It's already well known to both parties that Nevada, along with Colorado, is Ground Zero in this year's election. The presidential race is too close to call and our candidates Jill Derby (NV-02) and Dina Titus (NV-03) will push their incumbent opponents to the wall. Now, when the Republicans need this the least, comes news from Talking Points Memo that the embattled governor's messy divorce could expose much rumored corruption from his days in Congress.
First there's the investigation into Gibbons' ties to Sierra Nevada Corp.
From the the Wall Street Journal:
The wife of Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons was hired as a consultant to a defense contractor at the same time that her husband, who was then a member of Congress, helped the company get funding for a no-bid federal contract.
Dawn Gibbons got about $35,000 in consulting fees in 2004 from Sierra Nevada Corp., of Sparks, Nev., the company said. Mr. Gibbons, a five-term Republican who served on the armed services and intelligence committees, sought funding that year for Sierra Nevada for a $4 million contract to develop a helicopter radar-landing system.
Far more potentially threatening to her estranged husband, however, is her knowledge of his relationship with Warren Trepp, a defense contractor from whom Gov. Gibbons is accused of accepting bribes, in the form of lavish vacations and briefcases full of money, in exchange for securing congressional earmarks.
Evidence of Dawn's possible complicity in these transactions emerged in emails between Trepp and his wife Jalé, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal ...
"Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn," Mrs. Trepp wrote before the cruise, referring to Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons. Minutes later, Mr. Trepp responds, "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!"
There are more lurid allegation about Gibbons that I once diaried in 2006, but since the matter was dropped, I won't go there. The fact that these reports come from his days his Congress should play well into Jill and Dina's message of change. I met Jill at a fundraiser yesterday and she is a fabulous person who I think will be a tremendous addition to Congress. And we all know about Dina's credentials. If you can, show Jill and Dina some love at their campaign sites. Would the desert look great in Blue?