Reid denies fresh $1m poker bill bribe claims
US Senator accused of promising to introduce online poker bill after meeting with Full Tilt and PPA.
US Senator Harry Reid was allegedly paid US$1m to lead the drive for federally legalised online poker on behalf of Full Tilt, according to Jeremy Johnson, the Utah businessman reportedly involved in Black Friday payment processing.
The claim, which Reid denies, is the latest in a series of allegations made by Johnson, who last month accused Utah attorney general John Swallow of helping him to set up a $600,000 payment to Reid in 2010 to end an investigation into Johnson’s iWorks business.
Johnson has released what he claims to be a recording between himself and Swallow at a doughnut shop in April 2012, in which he describes a meeting allegedly involving Reid, former Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar, Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas and Johnson.
In the recording, Johnson claims that Reid said at the meeting: “Look, I’ve polled my constituents. They don’t like online poker. Bottom line. It’s bad for jobs here in Las Vegas. But, I’m going to back what you guys are doing here. I’m going to introduce a bill for you.”
Pappas has denied being involved in such a meeting and Reid’s spokeswoman Kristen Orthman told The Salt Lake Tribune: “Bribery is a crime for which Senator Reid has personally put people behind bars. Senator Reid will not have his integrity questioned by a man of Mr Johnson’s low record and character, and his outrageous allegations will not go unanswered.”
Swallow has argued that the recording supports his defence of Johnson’s previous allegation, with the Utah attorney general insisting that his only involvement was to connect Johnson with the late Richard Rawle, who owned loans company Check City, in order to hire lobbyists to work on the Federal Trade Commission case into iWorks.
Last year, Johnson was accused by Black Friday indictee Chad Elie of attempting to hide $51.4m in processed player funds by repeatedly moving the funds between various holding companies, but ultimately Johnson was not named in the Black Friday indictments. During the investigation, Johnson claimed the funds were held in merchant accounts at SunFirst Bank, which went into receivership in November 2011.
Elie has since published a photo via his Twitter account showing Reid meeting with Bitar and former Full Tilt Poker president Howard Lederer.