Desperate Rethug theory: The conspiracy theory around Harry Reid's exercise accident, explained

[mfcorey1]

Behind this somewhat enigmatic tweet lies a rather elaborate conspiracy theory. @jhinderaker is John Hinderaker, one of the proprietors of the conservative blog PowerLine, and he's peddling a theory that the injuries Reid suffered while exercising in January weren't an accident at all. To Hinderaker the official story is just a cover-up for an incident that involves Mafia violence — likely the fallout of what Hinderaker alleges to be long-running corruption on the part of the Nevada senator and Democratic Senate leader.

"When a guy shows up at a Las Vegas emergency room on New Year's Day with severe facial injuries and broken ribs and gives as an explanation the functional equivalent of 'I walked into a doorknob,'" Hinderaker writes, "it isn't hard to guess that he ran afoul of mobsters."

This is a wild theory that lacks any evidentiary basis. But its popularity on the right speaks to the fact that conservatives are convinced that Reid — who has grown wealthy enough while in office to make the Ritz-Carlton his DC residence — has used his decades in public office to corruptly enrich himself, and the media has given him a pass on it.
What happened to Harry Reid?

On January 2, Reid's office informed the media that the senator had injured himself when "a piece of equipment Senator Reid was using to exercise broke, causing him to fall and break a number of ribs and bones in his face." Shortly thereafter, Reid recorded a video in which he discussed the upcoming 114th Congress and was visibly injured, sporting an eyepatch:

Reid has still not fully recovered from the injury, and has consistently appeared with special glasses that obscure his right eye. Reid has cited the injury and subsequent period of reflection as part of his motive for retiring rather than seeking reelection in 2016. In late January, Reid also hinted that he might sue the manufacturer of the exercise equipment in question, though nothing along these lines seems to have yet happened.

Subsequent to the initial announcement, Reid's office further explained that the senator had been working out with an elastic exercise band, which snapped, sending the senator crashing into some cabinets.
What does John Hinderaker think happened to Harry Reid?

To Hinderaker, the exercise story is prima facie implausible and a much more likely story is that the senator was beaten up by gangsters as part of a Mafia deal gone wrong. As he explains:

A friend of mine was in Las Vegas a week or two ago. He talked to a number of people there about Reid's accident, and didn't find anyone who believed the elastic exercise band story. The common assumption was that the incident resulted, in some fashion, from Reid's relationship with organized crime. The principal rumor my friend heard was that Reid had promised to obtain some benefit for a group of mobsters. He met with them on New Year's Day, and broke the bad news that he hadn't been able to deliver what he promised. When the mobsters complained, Reid (according to the rumor) made a comment that they considered disrespectful, and one of them beat him up.

http://www.vox.com/2015/3/30/8309137/harry-reid-mafia

[jehop61]

1. thanks for sharing

this totally unsubstantiated, rumor. (Sarcasm)

[xfundy]

2. Good 'ol Hindrocket.

What a putz.

[11 Bravo]

3. As soon as Jim Hoft dies, AssRocket will be "The Dumbest Man on the Internet".

[justhanginon]

4. The bad news he gave them was that he was not able

to get the senate to go along with the mobsters burning desire for all Americans to have access to healthcare through a single payer system. And obviously they took their revenge. Sounds like a plausible theory to me.