The Southern Tier congressman who was among the group of federal lawmakers who took a late-night dip in the Sea of Galilee last night is making the media rounds today, telling Gannett’s WGRZ-TV that his participation amounted to nothing more than him and his wife taking a swim.
Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, Steuben County, was one of 30 lawmakers who went on a trip to Israel last year funded by a non-profit to stress the importance of the United States’ support of Israel. According to Politico, a number of congressional representatives, family members and staffers went for a swim in the Sea of Galilee one night, with one lawmaker entering the water fully nude.
Reed was mentioned as one of the lawmakers in the water; he says he was fully clothed.
“From my perspective, it was a large group at the end of the day being in that area with the Sea of Galilee that decided to go swimming,” Reed told WGRZ. “At the end of the day, that’s what happened.”
The article has already become fodder for Reed’s Democratic opponent, Tompkins County Legislator Nate Shinagawa.
“We’re not hiding from anything,” Reed said. “We’ll let people decide what they think. At the end of the day, it was my wife and I swimming in the Sea.”
Here’s audio from the eight-minute interview, courtesy of WGRZ:
