Opposition research: It just might be all in the family

If Danny Tarkanian thought he had a rough time in his race for state Senate and secretary of state, wait till he tries to go up against Harry Reid and his multi-million dollar war chest and team of opposition researchers.

Tarkanian won a libel suit against the shallow-pocketed state Sen. Mike Schneider, who defeated him five years ago, but Reid would be another matter. Schneider unsuccessfully tried to link Tarkanian to unsavory telemarketers who were being investigated by the U.S. attorney's office. One of the lawyers in that office was none other than Leif Reid, son of the Searchlight pugilist.

Leif Reid once wrote a letter to Tarkanian warning him not to claim that Leif had exonerated him in the probe.

Among other things, Leif Reid wrote: "As you should be aware, there is a significant difference between not being indicted for illegal activity and not being involved at all. It is true that you were never indicted for your involvement in helping facilitate your client, Cole Clonginger, in his illegal telemarketing schemes. It is patently false for you to claim that you had no involvement at all in this illegal activity."

The letter then lists a number of Tarkanian clients and the names of their "fraudulent charities," such as H.E.L.P. Foundation, Worldwide Outreach, New Faith Foundation and People Against Drugs and Disease, along with the comment, "The names of these entities was designed to mislead as to their actual purpose."

What else does Leif Reid know?