Clark County commissioner should resign, Nevada GOP says

Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, seen in March 2022. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones, seen in March 2022. (Las Vegas Review-Journal).
The Nevada Republican Party is calling on Democratic Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones to resign following a judge's judgment that Jones was not honest about deleting essential text messages as part of a long-running legal disagreement.

" Another day, another Democrat corruption scandal coming to light," the Nevada Republican Party said in a statement Tuesday. "It is undesirable that Clark County Commissioner Justin Jones intentionally damaged evidence in an effort to conceal his corrupt actions from the court and from Nevada taxpayers.".

It'' s time for @JustinJonesNV to resign. Deliberate destruction of proof, outright corruption, and no issue for the reality.

Let'' s end partisan cronyism and political corruption in Nevada – – disbar and resign Justin Jones.

Our statement here: https://t.co/z0hFxc2eSK pic.twitter.com/LEclWVbxcZ.

—-- Nevada GOP (@NVGOP) April 25, 2023.

Federal Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah in the judgment concluded that Jones had actually deliberately deleted text messages from his cellular phone referring to efforts to halt a property development atop Blue Diamond Hill, near Red Rock Canyon. Developer Jim Rhodes has actually been attempting to develop houses on the ridge for many years, although development has been stalled by disputes with the county and conservationists opposed to the strategy.

The state GOP gotten in touch with Attorney General Aaron Ford and Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson to investigate Jones, although those companies do not usually get associated with civil suits. The party likewise called for the State Bar of Nevada to examine; Youchah decreased to refer Jones for discipline to the Bar, however stated attorneys for Rhodes might do so.

The party likewise said that laws around federal government transparency require to be strengthened and charges need to be codified.

" The citizens of Commission District F are worthy of genuine representation, not someone more worried with evading the law than representing their district," the party stated in the declaration.

Locals of the district did have that chance in November, when Jones dealt with an abnormally difficult election versus Republican Drew Johnson, who led in tallies right away after Election Day however ultimately lost the election after mail ballots were counted. The last tally saw Jones win by simply 336 votes out of more than 107,000 cast.

Jones declined to comment Tuesday however pointed the Review-Journal to his previous statement that said he would not go over the matter while the litigation is pending.

" I continue to remain concentrated on serving the requirements of my constituents and working to make Clark County a better location to live, work and raise a family," he stated via text.

Bradley Schrager, a local political law lawyer who represents Democrats, said in a text that this is a civil matter being dealt with by judges who are weighing the evidence properly.

" It's quite rich, however, to check out the declarations of state and county GOP authorities who tried to take over the Electoral College process and whom have actually lied constantly about Nevada elections for many years," he stated. "The bell will toll for them also, prior to too long.".

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on Twitter.