Reid, others shed donations from Nevada developer

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Some of Nevada's top politicians, including U.S. Sens. Harry Reid and Dean Heller, are shedding political donations amid reports that a prominent Nevada developer and lobbyist is the target of a federal campaign finance laws investigation.

Heller, a Republican, will donate to charity some $26,700 that he received from Harvey Whittemore, said Stewart Bybee, Heller's communications director.

"We believe it's the right thing to do," Bybee told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He added that Heller's office had not been contacted by federal investigators.

Reid's office made a similar announcement last week. Kristen Orthman, a Reid spokeswoman, said Tuesday that money donated to Reid campaigns by Whittemore and his wife had already been donated to charity. She wouldn't provide a specific figure.

The dumping of campaign cash comes after the FBI served subpoenas last week at more than a dozen businesses and sites in northern and southern Nevada involved with Whittemore, according to reports first published by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which cited anonymous sources.

Officials with the FBI and Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden's office in Las Vegas said Tuesday they could not confirm the investigation. A source with knowledge of the investigation confirmed the probe to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publically.

The Review-Journal reported that investigators were looking at whether employees of Whittemore's former company, Wingfield Nevada Group Holding Co., and its subsidiaries contributed to political campaigns and were illegally reimbursed by Whittemore with company money.

Investigators were focusing on more than $100,000 in contributions made on one day, March 31, 2007, to Reid's re-election campaign, the Review-Journal said.

Whittemore was once a powerful figure in Nevada politics and legal circles. As a lobbyist, he represented big casino clients and tobacco companies, and was a partner in the Lionel, Sawyer & Collins law firm. He now has a small private office in Reno.

Whittemore lawyer Dominic Gentile in Las Vegas did not immediately respond Tuesday to requests for comment, and a spokeswoman for Gentile's law firm said Whittemore would not comment.

Gentile's spokeswoman, Elizabeth Trosper, last week said the investigation stemmed from a legal battle between Whittemore and former partners in the Coyote Springs master-planned city about 60 miles north of Las Vegas.

That battle, which is playing out in civil lawsuits, is over Whittemore's plan to build some 160,000 homes and a Jack Nicklaus Signature-designed golf course on 43,000 acres off U.S. Highway 93 straddling the Clark and Lincoln county line. The project stalled when the economy soured, and a northern Nevada family — including brothers Thomas Seeno and Albert Seeno Jr. — who had shares in the project sued, accusing Whittemore of controlling company books from 2007 and 2009. They say he "misused and abused" company funds and say Whittemore confessed to financial discrepancies when the Seenos confronted him in 2010.

Whittemore has countersued.

"Understandably, based on the reckless accusations made in the civil lawsuit ... law enforcement is requesting information from knowledgeable parties," said Trosper, the spokeswoman for Whittemore's attorney.

The possible effect of the probe became apparent when Reid and U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., announced Friday they were donating to charities thousands of dollars that Whittemore and family members gave to their respective campaigns in recent years.

Orthman, the Reid spokesman, wouldn't say why the Senate Democratic majority leader was shedding money he received from a longtime friend and political contributor, but said Reid staffers were reviewing other contributions "associated with Mr. Whittemore" with plans to "treat them appropriately."

Former Democratic Congresswoman Dina Titus, who is seeking to return to Congress this year representing a different district, will also donate any money received from Whittemore, her campaign said Tuesday.

"We are working with our compliance officer on the amount," campaign spokesman Jay Gertsema said.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval said Tuesday his campaign staff was reviewing contributions from Whittemore and his family.

The state Democratic Party, however, said it would not dispose of thousands of dollars received from Whittemore because none violated campaign finance laws, said Zac Petkanas, a senior party adviser in Las Vegas.