Sunday, March 23, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Political reality
POTENTIAL conflicts that political fund-raising create for elected officials has become a hot topic these days.
Just ask the White House or County Commissioner Lance Malone.
The subject is particularly sensitive at the county courthouse, where judges must rely on those who practice law before them and their clients for campaign contributions to get elected.
A quick review of the contributions made to the 16 district judges last campaign season found at least one interesting donation.
Records show Alliance Gaming Corp., one of the nation's largest slot route operators, contributed $1,000 to the re-election of District Judge Stephen Huffaker on Oct. 25.
The company made $1,000 donations to at least five other district judges and candidates that same week.
What makes the Huffaker contribution interesting is that it came in the middle of a bitter lawsuit in the judge's courtroom between Alliance and former tavern owner Richard Moreno over a longstanding business dispute.
Moreno -- who believes Alliance ruined his budding political career by suing him in the middle of his campaign for the County Commission in 1994 -- has been making life difficult for the gaming giant with regulators in Nevada and around the country.
There's no evidence to indicate that Huffaker was influenced by the Alliance donation.
And Moreno seems pleased with the way the judge has conducted the case during its discovery phase.
"It's a fact of life that judges under our system have to ask for contributions to run for office," Moreno says.
"I've been in this man's courtroom a number of times, and I believe he is the epitome of what a judge should be. He exercises the highest intellect and integrity."
Alliance Vice President and General Counsel David Johnson defends his company's contribution to Huffaker.
"It's the nature of the process," Johnson says. "It would be a sad thing to say you couldn't support really good judges simply because you have a case that may find its way into their departments.
"There can't be any doubt that Judge Huffaker is one of the best judges."
Still, the timing of the contribution by Alliance leaves the perception of a possible conflict in the eyes of courthouse observers.
At the very least, some suggest it's an unfair position for Alliance to have put Huffaker in.
Alliance, it turns out, was by no means the biggest campaign contributor to judicial races last year.
That distinction goes to others, such as Circus Circus Enterprises and Binion's Horseshoe Club, which records show poured $46,000 and $45,000 respectively into District Court campaigns.
Also topping the major contributor's list were Mirage Resorts, which gave $20,161 to 15 different judicial candidates. The Boyd Group donated $14,000, and Caesars Palace chipped in $10,000.
Call it a fact of life on the political circuit.
* New Jersey investigators are said to be angry at Nevada Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa for creating the impression they may have leaked those top-secret Harris tapes to ABC News.
Facing mounting criticism of her handling of the videotapes, Del Papa wrote Nevada lawmakers March 14, denying her office was the leak and pointing out that New Jersey gaming regulators were among those given copies.
Harris, a former electronics expert with the State Gaming Control Board, began making the tapes with Deputy Attorney General David Thompson before he pleaded guilty to four counts of slot cheating in August.
His allegations, which included wrongdoing among other gaming regulators, could not be corroborated, and today Harris still is awaiting sentencing.
Del Papa's letter, meanwhile, forced New Jersey authorities to acknowledge they had received two tapes from her office, which by no small coincidence included portions aired by ABC News on "Prime Time Live" March 12.
A spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Peter Verniero, however, categorically denied the leak came from the Garden State.
"ABC certainly got nothing from us," the spokesman insisted.
That left everybody who had access to the tapes, including the Control Board and Harris' lawyer, proclaiming their innocence.
It also gave Del Papa's biggest critic on the subject, Assembly Minority Leader Pete Ernaut, R-Reno, reason to raise more skepticism about the thoroughness of Del Papa's internal investigation.
Ernaut suggested last week that Del Papa doesn't appear interested in trying to find out how the tapes wound up in ABC's hands.
Ernaut has compared Del Papa's damage control efforts to "covering tracks with a backhoe."
Still left lingering last week were fundamental questions like: Who leaked the videotapes?
If New Jersey only got two tapes, why did ABC correspondent Brian Ross bring a stack of tapes and transcripts to his interviews with Nevada officials.
How many tapes did ABC get, anyway?
At least one state lawmaker wants to know those answers.
* You need a score card to keep track of the battle of the titans on the Strip.
And the way things are going, that might not be enough, either.
See if you can keep this straight.
* Hilton Hotels Corp. is mounting a hostile takeover of ITT Corp. which owns the Sheraton Desert Inn and Caesars Palace.
* Bally's, run by Hilton Hotels, and ITT's Caesars Palace have joined forces to oppose funding for a pedestrian tunnel at Flamingo Road and the Strip that's being backed by Mirage Resorts.
* ITT Corp. doesn't want to give up its airspace over Caesars Palace so that Mirage Resorts can build a monorail linking the Bellagio to the Mirage.
* And Hilton Hotels has inserted itself in a long-running development feud between Mirage Resorts and Donald Trump in Atlantic City.
Hilton says it's trying to buy a piece of Atlantic City land where Wynn is planning a $2 billion project with two other casinos.
Now, who's on first?
archive
