While stating that “news” that Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) “got free seats at three big Las Vegas fights hardly seems the stuff of scandal” and “doesn't prove Mr. Reid wrong,” a May 31 New York Times editorial nonetheless suggested a similarity between Reid's attendance at the boxing matches as the guest of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) and crimes committed by former Republican congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-CA) and former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

In a May 29 article, Associated Press reporter John Solomon suggested that Reid acted improperly by accepting “tickets” from the NAC to three boxing matches in Las Vegas between 2003 and 2005 when Reid was pushing legislation to increase federal oversight of boxing. While the Times asserted that Reid did not violate any Senate ethics rules, the editorial nonetheless connected Reid's attendance at the boxing matches with crimes committed by Cunningham and Abramoff:

This doesn't prove Mr. Reid wrong, but it does illustrate the power of the Caesar's wife rule these days as Capitol corruption becomes an increasing embarrassment. Legislators are watching former Representative Randy Cunningham stew in prison for bribery. They also anxiously await a fuller account of the influence-peddling trail of Jack Abramoff, the corrupt superlobbyist. And they rail at the notion that prosecutors can search their offices.

But Reid's actions bear no relationship to the crimes committed by Cunningham and Abramoff:

• Cunningham resigned his seat in Congress in November 2005 shortly after pleading guilty to accepting nearly $2.4 million in bribes in exchange for helping to award friends and campaign contributors with lucrative defense contracts. On March 3, a federal court in San Diego sentenced Cunningham to eight years and four months in prison, the longest sentence ever given to a member or former member of Congress in any federal corruption case.
• On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy to corrupt public officials, mail fraud and tax evasion. The following day, he pleaded guilty to two other counts of wire fraud and conspiracy in a separate case. In March, Abramoff was sentenced to five years and 10 months in a federal prison in the latter case. Abramoff's dealings have also been linked to many Republican members of Congress and their staffs, including two of former House Republican majority leader Tom DeLay's (R-TX) top aides Michael Scanlon and Tony C. Rudy. More recently, Neil Volz, former chief of staff for Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), testified in a U.S. District Court that his former boss had been, in the words of The Columbus Dispatch, “a champion on Capitol Hill for Jack Abramoff and his clients before the lobbyist was disgraced.”

A May 31 Las Vegas Review-Journal article appeared to undermine much of Solomon's reporting, as Media Matters for America noted.