Expert: Reid, Ensign likely didn't break rules

LAS VEGAS (AP) " Harry Reid's clout as Senate majority leader makes it important that he explain and justify the calls he made to banks on behalf of a large casino company seeking loans, an ethics expert said Tuesday.

The Nevada Democrat went to bat for an $8.6 billion casino project on the Las Vegas Strip after one of its developers, casino operator and Reid's top campaign contributor, MGM Mirage Inc., asked the senator to call the banks on its behalf.

Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center and an expert on Senate ethics, said she didn't believe Reid broke any ethics rules, but said the senator should be transparent about the calls to avoid perceptions that he inappropriately pressured bankers.

"Harry Reid's not just a senator, he's the majority leader, so that in and of itself raises the stakes of anything and everything he does," McGehee said. "It's not quite like the president calling but it's still bringing the weight of his office to bear for a private interest."

So far, Reid's office has not released a list of the financial institutions contacted.

MGM Mirage has been struggling for months to secure $1.2 billion in financing to finish the CityCenter project, a rare but troubled source of growth and development in a state battered by the recession. CityCenter is billed as the most expensive private commercial development in U.S. history. MGM Mirage has said it plans to hire 12,000 workers for the complex of hotels, casinos, condominiums, restaurants and shops.

Spokesmen for Reid and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., confirmed both senators placed telephone calls on behalf of MGM Mirage, a 50 percent partner in CityCenter.

MGM Mirage ranks as the top campaign contributor for both Reid and Ensign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks political donations.

The company's executives and workers contributed $152,750 to Reid's campaigns from 2003 to 2009. They contributed $134,000 to Ensign during the same period.

Reid's calls were first reported Sunday in a business column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which cited an anonymous gambling industry analyst.

Ensign spokesman Tory Mazzola said Ensign talked to the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee on March 13 to receive guidance before making the phone calls.

Reid spokesman Jon Summers told the AP that Reid made an unspecified number of phone calls over the past two months, but did not pressure the banks or ask them to approve the loans.

"Sen. Reid called these banks and asked them to give MGM Mirage a fair shake " to look at the potential loan the same way that they would look at any other business in any other state," Summers said.

Summers said that Reid never cleared the calls with the ethics committee because "we knew it wasn't a problem." The committee is not allowed to discuss inquiries from lawmakers or its response because inquiries are confidential.

MGM Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman said Reid and Ensign were asked to help tell the company's story to the financial community but no one was asked to push for loan OKs on it behalf.