Las Vegas Review Journal takes Reid to shed over bullying tactics

We've seen cattle ranches give way to railroads. We chronicled the construction of Hoover Dam. We reported on the first day of legalized gambling. The first hospital. The first school. The first church. We survived the mob, Howard Hughes, the Great Depression, several recessions, two world wars, dozens of news competitors and any number of two-bit politicians who couldn't stand scrutiny, much less criticism.

We're still here doing what we do for the people of Las Vegas and Nevada. So, let me assure you, if we weathered all of that, we can damn sure outlast the bully threats of Sen. Harry Reid.

On Wednesday, before he addressed a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Reid joined the chamber's board members for a meet-'n'-greet and a photo. One of the last in line was the Review-Journal's director of advertising, Bob Brown, a hard-working Nevadan who toils every day on behalf of advertisers. He has nothing to do with news coverage or the opinion pages of the Review-Journal.

Yet, as Bob shook hands with our senior U.S. senator in what should have been nothing but a gracious business setting, Reid said: "I hope you go out of business."

Later, in his public speech, Reid said he wanted to let everyone know that he wants the Review-Journal to continue selling advertising because the Las Vegas Sun is delivered inside the Review-Journal.

You could call Reid's remark ugly and be right. It certainly was boorish. Asinine? That goes without saying.

But to fully capture the magnitude of Reid's remark (and to stop him from doing the same thing to others) it must be called what it was -- a full-on threat perpetrated by a bully who has forgotten that he was elected to office to protect Nevadans, not sound like he's shaking them down.

No citizen should expect this kind of behavior from a U.S. senator. It is certainly not becoming of a man who is the majority leader in the U.S. Senate. And it absolutely is not what anyone would expect from a man who now asks Nevadans to send him back to the Senate for a fifth term.

If he thinks he can push the state's largest newspaper around by exacting some kind of economic punishment in retaliation for not seeing eye to eye with him on matters of politics, I can only imagine how he pressures businesses and individuals who don't have the wherewithal of the Review-Journal.

For the sake of all who live and work in Nevada, we can't let this bully behavior pass without calling out Sen. Reid. If he'll try it with the Review-Journal, you can bet that he's tried it with others. So today, we serve notice on Sen. Reid that this creepy tactic will not be tolerated.

We won't allow you to bully us. And if you try it with anyone else, count on going through us first.

Sherman Frederick (sfrederick@reviewjournal.com) is publisher of the Review-Journal and president of Stephens Media.

FAMILY TIES: Nevada senator’s family excels in lucrative ties; [Final Edition] Chuck Neubauer and Richard Cooper Los Angeles Times. Jul 6, 2003. pg. 4.A

Abstract (Document Summary) Reid’s sons — Rory, 40, Leif, 35, Josh, 31, and Key, 28 — work for Nevada’s largest law firm, Lionel Sawyer Collins. Rory Reid is a partner in the firm and was a Nevada lobbyist before his election to the Clark County Board of Commissioners in November. Leif Reid is a litigator who has represented mining and resort
industry associations in Nevada.

Key Reid was hired to open the firm’s Washington office in 2002 and help lead its federal lobbying effort with former Sen. Richard H. Bryan, D-Nev., who splits his time between the capital and Nevada. [Steven Barringer], 47, and married to the senator’s daughter, Lana, is a lawyer, federal lobbyist and partner in the small Washington-based lobbying firm of McClure, Gerard and Neuenschwander.

Reid’s sons — Rory, 40, Leif, 35, Josh, 31, and Key, 28 —work for Nevada’s largest law firm, Lionel Sawyer Collins. Rory Reid is a partner in the firm and was a Nevada lobbyist before his election to the Clark County Board of Commissioners in November.

Leif Reid is a litigator who has represented mining and resort industry associations in Nevada. Key Reid was hired to open the firm’s Washington office in 2002 and help lead its federal lobbying effort with former Sen. Richard H. Bryan, D-Nev., who splits his time between the capital and Nevada. Barringer, 47, and married to the senator’s daughter, Lana, is a lawyer, federal lobbyist and partner in the small Washington-based lobbying firm of McClure, Gerard and Neuenschwander. Barringer and Reid’s sons declined to be interviewed by the Los Angeles Times.

Washington lobbying firms must file reports twice a year that disclose their clients and the names of the people representing them. Those reports show that, between them, Barringer and Key Reid have represented nearly every major industry in Nevada, from mining and real estate evelopment to tourism and gambling to the city of Las Vegas. All of those clients rely on the senator’s goodwill on Capitol Hill.

Reid is the Senate’s minority whip, the chamber’s second-highest Democratic leader. He is also a senior member of the Appropriations Committee and the Environment and Public Works Committee.

CIRCA 2/03 Los Angeles Times series on Reid; Harry’s Henchman, his son Rory Reid: Harry Reid’s Mob Money, Part 2 * Unless otherwise noted Sources:

Federal lobbyist forms filed with the House and Senate by his son, Key Reid, for 2002 and Steven Barringer for 1999 through 2002; state lobbyist forms filed by his son Rory Reid for 2002 with the Nevada Legislative Reference Office; congressional bills, news releases and documents; legal records; interview with Sen. Harry Reid; interviews with clients of the Reid family.)

GAMING: The American Gaming Assn. Honored Sen. Reid as one of “America’s Gaming Greats” and hired his son-in-law to lobby in Washington;

MINING: Mines such as Barrick Goldstrike have benefited from Sen. [Harry Reid]’s advocacy in the Senate. The Nevada Mining Assn., gave him a lifetime achievement award. Industry leaders have paid his son- in-law’s firms nearly $1 million for lobbying.;

TOURISM: Sen. Reid fought Grand Canyon flight restrictions. One operator was a client of his son-in- law.; The firm that, with Sen. Reid’s aid, traded hilly land for federal parcels near Las Vegas also hired his son-in-law;

LAND DEVELOPMENT: Sen. Reid tried and failed to move a right-of-way for power lines to aid Nevada developers led by a friend who is a partner at the firm where Reid’s sons work;

REID IS UNTROUBLED: “It is not as if a lot of cash is changing hands,” Sen. Harry Reid says;

LA TIMES SERIES In Nevada, the Name to Know is Reid; Members of Reid’s family represent nearly every major industry in Nevada;their clients rely on Reid’s
goodwill. Series: Second of two parts; Chuck Neubauer and Richard T. Cooper. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Jun 23, 2003. pg. A.1

Reid helped the University of Nevada at Reno secure millions of dollars in specially earmarked funds in his work on the Senate Appropriations Committee. How much family members’ firms have been paid*: $10,000 a month to the Lionel Sawyer firm for lobbying by his son Key Reid and former Sen. Richard Bryan

The special interest: Kerr-McGee Corp. What Sen. Reid has done: Helped the oil and chemical company get federal funds to help pay to clean up radioactive waste at a company plant near Chicago. How much family members’ firms have been paid*: Undisclosed amount to the Lionel Sawyer firm for Rory Reid and others to lobby in Nevada

The special interest: Heli USA Airways, a leading Grand Canyon tour operator What Sen. Reid has done: Opposed federal attempts to restrict Grand Canyon tours. How much family members’ firms have been paid*: $20,000 to the Dickstein firm for Barringer and others to lobby

The special interest: Air Products & Chemicals Inc. What Sen. Reid has done: Backed a $10.8-million, public-private partnership between the company and federal government to build a hydrogen filling station for buses. How much family members’ firms have been paid*: undisclosed amount to the Lionel Sawyer firm for Rory Reid and others to lobby in Nevada

The special interest: Nevada Test Development Site Corp. What Sen. Reid has done: Helped funnel millions of dollars in federal funds to develop the test site. How much family members’ firms have been paid*: $20,000 to the McClure firm for Barringer and others to lobby federal agencies.

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