Follow up to the Harry Reid horse thief relative story

After I posted this on another blog, someone dug up this:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/horsethief.asp

apparently several versions of this with identical story
but changed names circulated in AD 2000.

http://therionorteline.com/2013/08/16/snopes-got-snoped/

But what of the possibility that the other stories were 
circulated to make the original true story (whosever it
was) look fake? 

Meakes, Daryl.   Drunkcow Landmines.

    Infinity Publishing, 2004.   0-741-42257-3   (p. 175).

    Robertson, Ken.   "Sen. Reid's Swinging Family Tree a Mere Web Spoof."

    [Kennewick] Tri-City Herald   9 January 2009.

are snopes sources on this story.

at least one of those stories has to be true, down to the spin put on it, regardless of which politician did it,
because, let's face it, there's a photo. And it had to start somewhere.

Skeletons in the closet is nothing unusual in itself. But regardless of the truth of the story, the fact remains, this is a spectacular example of spin.

And it happens all the time in more serious matters than skeletons in the
family tree. So it is still a valid lesson.