Gibbons in the national hot seat

Saturday, Feb. 17, 2007 | 7:15 a.m.

From the political blogs to the nation's influential newspapers, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons has been one hot, unflattering item the last several days.

By now, just about every major news organization has reported that the FBI is investigating whether Gibbons accepted gifts from his good friend, Warren Trepp, in return for helping Trepp's software company, eTreppid Technologies LLC, land top-secret defense contracts.

The story broke in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday and by Friday had spread to The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and, with the help of the Associated Press, most of the other major dailies and online news organizations across the country.

Most of the stories came with a version of the Los Angeles Times headline, "FBI Looks at Nevada Governor."

But the Web site of the Kansas City Star led a column called "The Buzz" with a humorous variation: "Don't forget to pack the money, honey."

It was a reference to an e-mail, first obtained by The Wall Street Journal, that investigators have been told was sent to Trepp from his wife, Jal , on March 22, 2005 - before the couple left on a cruise with Gibbons and his wife, Dawn, Nevada's new first lady.

"Please don't forget to bring the money you promised Jim and Dawn on the trip," Jal Trepp wrote.

That drew an alarmed response from Warren Trepp: "Don't you ever send this kind of message to me! Erase this message from your computer right now!"

The stunning e-mails, the FBI probe and the governor's response to the allegations have raised a new round of questions about his conduct:

Records show that the Trepps each gave Dawn Gibbons two separate $2,100 campaign contributions on March 21, 2005. Each later was refunded $2,100 on Sept. 7, 2005.

In the suit, Trepp's former business partner, Dennis Montgomery, alleges Trepp tried to steal sensitive software sought by the U.S. government in the war on terrorism. Montgomery alleges that Gibbons and Trepp leaned on Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden to get the FBI to raid Montgomery's home in Northern Nevada in an attempt to obtain the software code.

But after the Reno Gazette-Journal reported Friday that Gibbons held a joint news conference with Bogden in Reno in August, the governor's staff modified his response, saying the two men "never had a deep conversation."