Full story:
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060815/D8JGI4V00.htmlReid Pays Interest on Improper Donation
Email this Story
Aug 14, 9:25 PM (ET)
By ERICA WERNER
WASHINGTON (AP) - A seven-year-old political donation has proven costly for the Senate's most senior Democrat.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., last year refunded a $3,000 check he got in 1999 from a Texas friend, Ben Barnes, after a public interest group revealed it was improper. Now he's paid Barnes more than $1,600 in interest, according to recent filings with the Secretary of the Senate.
The filings were disclosed Monday by PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks campaign spending.
Barnes, a lobbyist and former Texas lieutenant governor, made the donation in question to a legal defense fund Reid had established to cover costs of his 1998 Senate race recount, which he won by 428 votes over Republican John Ensign.