Lying finally hurts Harry Reid

Harry Reid’s disdain for the truth finally came back to bite him.

Last week, a jury found that the makers of TheraBand weren’t responsible for the injuries Reid sustained in January 2015. Reid told jurors he hurt himself after losing his grip on the band while exercising in the bathroom. He fell against a cabinet, severely injuring himself. He lost sight in his right eye, had a concussion and broke orbital bones and ribs.

Reid’s wife threw out the band after the accident. TheraBand’s lawyers argued that meant Reid couldn’t even prove he was using their product when he got hurt.

Reid’s injuries and suffering are regrettable. But such sympathy shouldn’t extend to ignoring that what Reid said in court wasn’t his first version of the story. After the accident, Reid said the band he was exercising with broke.

“While in use, the TheraBand broke or slipped out of Mr. Reid’s hand, causing him to spin around and strike his face on a cabinet,” Reid’s lawsuit, filed in October 2015, asserted.

Those aren’t similar scenarios. If a breaking TheraBand had led to his injuries, Reid would have had a legitimate reason to file a lawsuit. Not so if it slipped from his hand.

“I never thought the band broke,” Reid said while testifying under oath.

Really? Because his own lawsuit raised it as one of two possible explanations for his career-ending injuries.

Asked about his public statements declaring that the band broke, Reid said, “I said that, but I was just talking. Everybody knew it didn’t break. … In my concussion state, I could have said anything for the first few months.”

A concussion is one possibility for Reid’s lack of candor. Another is that it fits Reid’s established pattern of lying throughout his political career to achieve his political goals.

This is the man who claimed in 2012 that an anonymous source told him then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years. It wasn’t a slip of the tongue. Reid made the charge in the press and on the floor of the Senate. The allegation was damaging, as then-President Barack Obama attacked Romney’s wealth and his refusal to release his past tax returns.

Reid doesn’t regret this lie. He revels in it. In 2016, he called it “one of the best things I’ve ever done.” Asked about it another time, he responded, “Romney didn’t win, did he?”

Reid’s falsehoods didn’t end his career. Letting go of an exercise band did. And that was yet another topic Reid lied about.

In 2015, Reid told CNN that his injury “wasn’t the decision-maker” when it came to not seeking re-election in 2016. He changed his story when he was seeking damages from TheraBand, saying his injuries were the “main factor.” TheraBand lawyer Laurin Quiat contrasted those two statements during the trial.

“The one thing we do know is he struggles with telling the truth,” Quiat concluded.

As Reid learned firsthand, once you leave politics, that’s not an asset.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen to him discuss his columns each Monday at 9 a.m. with Kevin Wall on 790 Talk Now. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on Twitter.