His first recorded donation to Reid came back in 1996 when he gave $1,000 to the senator. Over the years, he personally contributed at least $9,600 to Reid campaigns.\u00a0In 2005, Walters gave $5,000 to the Searchlight Leadership Fund, a political action committee founded by Reid in 1997. Searchlight, Nevada, is Reid’s hometown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Walters’ largest donation was to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In 2005, he gave $26,700 to the organization that fights to keep Democrats in DC’s upper chamber. Five years later, he gave another $5,000.<\/p>\n
Walters backed Hillary Clinton during her Senate bid, and gave to John Kerry while he was the senator from Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
In Vegas, Walters helped finance Mayor Oscar Goodman’s campaigns, and gave to Las Vegas City Council members Bob Coffin and Bob Beers. He also donated $5,000 each to Clark County Commissioners Steve Sisolak and Larry Brown, all Democrats.<\/p>\n
\nIn Reid’s letter supporting Walters, he concluded that he hopes the court “would take into consideration all the good Billy Walters has done.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nIt’s worth noting that Walters’ support of Reid and the Democratic Party isn’t exclusive. The sports gambler also used his winnings to support the presidential efforts of George W. Bush, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former Nevada Senator Harry Reid is trying to use his notoriety to persuade a federal judge to go easy on Billy Walters, a famed sports gambler in Las Vegas who was convicted on 10 charges related to insider trading in April. Walters, 70, faces up to 20 years in prison when US District Court Judge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":54407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,60,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Harry Reid Writes Letter Supporting Insider Trader Billy Walters<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n