What did Harry Reid know and when did he know it?

But as the story of the Bundy Ranch made it through the media in the last few days, disturbing questions began to be raised. In 2011, attorney Rory Reid, son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, went to China and returned with a new client — ENN Energy. ENN wanted to build a solar-powered energy plant in Clark County. Amazingly, Clark County commissioners voted to sell ENN a 9,000-acre tract for $4.5 million. The appraised value of the land was $38 million. As the Bundy Ranch saga unfurled, a lot of questions began to be raised in the conservative blogosphere. There were accusations that the Bundy Ranch and the area the Bundys use to graze their cattle are in an area called the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone. If the cattle continued to use the area, it would be impossible to use the land for a solar energy installation. The current head of the Bureau of Land Management is Neil Kornze, who was hand-picked by Harry Reid. Until 2011, Kornze was on Harry Reid’s Senate staff. All of this raises a fascinating, if circumstantial, case. It is a case that merits investigation. There are many questions that need to be asked. Such as, who ordered the initial raid? Why did Clark County sell land to ENN at far below its fair value? Who ordered the BLM show of force? Why did the BLM impose a no-fly zone over the Bundy Ranch so the media could not get video or photographs of what was going on? Rep. Darryl Issa has shown no reluctance in investigating wrongdoing by the administration, and his staff should be working on subpoenas today. While the House of Representatives can’t compel Harry Reid to testify, it can bring in everyone from the BLM, and that is exactly what should be done...more

Nevada ranch standoff could leave dirt on Harry Reid’s reputation

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said little as federal agents seized and then released cattle last week from the Bundy ranch, but there is little doubt that the highly charged episode was threatening to become a political headache for the Nevada Democrat. The Bureau of Land Management is headed by former longtime Reid aide Neil Kornze, who was confirmed by the Senate as BLM director on Tuesday, just as federal authorities descended on the cattle ranch outside Mesquite, Nev. Speculation spiked in recent days over Mr. Reid’s connection to the BLM episode, in which federal contractors seized about 400 head of cattle from 68-year-old rancher Cliven Bundy over his refusal to pay an estimated $1 million in grazing fees over 20 years. “It was likely pressure from upstairs, rather than weapons from the field, that changed his mind on the matter,” the liberal group Americans Against the Tea Party said in an online post. “Fact is, Harry Reid probably didn’t want his name attached to the biggest civilian massacre in U.S. history right before election season.” On Sunday, BLM spokesman Craig Leff told The Associated Press that “the door isn’t closed” to an administrative or judicial resolution with the Bundys...more