A Democrat County Commissioner in Nevada is accused of deleting text messages that lawyers claim show he participated in a “quid pro quo” arrangement with embattled Democrat Gov. Steve Sisolak to delay a land developer’s project, ultimately causing that developer to go bankrupt.
Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones stands accused of “destroying public records in an effort to conceal his improprieties relative to Gypsum,” according to a court filing from Gypsum Resources’ lawyers.
The dispute ultimately concerns Gypsum’s plans to build homes in Red Rock Canyon, and an alleged scheme between Jones and Sisolak to stop it.
In 2018, Sisolak was a Clark County commissioner running for governor, and Jones was a former state senator running to become a commissioner. He was also representing a group called Save Red Rock, which opposed Gypsum’s planned housing development.
From the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Last year, Gypsum Resources’s lawyers highlighted a pre-election email in October 2018 from Jones to a Sisolak campaign aide, which suggested that Sisolak could receive public support from environmental advocates — and Jones could dismiss Save Red Rock’s lawsuit against the county — if Sisolak opposed a vote on the project.
Then-Commissioner Sisolak advocated delaying a vote until after the election. Both men won their elections, and Jones used his position on the Clark County Commission to officially oppose the development. Again, from the Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Days later, Sisolak announced his support for delaying any vote until after the election, when two new commissioners would be seated — one of whom wound up being Jones. The stance garnered Sisolak public praise from the Nevada Conservation League and, two weeks later, Save Red Rock dropped its suit against the county and Gypsum Resources.
Both Jones and Sisolak have denied any wrongdoing when the letter was publicized in court, and the matter received little attention nationally.
Now Gypsum’s lawyers – who say Jones is a material witness in their lawsuit against Clark County alleging their clients’ 5th amendment was violated – say they’ve obtained text messages corroborating the quid pro quo scheme’s existence that they believe was originally deleted by Jones, and the story has received attention from conservative juggernaut Breitbart.
According to Gypsum’s lawyers, Jones sent a text message to the former head of the Nevada Conservation League, Andy Maggi, around the time the email was sent.
“Well, I’m doing my part,” Jones reportedly texted Maggi in October of 2018. “If Sisolak doesn’t want to play, then it’s going to blow up in his face tomorrow.”
A court-ordered forensic audit of Jones’ cell phone and iCloud accounts found that all of Jones’s text messages leading up to the April 2019 vote were deleted and unrecoverable, the court filing says. The earliest messages on Jones’s phone were from roughly six hours after the commission voted unanimously to deny Gypsum Resource’s request to waive a condition and proceed with their preliminary plan to develop 3,000 homes.
Jones has claimed he has been subject to a “relentless smear campaign” due to his strong support for environmentalist causes, and said it is being organized by “Gypsum and its lawyers.” He charged, “This latest legal filing is just more of the same vindictive personal attacks designed to bolster its efforts to bankrupt the county.”
However, neither Jones nor his lawyers disputed the findings of the third party auditors who the lawyers say recovered the texts. The audit was necessary, apparently, because “Jones only produced six messages from after the April vote after Jones was deposed.”
“I’m doing my part. If Sisolak doesn’t want to play, then it’s going to blow up in his face tomorrow.”
Alleged text from Jones, per Gypsum’s lawyers
Jones’ reference to the lawsuit’s ability to “bankrupt” Clark County, which is the seat of Las Vegas, Nevada, may not be without merit.
In 2021 the newly-cash strapped county, which was hit hard by the virtual tourism moratorium provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic, was forced to use taxpayer funds to cover its bond payments for Allegiant Stadium. Only in November, with tourism returning to pre-pandemic levels, did the county’s revenues cover its obligations.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada has yet to announce whether it will hear Gypsum Resources’s request for sanctions against Jones and Clark County for the evidence Jones allegedly destroyed.
However, Breitbart notes that “the court could impose ‘significant monetary sanctions’ against both Jones and Nevada’s Clark County.”
Sisolak faces a competitive reelection bid at a time when Democrats are being asked to answer for the sagging economy and record inflation. Yesterday, his Republican challengers overtook him in a poll.
In a poll of 500 likely Nevada voters, Sisolak was behind all three of his potential Republican challengers, even as he faces an opponent in his bid for his own party’s nomination.
