Reid's office defends Wall St. fundraiser

Sen. Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) office is defending the majority leader's decision to hold a fundraiser with Wall Street executives just as Democrats worked to craft a bill regulating the financial industry.

Republicans have pointed to Reid's January fundraiser, which reportedly included Goldman Sachs executives, in response to Democratic allegations that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and NRSC Chairman John Cornyn (R-Texas) held a closed door meeting with Wall Street executives last week.

A spokesman for the majority leader said the fundraiser, which raised about $37,000, did not sway Reid's actions on financial reform.

"The only issue here is that they wasted their money," said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid.

Though donating to his campaign, Goldman Sachs reportedly criticized Reid at the fundraiser for his "anti-Wall Street" rhetoric.

The Nevada Democrat declined to comment on the fundraiser while speaking to reporters today.

"Everything that we have done in this legislation has been as transparent as it can be," Reid said in response to a question about the fundraiser. "I think that it's pretty clear that I'm leading the effort to rein in Wall Street, make them more accountable, end the too big to fail."

Reid's office has hammered away at McConnell for his meeting with executives, suggesting he was plotting behind closed doors to kill reform.

"It’s been 12 days since he and Senator Cornyn met secretly with two dozen Wall Street executives to scheme about killing reform," Manley said in a statement today. "The public deserves to know who attended this meeting and what promises were made by Republicans to big banks.”

Manley said it was not inconsistent to criticize McConnell's meeting while defending Reid's fundraiser.

"The difference among other things is that Sen. Reid is not trying to hide anything," he said.

"In the end the American people can judge by the actions of both parties."