Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

carson city:

Gibbons denies divorce filing is over an affair

Wife’s attorney ‘is making things up,’ governor says

Gibbons

TIFFANY BROWN / LAS VEGAS SUN FILE

A district judge in Washoe County ruled that records of the divorce of Dawn and Jim Gibbons should be made public. The governor had sought a seal.

Sun Archives

Gov. Jim Gibbons said it’s “not true” that he is divorcing his wife, Dawn, because he had an affair.

Gibbons, who filed for divorce from the first lady in May, also sharply criticized his wife’s attorney, Cal Dunlap, who made the allegations of infidelity against the governor and claimed Gibbons wants to keep the divorce sealed to hide his behavior.

In response to a motion by Dunlap, Washoe District Judge Frances Doherty ruled this week that the Gibbonses’ divorce files should be made public. Doherty gave the governor’s attorney, Gary Silverman, 60 days to file arguments on what, if any, portions of the divorce case should be sealed.

“Cal Dunlap is making things up just to get his client attention,” the governor said. “I have no respect for him and what he is doing. It’s not true.

“Everybody files for sealing of cases. It is a common practice. I’m still not supposed to talk about the divorce and I’m not going to,” the governor said.

•••

The state of Nevada has entered a compact with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe in Northern Nevada to allow gambling on the tribe’s reservation at the Nevada-Idaho border.

The matter was scheduled to come before the state Board of Examiners on Tuesday, but state Budget Director Andrew Clinger said approval by the board is not required and the contract was pulled off the agenda.

There are eight Indian gaming operations in Nevada.

Federal law requires an Indian tribe to get approval from the state.

The tribe agreed to abide by state gaming rules and will be required to obtain approval for the loans it receives.

The tribe will not pay taxes. Mike Wilson, chief deputy attorney general for the state Gaming Control Board, said federal law permits a state to tax Indian gambling where tribes have exclusive rights to operate, but not in states like Nevada where they compete.

The compact now goes to the Interior Department for approval.

•••

The state attorney general’s office, representing the governor, is arguing that the state’s chief executive’s e-mail is not covered by the Nevada Public Records Act.

James Spencer, chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, has submitted a brief to District Court, arguing against a request by the Reno Gazette Journal to force the governor to turn over his e-mail records.

The case has been assigned to District Judge Todd Russell of Carson City. Gibbons’ e-mail records are being reviewed by courts staff to determine whether they are public record and should be released.

The newspaper argues the records are public under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy