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EDITORIAL
A clumsy, amateurish effort
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Updated: Apr. 10, 2012 | 10:12 a.m.
Whether the indictment against Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki was indeed a "partisan witch hunt" is a matter of debate, but there can be little doubt that the legal action was strange and ill-conceived.
On Monday, a District Court judge tossed out all charges against Mr. Krolicki and an aide, who were accused of mismanaging the state's college savings program.
"This has been just a very difficult ordeal," Mr. Krolicki said. "This whole thing has been absurd from the very beginning."
Brings to mind Ronald Reagan's labor secretary, Ray Donovan, who was acquitted of various corruption charges decades back and famously asked, "Which office do I go to get my reputation back?"
At least Mr. Krolicki, like Mr. Donovan, can take some solace in the fact that the system worked.
But that aside, it's fair to ask: What was Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto doing?
Her indictment never specified how Mr. Krolicki benefited from the purported mismanagement. In addition, there were no allegations that any funds were missing or that any participant had been shortchanged.
The gist of the charges seemed to center on criticism that Mr. Krolicki had overspent his advertising budget -- and did so as an act of self-promotion during the 2006 campaign.
Public corruption should indeed be a high priority for any state attorney general, but that's pretty flimsy stuff on which to hang a criminal charge on a sitting lieutenant governor.
In dismissing all four felony counts, Clark County District Judge Valerie Adair blasted the indictment as deficient and flawed. She noted that it failed to meet even minimal legal requirements, didn't properly lay out the charges and did "not satisfy due process."
Surely Ms. Cortez Masto needed to do better than that.
Mr. Krolicki is a Republican. Ms. Cortez Masto is a Democrat. The indictment successfully derailed Mr. Krolicki's anticipated challenge to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid this fall -- thus leading to the whispers of "partisanship."
We'll leave that for the conspiracy theorists to sort out. Suffice it to say, though, that the dismissal should close the books on a clumsy and amateurish prosecution that never should have gotten this far.
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I agree with James that Brian Korlicki would be "a huge improvement over John Ensign" but, John Ensign would still be a huge improvement over Harry Reid. Donald Duck would be a huge improvement over Harry Reid.
@Wilson-
Perfectly spoken. The really sad part is the inferiority of the product Nevadans're forced to buy. No state has more inept politicians.
Perhaps the LVCVA's new LV tagline should be- "Shut up and buy it!"
Right on! The R-J endorses Reid's crony for AG and then tip-toes around her stink when she lynches one of Nevada's Republican golden boys. Such manly men, these so-called fighters for truth and justice. Here's a tip for all the would-be Republican saviors and chickenhawk conservatives that browse these pages: you wanna drop Pinky, better put a razor in your glove cause he's gonna cut you for sure. Maybe Krolicki SHOULD go hug his young family and shed some tears in private...cause he just got punked in prime time, big time, and clearly wasn't ready for it.
But watching this fragile insider wilt at the "absurdity" of it all isn't the most fun we'll get this political season. The real fireworks will go off when the deal-making for Ensign's seat comes to light. Did Brian Sandoval (the Republican response to Dario Herrera) cut a deal to get the seat if he loses his run for governor? Does the recent R-J letter to the editor from King James (kissing Ensign's rear) indicate he wants in on the Senatorial anointment race? Stay tuned!
It's all off-broadway theater, folks...where a small coterie of RINOs and DINOs (operating out of a few select firms like R&R, Jones Vargas et al.) control the stage, changing costumes and mouthing lines as meaningless as the playscript allows, while "we the people" are consigned to the dark to eat whatever cake they deign to feed us. Krolicki was sold out by his own kind and maybe he knows it, which is why he needs a hug from the only people he can depend on...his kids. There is no Republican or Democratic Party in this state...only a power elite whose loyalty to principle is as evanescent as Tiger Woods' marriage vows.
I'll agree with James. Run Krolicki against Ensign for the GOP primary and see what the Dems come up with.
It would make for an interesting race considering the Democrats will probably self-destruct coming up with a nominee.
If Rory and Harry both lose in 2010, Rory will probably try to run for Senate in 2012.
If that hick, Titus wins in 2010 she will most certainly run for Senate in 2012. Although she is going to get smoked by Joe Heck. So, the question is whether she will run for Senate if she loses her House seat next year.
This is just the latest example of
Judicial Fascism. The Dems. seem to have it down to a science.