AN ETHICS INFRACTION
How did two members of the press receive an incriminating letter before the intended recipient?
BY GEORGE HARRIS

George Harris is publisher of Liberty Watch: The Magazine. He is also a political activist and successful Southern Nevadan businessman. Reach Harris at gopgeorge@earthlink.net  Other stories by George Harris

To make it as a journalist must be challenging. After all, the Fourth Estate must press tough questions to get straight answers, know the important contacts, and have the know-how to wordsmith material for the public to easily understand. This investigative ability requires talent and tough character — unless you’re Molly Ball and Jon Ralston.

These two liberal media types are so far inside the political left that they receive high-profile documents even before the intended recipients of these documents. Such as the case with Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, a Democrat who issued a letter to Gov. Jim Gibbons early this month regarding a 2006 legal defense fund issue. Gibbons provided the information in a disclosure report a day before Miller’s letter. But to play politics, Miller asked why the money was not provided in an earlier statement. Problem was, Miller sent his letter to liberal media allies before sending it to Gibbons..

It is no secret that Gibbons is facing an investigation for helping his home state’s economy, as a U.S. Congressman, by assisting a Nevada company in earning government work. Playing partisan politics and trying to establish himself as a hard-nosed politician, Miller jumped on the “Hang Gibbons” bandwagon by issuing a stern letter and giving the media a peek at it first. 

When Ralston and Ball phoned the governor’s mansion for a response to the letter, Gibbons’ team was unaware of the letter. Certified mail must not have been available this week in Carson City and phone lines must have been down.

Our question is: When did the Secretary of State become Attorney General?

Using the media to gain a political advantage is pretty pathetic. But Miller, trying to advance his state career off a national issue, apparently knows no other route. He is simply acting like a subdivision of the Democratic Party.

No Secretary of State has ever done anything like this. If business needed to be dealt with at this level, it was done directly with the person in mind then reported on later in the papers. Never has it been done the other way around. Welcome to a Democrat’s world, Nevada.

Ever tried calling this Secretary of State’s office? If so, chances are you had more patience waiting at the DMV. Rarely are callers relieved from hold. Seems as if Miller’s group is too busy devising plans to advance Democrat-related agendas instead of handling the state’s business.

Plain and simple: This is an abuse of power. Nothing less than an ethics investigation needs to be launched on Miller. How did two members of the press receive such an incriminating letter before the intended recipient?