Thursday, March 8, 2007 | 7:14 a.m.
Secretary of State Ross Miller wants to know more about a legal defense fund set up for Gov. Jim Gibbons and why the governor failed to report $169,100 the fund collected last year on his Jan. 16 financial disclosure statement.
Miller, a Democrat, sent the Republican governor a letter Wednesday seeking a fuller explanation of the "substantial monetary gifts" that went unreported until Gibbons filed an amended disclosure statement Tuesday.
This came as Jim Hulse, vice chairman and lobbyist for the Nevada chapter of Common Cause, a nonpartisan political watchdog group, also sent Gibbons a letter demanding greater disclosure.
"Common Cause/Nevada advocates full disclosure of all gifts and contributions to candidates and public officers," Hulse wrote. "Regardless of the legalese, you have an ethical duty to tell us citizens how you have raised and are raising money for your defense fund."
In his letter, Miller asked Gibbons for proof that the $169,100 was received last year, and he said he wanted the governor to verify that none of the cash was previously reported as campaign donations.
Miller also asked Gibbons to explain how the defense fund was created and why its existence wasn't even reported on the governor's Jan. 16 financial disclosure statement.
Craig Walton, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics, said Miller is correct in pushing for more information about the fund.
"It ought to be wide open and out in the public view," Walton said. "Everybody is well served by an open process, including the governor."
Dianne Cornwall, Gibbons' deputy chief of staff, said the governor intends to respond to Miller's request.
"The bottom line is, it's a very gray area in terms of whether we have to report this money and the trust fund," Cornwall said. "We did disclose because we want to be very open and public about it."
Gibbons filed the amended disclosure statement this week listing the $169,100 in gifts, which came from 24 donors, amid pressure from reporters inquiring about the defense fund.
David Turner, the fund's accountant, said another $35,000 in contributions, including $10,000 from casino companies owned by influential Gibbons campaign donor Sheldon Adelson, were received this year from five more donors, raising the amount collected to $204,100.
The governor, by law, was not obligated to report this year's contributions.
About $193,000 of the money has already been spent, Turner said.
The money, he said, was paid to law firms defending Gibbons against what turned out to be unproved claims that Gibbons assaulted 32-year-old Chrissy Mazzeo outside a Las Vegas restaurant in the closing days of the governor's race in October.
No money, Turner said, has been spent yet defending Gibbons in his latest legal troubles over an FBI investigation into his ties to longtime friend Warren Trepp, a wealthy defense contractor and Gibbons campaign donor.
The FBI is investigating whether Gibbons as a congressman received unreported gifts from Trepp in return for helping Trepp's software company, eTreppid Technologies , land lucrative defense contracts.
Gibbons has hired Abbe Lowell, a widely known white-collar criminal defense lawyer based in Washington, to guide him through the FBI investigation.
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