Reid Defends Free Tickets From Boxing Regulators

LAS VEGAS —  Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid said it was his official duty to attend boxing matches in Nevada and that he did nothing wrong when he accepted complimentary ringside seats from a state agency that was lobbying him.

“I would be criticized if I didn’t go,” the Nevada Democrat told reporters Tuesday after addressing a veterans group in Las Vegas.

“It’s just like going to an Ohio State football game, an Arizona State football game -- in Nevada, boxing is it,” Reid said. “I have an obligation to make sure boxing is conducted properly not only in Nevada but around the country.”

Reid was responding to an Associated Press story that detailed how the senator had accepted free tickets, possibly valued at several thousand dollars, from the Nevada Athletic Commission, the agency that regulates boxing in the state.

At the time, the agency was lobbying Reid to drop his support for the creation of a federal boxing commission that could have undermined the powerful Nevada agency’s authority.

Senate rules instruct senators and staff to “be wary” of accepting gifts that may be intended to influence official action.