Bribery Allegations Against Senator Reid

Nevada Senator and influential Washington politician Harry Reid has been indicted this week of questionable conduct and bribery in connection with iWorks marketing fraudster and SunFirst Bank online poker payment processor Jeremy Johnson. Johnson's claims are apparently backed by a long audio recording dated back to April 2012, reportedly made when Johnson had a coffee shop discussion with recently elected Utah Attorney General John Swallow, who has denied Johnson's allegations against him. In the tape Johnson admits that he was embroiled in a scheme to pay $1 million to Reid in return for the Senator's cooperation in getting an online poker legalisation bill through Congress, by order of the former Full Tilt Poker management. According to Johnson, Swallow was implicated in a deal which sought to channel bribes to Reid in the hopes of stopping a Federal Trade Commission investigation into Johnson and his iWorks company. Further on the tape, Johnson was retelling Swallow a meeting he attended last year with Reid, former Full Tilt boss Ray Bitar and John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, when Reid allegedly said he would introduce a federal online poker legalisation bill to Congress despite opposition from some of his 'constituents'. Allegedly Johnson was told that the Senator agreed to an online poker bill in exchange of a 'contribution to his pension fund'. Barely a week later Johnson was asked to draw an untraceable one million dollar cashiers cheque on Sun First Bank's general account, and he professed ignorance on the point who the money was for, although he had suspicions regarding the previous meeting. "So, I believed… this is my belief: I believe Reid genuinely is on the take. I believe he's getting money for deals all over hell because he's got so much influence. And I believe they're onto him," Johnson said. Convicted e-cash processor Chad Elie independently published a photo of Johnson, Pappas and Reid together last year at a function, along with Full Tilt executives., adding to credibility to some sort of relationship between the trio. The Johnson's accusations and suspicions were left unsubstantiated because Pappas has denied involvement in any improper dealings, and details of how the million dollar bribe was effected in practical terms have not been clarified. Meanwhile, the US Attorney's office in Utah has asked for an injunction against Johnson to prevent further accusations being made, claiming these are deliberate attempts to discredit elected officials involved in investigations into Johnson's business activities.