WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s troubles deepened Thursday when it was revealed that his campaign bought $31,000 worth of jewelry from his granddaughter — nearly twice the amount he previously acknowledged.
The money went to Ryan Elisabeth Reid, the daughter of Reid’s son Rory. On campaign disclosure forms, her name was listed as “Ryan Elisabeth.”
Reporters began combing through Reid’s 2012 campaign filings after discovering payments of nearly $17,000 to his 23-year-old granddaughter in 2013 for jewelry that was to be handed out as “holiday gifts.”
The 2012 forms uncovered two more payments to the young woman, who runs a jewelry business, for $9,064 and $5,000.
On Tuesday, the Nevada Democrat announced he would reimburse his campaign for the first $17,000 uncovered by the press. After the earlier round of payments became public, Reid said he’d repay those as well.
He also lashed out at reporters, saying, “My granddaughter has been the target of harassing phone calls, strangers tracking her down and knocking on her door and negative, unwanted attention on the Internet.”
“This has gone too far and it needs to stop now,” Reid said in a statement to the Las Vegas Review Journal, which first reported on his campaign’s dealings with his grandchild.
“I deeply regret any role I had in creating this situation but now, as a grandparent, I say enough is enough.”
Ryan Elisabeth Reid’s position running the Sprat Theater Company, a small theater in Brooklyn, is also coming under scrutiny.
According to Sprat’s Web site, it has received contributions from the Clinton Global Initiative and two major Las Vegas foundations: Caesar’s Foundation and the NV Energy Foundation.
Sprat’s Web site says it “was awarded the Clinton Global Initiative grant for our work.” But the Initiative doesn’t award direct grants.