full share of such liabilities for contribution.
....
3. A person who violates the provisions of this section, or who is an accessory to, or permits or connives at, the receiving or accepting of any such deposits, or the giving of such preferences, is guilty of a category D felony and shall be punished as provided in NRS 193.130.
Each and every bank officer and manager is not only civilly liable for any loss suffered (e.g. balances beyond insured limits) but is also CRIMINALLY liable for the acceptance of deposits while the bank they work for is factually insolvent in many of these states, including Nevada.
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-193.h...
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archi...
4. Misprision of felony
Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Mortgage lending fraud (Chapter 205) (A.B. 440, Chapter 492, Statutes of Nevada 2007)
http://www.leg.state.nv.us/lcb/research/...
They are ALL in bed together.
We have the RJ to thank for endosing John Ensign. Gee, thank you RJ for supporting the worse of the worst. The RJ needs to get outta town.
Grab your pitch forks and torches and let's storm the castle.
Does Nina Radetich still have a job?
The Good Old Boys Personal Matter club may be alive and well in Nevada but some voters aren't buying it, guys. Many voters believe the way a person conducts his/her personal life to be very important. After all, if you aren't looking out for your closest family members, you certainly aren't interested in looking out for us!
Harry Reid has one god - the Democratic party. If you think he works for Nevada or the people or the nation or the wild horses or the children or the uninsured, you're really naive.
He has lined his pockets lavishly over the years - did he do that for the benefit of Nevadans? Wake up.
Harry Reid, like those of us that believe anyone (even a lying, cheating, thieving, radical, right-wing, neo-con Republican RAT) like Ensign should get a fair hearing and should be considered innocent until PROVEN guilty!
I want the facts, the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth - then, I'll come to a fair conclusion!
As for Ensign? Well, all I have to say for now is 2012 is a ways off and the clock goes "tick-tock" "Tick-Tock" "TICK-TOCK!"
Ensign tried to bribe his way out of his mess. He should be prosecuted.
I think they should investigate David Letterman...
Completely disgusting...
He should step down...
Prosecute him...
@LarryVegas-
Yes, Senator Letterman should step down.
Well, Larry, Letterman was blackmailed and turned to the FBI. They arrested the guy.
What did Ensign do again?
The United States of America is SICK of Harry Reid. Some of you may love him but we ALL don't stink as Harry said. Please, it is time to say goodbye!!!!
birdie: It was pure Karma with Letterfool. Hopefull, the next episode will be a massive MI. If not, I'll shake hands with his face the next time I see him loitering outside the Ed Sullivan Theatre.
Now if reid would only honor his word to uphold the Constitution!
If you would go to You Tube type in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac there is a video from C-Span it explains what the Democrats did not do..
This started with Jimmy Carter and gradually with the aide of Clinton this is why we are in the mess we are in.
We have not seen anything yet, with the spending spree the government is on the monetary budget will inflate and this means the value of the dollar will go down. Prediction is by 25% or more.
The word for America is Abyss, in other words America will go busted. You can not spend more than what your assets are and that is what the government is doing. Taxes going up economy going down.. Bleak future for us Americans.
Statement of Sen. Reid (D-Nev.)
Following is a statement from the Senate's closed deliberations on the articles of impeachment against President Clinton, excerpts of which senators were allowed to publish in the Congressional Record for Friday, Feb. 12.
...
I want to use this occasion to say something to the American people, to the people of the State of Nevada, to leave them with the hope that those in high office have not been bereft of all reason, sense and sensibility. What the President did was wrong. It was immoral. I don't believe it constitutes a crime justifying his removal from office. What Mr. Starr did, and continues to do, is also wrong, and it is also immoral.
But their conduct is not the standard to which we must hold ourselves. We, all of us in Government, can do better. We must do better. The American people have the right to expect that or it doesn't matter how great we are, how great our ideas or how powerful our values. Set the standard high and judge by that standard. That is how the system is supposed to work, and in the long run it is how our constitutional form of government, with a legacy of more than 200 years, has worked and, with the help of a power greater than any of us, will continue to work.
Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/pol...
What would a day be without lcdrmandingonamvet mentioning Neil Bush?
"Congressional ethics committee"
You got to be kidding me. Like the fox guarding the hen house?
What a joke!
stupid pathetic birdiedreamin is full of pus ain't he?
dingo is too!
I went back and read the headline after a few glasses of wine: "Harry Reid True To His Word..." And this is objective journalism? No wonder sensible folks watch Beck and O'Reilly.
birds of a feather