Joe Lombardo’s ethics scandal continues to follow him as new reporting from The Nevada Independent details how he ignored the request of a former member of the Nevada Ethics Commission and well-respected Republican for reappointment and instead appointed two of his cronies who just days later went on to be the only two commissioners to vote against sanctioning him for violating the state’s ethics laws.
Lombardo’s scheme to avoid any accountability for his ethical misconduct knows no bounds. Since his appointments couldn’t save him from censure, he’s now challenging the constitutionality of the Ethics Commission itself,arguing that if he can’t appoint every single one of its members, it shouldn’t exist – a move that is nothing more than an authoritarian power grab. This new evidence simply shows that his plan to use the power of his office to protect himself has been calculated from the very beginning.
Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Stephanie Justice released the following statement:
“Lombardo demonstrated the lengths he will go to avoid accountability for his ethical misconduct, the latest being his brazen decision to ignore the request of a well-respected Republican to be reappointed to the Nevada Ethics Commission simply because he couldn’t count on his vote.”
Read more below:
The Nevada Independent: Lombardo spurned ethics commissioner’s reapplication ahead of major vote, emails show
December 13, 2023
Key Points:
- Days before a high-profile Nevada Commission on Ethics hearing on a potential $1.6 million fine for using his sheriff’s badge and uniform during his 2022 campaign for governor, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo appointed two new members to the eight-member board — both of whom later voted against fining or censuring the governor.
- Emails obtained by The Nevada Independent indicate that Lombardo made the new appointments despite a former Republican commissioner expressing interest in serving another term.
- Records show that Lombardo’s staff did not directly respond to a request for reappointment from former three-term Assemblyman James Oscarson (R-Pahrump), who served as a deputy floor leader in the Legislature and was appointed to the commission by former Gov. Steve Sisolak in 2021. Oscarson, whose term on the commission expired on June 30, was considered a moderate in the Legislature and was respected across the aisle for taking a tough vote for taxes even though he represented a deep red district.
- Instead, the governor appointed former Henderson and Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer Stan Olsen to the commission. Email records show Lombardo made the decision after appointing John Moran III, a former regent and the grandson of a former Clark County sheriff, to the eight-member board in May to replace former Commissioner Damien Sheets, who was appointed to the commission by Sisolak in January 2020 and resigned on May 17 over concerns that the commission’s investigation into Lombardo was politically motivated.
- Olsen and Moran were the only two dissenting votes in the board’s 4-2 decision on July 25 to censure and fine the governor $20,000 for using his sheriff’s uniform and badge during his 2022 gubernatorial campaign (two commissioners were precluded from voting because they served on the preliminary review panel on the case).
- The new appointments also came after two hearing delays requested by the governor; the case was originally scheduled for June 13. The first delay was because of an ongoing special session. The second was because attorneys for Lombardo complained that the only commissioners available to weigh in on the matter were either Democrats or Sisolak appointees — an arrangement they claimed was unfair.
- In October, attorneys for Lombardo filed a lawsuit appealing the ethics commission’s decision. The case awaits a hearing scheduled for May in the First Judicial Court in Carson City.
- In the appeal, Lombardo’s attorneys are challenging the constitutional authority of the commission itself, stating that because the Legislature appointed half of the commission members, the makeup of the commission violates the state constitution’s separation of powers principle.
- On March 16, 2023, Lombardo’s administration received the first email indicating Oscarson was interested in being reappointed to the ethics commission. In the email, the commission’s executive assistant asked Lombardo’s director of boards and commissions, Adina Fitzgerald, how an ethics commissioner should apply for reappointment after a term expires.
- Though subsequent emails indicated that an employee of the governor offered a time to talk, Armstrong sent a follow-up email to Lombardo’s spokesperson on May 2, stating that he’d received the message that Lombardo appointed Moran to the commission but noted, “we have one Commissioner waiting on word for reappointment.
- Ray replied by giving permission to release information about Moran’s appointment but did not address Oscarson’s outstanding reappointment application.
- On July 6, Armstrong followed up with Fitzgerald, asking for an update on Oscarson’s reappointment, saying that his term had expired a few days earlier on June 30.
- “Thank you for your email,” Fitzgerald responded. “The Governor is scheduled to sign appointment documents in the upcoming weeks. You will be notified when an appointment decision has been made.” Thirteen days later — and six days before the commission held its hearing on Lombardo’s use of his sheriff and badge in his campaign — Lombardo publicly announced that he had appointed Moran and Olsen to the commission.
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