The Assembly Republican Circus Act Continues

In an interview with conservative talk-show host Alan Stock on December 16, 2014 – in which she discussed her situation relating to IRS tax liens filed against her businesses – Stock asked conservative Republican Majority Leader Michele Fiore to name the three individuals Fiore said were working to undermine conservatives in the Republican Assembly Caucus.

She did…naming political consultants Nathan Emens and Cory Christensen, as well as donor/mining tax-hike advocate Monte Miller.

And for that refreshing breath of candor, Assembly Republican Speaker-designee John Hambrick removed Fiore as Chairman of the Assembly Taxation Committee, as well as her elected position of Majority Leader.

Fiore stated that it was her opinion that certain actions by one of the named consultants constituted a serious conflict of interest, possibly criminal, for taking money from the Republican Assembly Caucus (RAC) while simultaneously working for a Democrat candidate who was running against a Republican candidate supported by the RAC.

Such a conflict of interest is, indeed, potentially criminal if perpetrated by, say, a lawyer or real estate agent. Indeed, a search of Nevada Revised Statutes for the phrase “conflicts of interest” will return over 250 hits. So the law in Nevada does consider such actions to be quite serious.

That said, taking money from two opposing clients probably isn’t considered criminal as it relates to political consultants, but it certainly is unethical. And subsequent to Fiore’s interview, it was revealed that the Republican political consultant caught playing both sides against the middle was…

Nathan Emens of Campaign Data Solutions.

It turns out the USPS postal permit number for Emens’ consulting firm was used on a mailer for Democrat candidate Meghan Smith, who was running against Republican candidate Victoria Seaman.

That stinks.

And speaking of Mr. Emens…

In a subsequent radio interview with Mr. Stock, Hambrick disclosed that one of two Republican political consultants – Cory Christensen or Nathan Emens – blackmailed him into removing Fiore as Chairman of the Assembly Taxation Committee – and I, for one, would like to know who it was.

Whichever one it was, they allegedly threatened to sue every Republican member of the RAC over Fiore’s remarks and accusations in her radio interview. The blackmailer, according to Hambrick, said he would only sue Fiore and not every member of the caucus if Hambrick would remove Fiore from her leadership positions in the caucus.

Don’t the members of the caucus deserve to know which political consultant threatened them? Doesn’t the public deserve to know who blackmailed the Speaker-designee?

Republicans have majority control of the State Assembly for the first time since 1985. Their clownish actions since winning that majority go a long way towards explaining why they were in the political wilderness so long…and are likely to return there two years from now.