Well, will wonders never cease? Seems that a Utah businessman is now rocking both state and national politics after making the rather interesting claim that Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who oddly enough is a Republican, helped him broker a deal that would gain the assistance of ‘Dingy Harry’ Reid, of all people, in making a federal investigation into his company quietly disappear. At least that’s what the Salt Lake Tribune is now
reporting. Jeremy Johnson was allegedly told that the price for obtaining ‘Dingy’s’ assistance in the matter would be $600,000, and he claims to have made an initial payment of $250,000 when he was slapped with a federal lawsuit. Now he says, he wants his money back.
So maybe, just maybe, that beady-eyed little shit that we all know and love as being the Democrat in charge of the Senate, 'Dingy' Harry Reid, is as corrupt as many of us have always thought he was. Now granted, I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves, regardless of the potential poetic justice here, after all, the Salt Lake Tribune does point out the fact that Johnson has no way of actually knowing whether or not the funds actually made it to 'Dingy Harry,' even if he did make a massive payment to someone allegedly identified as being 'Dingy's’ intermediary. But the Salt Lake Tribune continues with its story, explaining how the bribe supposedly came to be in 2010:
"At the time, Johnson was largely known in Utah as a wealthy philanthropist who spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to ferry supplies into Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake.
[...]
Then, with the FTC investigation continuing, Johnson said Swallow suggested Reid could make problems with regulators go away — for a price.
"I said, ‘OK, what do I need to do?’ He’s like, ‘OK, it costs money,’ " Johnson said, who claimed Swallow was adamant he make a deal.
"I think he told me, ‘Richard Rawle has a connection with Harry Reid,’ " Johnson said.
He said Swallow at first wanted $2 million to enlist Reid’s help. But [his company] I Works was no longer profitable and he did not have the money, Johnson said, so they eventually agreed on $300,000 upfront and $300,000 later.
Swallow put Johnson in contact with Rawle, whose company has operations in Nevada…
Rawle, who died of cancer last month, had contributed to Reid’s 2010 re-election bid and later bragged to Johnson that the Nevada Democrat helped him delay new federal payday-loan regulations, Johnson said.
On Sept. 29, 2010, Swallow sent an email to Johnson with the subject line "Mtg. with Harry Reid’s contact."
"Richard [Rawle] is traveling to LV tomorrow and will be able to contact this person, who he has a very good relationship with. He needs a brief narrative of what is going on and what you want to happen. I don’t know the cost, but it probably won’t be cheap."
On Oct. 7, Johnson emailed Rawle, insisting there was "rock solid proof" the FTC allegations against I Works were false. "We will do whatever it take[s] to get Senator Reid on our side and hopefully you can help make it happen. Let me know."
This fella, Johnson, spent 96 days in jail and has now released a number of emails and statements that would seem to corroborate at least part of his story. However, Swallow
insists that Johnson is making "false and defamatory accusations" and that any role he may have played was merely for lobbying purposes. "There’s nothing wrong with that," Swallow stated. "As long as I’m not interfering with a government agency as a government official, there’s nothing wrong with me being involved." But Johnson told a judge he’s felt guilty about the situation from the start: "The truth is the worst thing I think I’ve done was I paid money knowing it was going to influence Harry Reid…So I’ve felt all along that I’ve committed bribery of some sort there."
Though the connection to 'Dingy' remains unverified, how many of us would really be all that surprised were we to find out that the accusations being made by this guy were, at least in part, accurate? And how many of us would just love to see this pathetic crook get his come-upins after finally getting caught with his arm in the cookie jar. They say what goes around, comes around, and I do seem to remember something about old 'Dingy' making some pretty wild accusations of his own about Mitt Romney and from the Senate floor no less. He accused Romney of not having
paid his taxes for ten years and he based it on what was far less evidence than what we’re seeing being presented here.
A Las Vegas Review-Journal blog
jokes about how ‘Dingy’ might address the situation, if looking in from the outside: "I have a "source" that says that Harry Reid takes bribes all the time. In fact, if you want anything done out of his office, you must come with a suitcase of cash just to get an audience. That’s how he’s gotten so rich on a senator’s salary. He stashes his money in an offshore bank account. And, as a sidebar for Salt Lake church execs, he hasn’t tithed on that bribe money." Oh, and I’m sure it comes as no big surprise to anyone that 'Dingy's' office has declined to make any comment on the matter. I’m sure he feels he’s quite immune to such ‘silly’ accusations, and he just remains quiet it all just blow over.
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