More Money Discovered Flowing from Reid's Campaign to His Granddaughter; At Least One of His Donors is Also Considering Donating Directly to Reid's Granddaughter's Theater Company

The other day, a reporter asked Harry Reid about the $17,000 his campaign had funneled to his granddaughter.

"Sixteen thousand," Reid snipped, chiding the reporter for getting the figure wrong.

The reporter did have the figure wrong. It's $31,000. At last count.

And it gets worse, because one of Reid's organzational supporters, NV Energy Foundation, is considering making a separate donation to the granddaugher's theater troupe, for some reason.

His granddaughter has also received financial support for her fledgling New York theater company from two Nevada-based foundations that typically prohibit donations to organizations outside of their service areas. The foundations belong to gaming and energy companies that have also donated to the lawmaker.

...

According to the Brooklyn Arts Council, Sprat “is supported by funds from Clinton Global Initiative, Caesars Foundation, NV Energy Foundation, and individual donors.” (The Sprat website also lists these contributors, along with others.)

The Caesars Foundation is the philanthropic wing of Caesars Entertainment, a Las Vegas-based gaming corporation that owns and operates dozens of casinos. Sen. Reid has received funds from the corporation in the past.

...

The NV Energy Foundation, also a philanthropic wing of a larger corporation, donates to a variety of causes -- from artistic endeavors to educational institutions. However,Still, the benefactor “reserves the right to give special emphasis to specific categories of funding from time to time or to change or withdraw this program without notice.”

A couple of updates on this (from the same link). The Caesars Foundation says... well they deny funding Ryan Reid's theater company. But then they say they funded "a proposal."

In a statement to RCP, Caesars Foundation spokeswoman Jan Jones said, "The Caesars Foundation did not provide funding to Ryan Reid's company. We funded a proposal from the Las Vegas Keep Memory Alive (of the Cleveland Clinic Luv Ruvo Center) in support, along with several other non-profits, [of] bringing Reid's play . . . to Las Vegas." Jones added that the play, which deals with Alzheimer's disease, fits with the foundation's focus on the illness.

And NV Energy says it did not make a donation... but is considering doing so.

A spokeswoman for the NV Energy Foundation and another for two foundations set up by philanthropist Larry Ruvo separately told Nevada reporter Jon Ralston that they had received applications for funding from Reid's granddaughter. However, NV Energy is still considering a donation, and Ruvo's groups declined the requests. None of the spokeswomen knew why their foundations were listed as donors.

posted by Ace at 02:47 PM

| Access Comments