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Ammon Bundy's lawyer Mike Arnold on Sunday posted a video message to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid on his law firm's Facebook page.

(The Oregonian/screenshot from video)

Cliven Bundy's wife and Ammon Bundy's lawyer have posted separate messages on Facebook, responding to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid's comments on the Senate floor last week in which he referred to the "trouble caused by the Bundys and their pals.''

The Democratic senator called Cliven Bundy an "outrageous lawbreaker'' as he pushed to preserve the Gold Butte area northeast of Las Vegas and other cultural, historic and natural resources in the United States.

Reid criticized the Bundy family for blocking the work of federal employees, both in Nevada and Oregon, and called out other lawmakers who supported the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns.

"A dangerous group of militants staged an armed takeover of the refuge, they came with their canvas shirts and their camouflage pants and their guns and their all-terrain vehicles to take over the federal property. And they did,'' Reid said. "This particular episode of domestic terrorism has roots in Nevada, I'm sorry to say.' They were led by the sons of Cliven Bundy. Cliven who, as we speak, is where he should be -- in jail."

Cliven Bundy and his sons Melvin Bundy, David Bundy, Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy, are facing federal conspiracy and weapons indictments stemming from the 2014 standoff with federal officers outside the Bundy Ranch near Bunkerville, Nevada. Ammon Bundy and Ryan Bundy are in custody in Portland, also facing federal indictments in the 41-day armed takeover of the federal wildlife refuge outside of Burns that began Jan. 2.

With the Bundys in jail, Reid said he was going to reach out to President Obama to use the Antiquities Act to take executive action to preserve the Gold Butte area near Mesquite, Nevada. The Antiquities Act allows a president to designate any landmark, or area of historical significance as a national monument. Reid had introduced bills in Congress in 2013 and 2015 to protect the Gold Butte area, with little success.

"I've tried to protect Gold Butte for a long time,'' said Reid, the Senate minority leader on the Senate floor Thursday.

But the reason his bills weren't successful, he added, was because of the "Bundy boys and his pals.''

Cliven Bundy's wife Carol Bundy, with her husband and four sons in jail, posted two separate videos on the Bundy Ranch Facebook page. She urges American to "wake up,''' saying the real problem is the government taking control of our lands.

"Let's not let Harry Reid get to control who gets to see our land, who doesn't,'' she says in a videotaped message.

She also invited the senator to her Nevada ranch to meet with her, and "look me square in the eye and tell her that her family is "domestic terrorists."

"What you're doing to my family and the state of Nevada is absolutely horrible,'' she says.

Ammon Bundy's lawyer followed up on Sunday with his own videotaped message posted on his firm's Facebook page.

Speaking from his Lane County farm during a break from chores, attorney Mike Arnold says he takes "exception to Reid's statements.'' He accuses the Democratic senator of pursuing "politics of anger'' and "politics of fear.''

"I don't accept that Donald Trump does it,'' Arnold says. "I don't appreciate you doing it while my client has a presumption of innocence.''

Arnold, who has used Facebook to share messages from his jailed client, urged the Nevada senator not to use Facebook "to inflame,'' but to set a better example'' for Internet trolls.

"Please try to address the ideas and spend less time making attacks on individuals, particularly individuals you represent,'' Arnold says.

And, lastly, Arnold invites Reid to meet Ammon Bunday in jail for "an exchange of ideas.''

Since that Facebook post, Arnold has noted that he's lost some Bundy supporters due to his statements about presidential candidate Trump.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian