(CNN) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says his granddaughter Ryan Elisabeth Reid has received “harassing phone calls” and “negative attention on the internet” since word surfaced that Reid’s campaign paid thousands of dollars last year for items from a jewelry store she owns that were given to supporters as gifts.
“As a grandparent, I say enough is enough,” Reid said in a statement.
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The unusual emotional plea came just as the amount of money Reid will repay his campaign doubled to more than $31,000 after additional payments to the jewelry company were found in Federal Election Commission filings from 2012.
“My granddaughter has been the target of harassing phone calls, strangers tracking her down and knocking on her door and negative, unwanted attention on the internet. This has gone too far and it needs to stop now. I deeply regret any role I had in creating this situation but now, as a grandparent, I say enough is enough,” Reid said in a statement released late Wednesday.
“I am reimbursing my campaign for the amount spent on thank-you gifts produced by my granddaughter, a professional and talented artist who produced gifts for my staff and supporters that had a personal connection to my family and my hometown of Searchlight, Nevada,” Reid said.
“I believe my granddaughter is a very talented individual and I admire her work tremendously, but I've decided that it would be best to pay for her work out of my own pocket. My office is reviewing our records to ensure that we reimburse my campaign for the full amount.”
On Tuesday, Reid announced he would repay his campaign nearly $17,000 for purchases from Ryan Elisabeth Reid’s company.
That decision came after the FEC sent Reid’s campaign a formal letter requesting additional details about payments that were noted in the filings as being for “holiday gifts.”
The FEC did not say why it wanted more information about the payments.