Trent Franks
A U.S. congressman acknowledges he was wrong when he told Fox News that Sen. Harry Reid wanted to build a railroad from Disneyland to a brothel in Mound House, the congressman's spokeswoman said.
Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona, told Megyn Kelly, host of "America's Newsroom," on Monday that Reid's support of a taxpayer-funded "Red Light Express" from Anaheim, Calif., to the Moonlite Bunny Ranch was "astonishing."
No such plan exists.
Bethany Barker, Franks' spokeswoman, said in statement the congressman didn't know Reid, D-Nev., supported two different railroad proposals. She would not say if Franks will apologize.
The senate majority leader wants $475,000 in Congress' 2009 omnibus spending bill for the V&T Railway tourist train. The railroad will run 18 miles from Carson City to Virginia City through Mound House when finished.
Reid also has said some of the $8 billion for high-speed trains approved in the economic stimulus bill should go to a train from Southern California to Las Vegas.
"The congressman was not aware of the discrepancy between the two different railroads when he did the interview, and certainly did not intend to contribute to the confusion," Barker said in a statement. "At this point, however, he is going to refrain from further comment."
In the Monday interview, Franks said Reid was "committed to this project" and Kelly said the prostitutes at the brothel are "very happy about this development."
Richard White, a Fox News representative, declined to comment Thursday when asked if Fox News would air a correction to the story. He said Tuesday that Kelly clearly brought up the fact that no earmark for the plan existed.
- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank
@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.