Tea Party group ordered to pay Venetian $748,000 for canceled rooms

Ethan Miller/Las Vegas Sun

The Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip.

Associated Press

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012 | 10:27 a.m.

A judge in Las Vegas has ordered a Tennessee tea party group to pay a casino $748,000 for rooms booked for a tea party convention that failed to lure political activists.

Tea Party Nation was found liable for the debt to the Venetian Casino Resort. The group was founded by Franklin, Tenn., attorney Judson Phillips.

The Tennessean ( http://tnne.ws/NLCc9N) reported Thursday that the judgment was handed down last month in Clark County (Nev.) District Court. Hotel officials said Tea Party Nation reserved 1,637 room nights for a July 2010 event, but canceled the gathering a few weeks prior to its scheduled date. The casino filed the lawsuit in July 2011.

No telephone listing for Tea Party Nation could be found Thursday in Franklin or in nearby Nashville.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com