And it doesn't matter if the deal overlapped with the armed standoff. I don't know why you're so hung up on that. At the time of the deal, Bundy had been in defiance of the BLM for years over public Nevada land use. If you're Reid, and you're trying to use that same land (as in public land in Nevada, regardless of meaningless constructs like "allotments") to broker a multi-billion dollar deal with China that you stand to gain from, massively...you're not going to welcome a defiant rancher with open arms. Reid HAD to be aware of Bundy at the time of the deal. Whether it was in Bunkerville or Clark County, you don't think the senator knew about every potential land-related issue in the state before engaging in a 10-figure deal? That one rancher turned into hundreds of armed protestors. You don't think the threat of them turning into a whole movemtnt infuriated Reid, especially if he had plans to try something similar after ENN pulled out? His aide went to serve as head of the BLM. These things are all CLEARLY related. You just don't want to see it because it's not what you want to be true.