Senator Harry Reids Shady Deals - Part 2

Well Senator Harry Reid decided to reply to the article implying that he was involved in a shady land deal. Let's take a look at some of the things he said in this reply shall we?

"Last month, Republicans openly boasted that they would engage in a campaign of personal attacks and smears to hold onto power in Washington. In recent days, we witnessed their latest attempt to do just that. Republicans may believe in cover-ups. I believe in ensuring all facts come to light."

First off we start with an attack on the Republican party. Nothing new there. Let's go to the next quote.

"Last week, a highly misleading report by the Associated Press implied that I made a profit selling land I no longer owned. That article was wrong. Here are the facts: I bought the land in 1998, I sold it in 2004, and I listed my ownership of the land on official Senate disclosure forms every single year."

"Now I have taken an additional step. Today, I directed my staff to file amended financial disclosure forms noting that in 2001, I transferred title to the land to a Limited Liability Corporation."

Now here's something I don't understand. Why is is that he sold it in 2004 and listed the ownership "ever single year", why does he need to direct his staff to file an amended financial disclosure form? And if he "sold it" then why does he say sold it and then in the next paragraph say that he transferred the title? I don't know much about real estate, but this sounds very funny to me. Let's go to the next quote.

"As the amended forms make clear, this routine legal move in no way altered my actual ownership of the land. On each disclosure form after 2001, I have added a note to clarify that the land already disclosed in detail on those forms was owned by me through the LLC."

“The Ethics Committee has not yet advised me whether I should file these amended forms, but even if I am not required to do so I am happy to go beyond what is needed to provide the fullest disclosure. The amended forms make clear what was true all along – I owned the land through the LLC when I sold it in 2004."

So how does he "own the land" when he says he sold it and transfered the title to the LLC in 2004? How does that work? Is there anyone out there who's a real estate guru who can explain this to my readers? Again, I don't purport to be a real estate guru, but doesn't this sound a little fishy to you?

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com