Columnist Jeff German: Del Papa is feeling the heat

Sunday, Sept. 5, 1999 | 10:32 a.m.

Jeff German is the Sun's senior investigative reporter. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at german@vegas.com or 259-4067.

ATTORNEY GENERAL Frankie Sue Del Papa seems to be feeling political heat over revelations her office conducted secret background checks on top gaming figures.

Among those targeted by the attorney general's snooping were former state Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible and Frank Schreck, a prominent political fund-raiser. Both are considered influential Democrats like Del Papa, who wants to be her party's nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2000.

Last week one of Del Papa's deputies, Bridget Branigan, broached the intelligence subject in a letter to a newspaper.

Branigan, you'll recall, broke ranks with Del Papa last month and acknowledged in court for the first time that the attorney general's office had gathered intelligence during a slot cheating probe of Ron Harris, a former Control Board electronics expert.

The Del Papa deputy cracked under pressure from Thomas Biggar, a District Court discovery commissioner who has seen records that show such an intelligence inquiry existed.

Until Branigan confirmed the secret probing, Del Papa steadfastly had been denying that her office conducted an intelligence investigation of Bible and company. The allegations were raised more than two years ago by former Del Papa investigator Mike Anzalone, who claimed he was fired in 1996 because he wouldn't participate in the probe, which he said targeted Bible.

Del Papa's official position the past two years has been that her office simply does not conduct intelligence investigations.

In her letter last week, Branigan advanced the attorney general's new position on this sensitive subject.

"The office of the attorney general does not conduct intelligence investigations unrelated to specific allegations under the jurisdiction of the attorney general," she wrote.

What that means is that, despite all of the previous denials, the attorney general's office now says it does indeed conduct intelligence investigations when the need arises.

And that, as Biggar pointed out in court last month, raises questions about whether Del Papa has been abusing the authority of her office.

It's not the kind of debate one wants to have while struggling to raise money for a U.S. Senate campaign.

Biggar put Del Papa on the hot seat last month when he recommended forcing the attorney general to give Anzalone hundreds of pages of documents alluding to the intelligence investigation of Bible and others. The documents could be a gold mine for Anzalone, who is suing Del Papa, and Bible, who is looking for vindication after being smeared by Del Papa.

Del Papa would be wise not to take Bible lightly as the political firestorm over the attorney general's conduct intensifies in the coming weeks. Now chairman of the Nevada Ethics Commission, Bible has just as many friends in politics (maybe more) as the attorney general.

Branigan, meanwhile, couldn't resist disparaging Anzalone last week, even though she knows Biggar has been sympathetic to his cause.

She put out the party line calling Anzalone a "disgruntled former employee" who has raised "meritless" allegations in his suit.

Then in court papers Branigan wrote that Biggar has no basis to impose sanctions against the attorney general's office for stonewalling Anzalone's suit.

Branigan said the office already has been punished by having to read "repeated negative press accounts" in the Las Vegas Sun and listen to "disparaging editorial remarks" from Biggar in court.

One has a feeling Branigan doesn't know what it's like to be punished.

The deadline for switching parties passed last week, and Sun Editor Brian Greenspun didn't cross over to the Democrats.

That means the loyal Republican can't run against Del Papa in the Democratic primary. Greenspun, however, gave no indication last week that he had decided against jumping into the race.

Del Papa, meanwhile, is likely to benefit from President Clinton's latest fund-raising trip to Las Vegas.

The president plans to come to town Oct. 1 to raise money for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which funnels cash to its Senate candidates.

High-powered Democrats remain concerned that Del Papa doesn't have the fire in her belly to obtain the financing needed to give Republican John Ensign a run for his money.