James seeks bipartisan tapes probe

Monday, March 31, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mark James said he believes the Legislature should conduct a bipartisan investigation into how ABC News obtained copies of the attorney general's secret Harris tapes.

Portions of the tapes, containing allegations by ex-State Gaming Control Board employee Ron Harris, were aired on ABC's "Prime Time Live" March 12 in a report many believe was embarrassing to Nevada's casino industry and its regulatory process.

"I intend to talk to key Democrats in the Assembly to determine whether there's any interest in pursuing a bipartisan inquiry," James said.

The Las Vegas Republican said he would speak first with Assemblyman Bernie Anderson, D-Las Vegas, who chairs the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

James said he'd like to see the two committees pursue a joint investigation.

"That's the only way I would see it being feasible," James said. "I have no intention of embarking on any kind of politically motivated inquiry."

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa, who has possession of the original videotapes, is a Democrat considering a bid for governor in 1998. James has been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for attorney general.

James said he's concerned how confidential materials from the attorney general's office relating to the prosecution of Harris wound up in the national media's hands.

"The idea is to try and come up with perhaps some legislation or an answer to important questions that have been presented by this whole incident," James said.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Pete Ernaut, R-Reno, the first to call for a legislative investigation into the attorney general's handling of the Harris tapes, said today he was encouraged by the interest in a probe.

"I've been concerned about this from the beginning," Ernaut said. "Apparently, now more of my colleagues are becoming more conerned. I trust Mark James and Anderson to do the right thing and to do it in a thorough and appropriate manner."

Ernaut said a number of Democrats privately have told him they are "extremely uncomfortable" with the heightening controversy over the tapes.

"As this thing develops, there are going to be more and more becoming uncomfortable," he added.

Ernaut said he planned to sit down this week with the attorney general's staff to get a firsthand explanation of the Harris case.

Harris, a former electronics expert for the Control Board, began making the tapes with Deputy Attorney General David Thompson shortly before he pleaded guilty to four counts of slot cheating Aug. 9.

On the tapes, Harris alleges wrongdoing at the highest levels of the board, but his accusations could not be substantiated by the attorney general's office.

Although Harris is considered the biggest slot cheat ever, he has yet to be sentenced.

His case has escalated a rift between Del Papa, who has denied being the leak tp ABC News, and Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible.

Last week, the SUN reported that the attorney general's office secretly began investigating the Control Board long before Harris pleaded guilty.

One former investigator with the attorney general said his superiors described the investigation as an "intelligence" probe, a characterization Del Papa strongly denied.

The investigator, Mike Anzalone, and two former Control Board enforcement chiefs, Ron Asher and Andy Vanyo, questioned whether the Harris inquiry had veered off course.

Anzalone, described by Del Papa as a "disgruntled former employee," said Thompson constantly threw "conspiracy theories" at him while he worked the case.