Did Full Tilt Poker offer Nevada Senator Harry Reid $1 million to change his position on online gambling?
That’s the allegation disgraced banker and Black Friday figure Jeremy Johnson made last spring to Utah chief deputy attorney General John Swallow.
Johnson had hoped to somehow pay off the Senator to help make an FTC investigation into his business dealings disappear. According to a report in the Salt Lake City Tribune, Johnson claims to have heard that the Senator had worked a similar deal with Full Tilt Poker.
Reid’s office strongly denied any allegations of wrongdoing saying:
The allegations of bribery by Mr. Johnson, a man with a background of fraud, deception and corruption, are absurd and utterly false. Bribery is a crime for which Senator Reid has personally put people behind bars. Senator Reid will not have his integrity questioned by a man of Mr. Johnson’s low record and character, and his outrageous allegations will not go unanswered. Clearly, a desperate man is making things up.
Despite those denials, Johnson is sticking to his guns and issued his statement saying:
He lives in a glass house that is filled with shady real estate deals, secret meetings and questionable fund raisers. He should be careful where he throws rocks.
Given Johnson’s credibility problems, it seems unlikely that anything will come of his accusations against the powerful Senator.
Do you think there’s any validity to Johnson’s claims? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.