Harry Reid defends screening of Koch film

By Seung Min Kim at Politico 

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is defending a screening of a film on the Koch brothers in the Capitol, saying GOP criticism of the event shows how the billionaires’ “tentacles” are all over congressional Republicans.

A screening of “Koch Brothers Exposed: 2014 Edition” is scheduled for Tuesday at the Capitol Visitors Center. Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Administration Committee, fired off a letter Monday that argued the event could violate congressional rules. 

On Tuesday, Reid said Miller’s concern “shows how [the Koch brothers] tentacles are in every part of the Republican congressional establishment.”

“There’s nothing that’s ethically wrong with our going to talk about some documentary,” Reid continued. “The man that has produced this documentary has produced seven other documentaries about the Iraq war, Afghanistan war, about the Koch brothers.”

The movie, directed by Robert Greenwald, is an updated version of a 2012 film of the same name.

In her letter, Miller argued that congressional rules governing the Capitol complex say “no audio visual presentations in the CVC may premiere, preview, showcase, or publicize a film.” She said she is concerned that the screening “may cross the line into partisan politics.”

Reid participated in the documentary, and he and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be part of a question-and-answer session at the Tuesday event.

A spokesman for Pelosi, whom Miller addressed in her letter, said the congressional rules don’t apply to the room where the screening is being held Tuesday.