{"id":50497,"date":"2017-05-17T12:56:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T19:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=50497"},"modified":"2017-05-18T09:45:22","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T16:45:22","slug":"gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/","title":{"rendered":"Gaming Regulator\u2019s Secret Recording Exposes Unsavory Effort to Assist Adelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of Nevada\u2019s top gaming regulators contacted the FBI after the state\u2019s attorney general, Adam Laxalt, attempted to call in a favor on behalf of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.<\/p>\n

\"Nevada
Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt was believed to be trying to curry favor with the Gaming Control Board on behalf of his big political donor, Sheldon Adelson, owner of Las Vegas Sands. (Image: Las Vegas Review-Journal)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Nevada Independent<\/em> released a transcript on Tuesday of a March\u00a02016 conversation between Gaming Control Board Chair AG Burnett and Laxalt, who at the time was considering\u00a0a future run for governor while also facing allegations of ethical compromise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Burnett recorded the in-person meeting between the two at a Reno coffeehouse because he thought the request was odd and unsettling. On the guidance of other state officials, Burnett turned the recording over to the FBI shortly thereafter, but the federal law enforcement agency found no indications of criminal wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

Asking for Adelson<\/h2>\n

The hastily requested coffeehouse chat was to discuss a high-profile civil trial involving Adelson and his company, Las Vegas Sands. A judge was due to rule in days on a key motion in a wrongful termination lawsuit by Steven Jacobs<\/a>, former chief executive of Sands China.<\/p>\n

Burnett resisted the suggestion that he should file an amicus brief with the court, referring to a “friend of the court” legal filing that would inform\u00a0the court that paperwork filed by the Sands in an internal audit was confidential to the Board. The GCB chair declined, saying he did not believe the audit filings were\u00a0confidential after they\u00a0had been circulated to\u00a0other agencies within the state.<\/p>\n

Laxalt agreed that it was a \u201ctough request,\u201d but suggested that if the judge ruled internal audits were not confidential, it would \u201ccreate a chilling effect for you guys, and you guys will have to figure that out.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adelson is well-known as one of Laxalt\u2019s biggest political donors. The billionaire also donated heavily to President Donald Trump and other key Republicans.<\/p>\n

Unfavorable Outcome?<\/h2>\n

The day after the recorded conversation took place, Adelson flew to Reno to meet personally with Burnett to make an unsuccessful pitch for the amicus brief. That same day the state Supreme Court would rule against Adelson, who was seeking remove the judge in this case.<\/p>\n

After losing the motion in the Supreme Court, and failing to persuade Burnett to submit a letter of support for keeping certain documents secret, Adelson and Las Vegas Sands settled the case with Jacobs for a rumored $75 million.<\/p>\n

State lawmakers were due to hold a hearing on the transcript\u2019s contents and its ramifications on Wednesday. Also moving forward in Carson City this week is a bill, prompted by Laxalt\u2019s behavior in this case, that would\u00a0allow GCB to retain their own legal counsel, independent of the state attorney general\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\n

Secret Recording, Friendly Request<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt made\u00a0the following statements requesting\u00a0non-binding legal assistance on behalf of Sheldon Adelson and Las Vegas Sands, in a\u00a0conversation recorded by\u00a0GCB Chair AG Burnett:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019d be a 4-page amicus, and it\u2019ll be as narrow as you would be comfortable with, simply laying out \u2018here\u2019s the law as we see it.\u2019 It doesn\u2019t even need to mention the facts of the case. It could be literally that narrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a tough request, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m having the one-on-one conversation with you. They\u2019re asking me, [and] they\u2019ve asked you, I\u2019m following up with you and seeing where we are on this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

…<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it is a challenging request because it will look like the Sands is getting a special thing\u2026 and so I wouldn\u2019t do anything that jeopardizes me either, and that\u2019s why the only way I think it\u2019s even possible is if we do think that the narrow privilege is in some way in jeopardy and we kept it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laxalt warned that if the judge ruled that internal audits were not confidential it would \u201ccreate a chilling effect for you guys, and you guys will have to figure that out … There will be less cooperation and people will think there\u2019s an issue.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Nevada\u2019s top gaming regulators contacted the FBI after the state\u2019s attorney general, Adam Laxalt, attempted to call in a favor on behalf of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The Nevada Independent released a transcript on Tuesday of a March\u00a02016 conversation between Gaming Control Board Chair AG Burnett and Laxalt, who at the time was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":50498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,60,13,61,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGaming Regulator\u2019s Secret Recording Exposes Unsavory Effort to Assist Adelson<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recorded conversation reveals Adam Laxalt asked Nevada GCB Chair AG Burnett to intervene on behalf of Las Vegas Sands in a court case unrelated to the board\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gaming Regulator\u2019s Secret Recording Exposes Unsavory Effort to Assist Adelson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recorded conversation reveals Adam Laxalt asked Nevada GCB Chair AG Burnett to intervene on behalf of Las Vegas Sands in a court case unrelated to the board\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-05-17T19:56:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-05-18T16:45:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/laxalt.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/\",\"name\":\"Gaming Regulator\u2019s Secret Recording Exposes Unsavory Effort to Assist Adelson\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/laxalt.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-05-17T19:56:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-05-18T16:45:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Recorded conversation reveals Adam Laxalt asked Nevada GCB Chair AG Burnett to intervene on behalf of Las Vegas Sands in a court case unrelated to the board\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gaming-regulators-secret-recording-exposes-unsavory-effort-to-assist-adelson\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/laxalt.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/laxalt.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427,\"caption\":\"Nevada Attorney General was believed to be trying to curry favor with the Gaming Control Board on behalf of his big political donor, Sheldon Adelson, owner of Las Vegas Sands. 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