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Richard Piatt Reporting Nevada Senator Harry Reid had strong words about what he calls a 'Culture of Republican corruption' in Washington. Reid was in Salt Lake City today for a Democratic fundraiser.
Senator Reid didn't mince words, and he's doing the same thing in seven 'Red', or conservative, states this week, clearly a tactic to help Democrats in this election year.
In Washington it is a time when the ex-House Speaker is facing felony corruption charges, when the Senate President is under investigation for stock fraud, when top White House operatives Scooter Libby and David Safavian are arrested and charged with corruption, when Karl Rove is under investigation, when Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleads guilty to influence peddling.
Now a top Democrat is organizing a campaign to point out a pattern.
Sen Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Minority Leader: "We, as Democrats, believe there should be a bright light shining on Washington. The culture of corruption must end."
Senator Reid plans to propose a package of bills he calls 'Honesty in Leadership'. It would include a gift ban proposal, stricter reporting requirements, and harsher criminal penalties. He also blames the President for what he calls a Republican culture of corruption.
At a news conference, local Republicans took offense to Reid's statements.
James Evans, Salt Lake County Republican Chairman: "If anything, Democrats were in control of congress for 40 years, and if Republicans learned anything about corruption, they learned it from the Democrats."
Utah's lone Democrat in Congress, Jim Matheson, is more diplomatic than Reid about the problem, but he says he has noticed a pattern and supports ethics reform.
Rep. Jim Matheson, (D) Utah: "There's no question that there's been an orchestrated effort in the last couple decades in an overt partisan way for the lobbying community to be taken over by one party."
Reid is steadfastly partisan, here and in each conservative state he visits. He insists the current corruption in Washington is a Republican problem.
Sen Harry Reid, U.S. Senate Minority Leader: "When they finish the investigation in the justice department it will all be Republicans; there isn't a single democrat involved in this."
Senator Reid plans to continue his campaign throughout the nation. Today he also addressed the nuclear waste issue. He claims at this point that there is no way that waste will get transported to either Nevada or Utah, ever.
