LAS VEGAS - Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa bought more time to explain to a judge why he shouldn't release documents that show her office conducted a secret intelligence investigation of Nevada's top gambling regulators.
District Judge James Mahan had planned to hear arguments on Monday, but he pushed the hearing back to Nov. 3 to give Del Papa's deputies a chance to explain in more detail their objections to the release of the documents.
Thomas Biggar, a District Court discovery commissioner responsible for overseeing evidence in civil cases, has recommended that Mahan turn over some 900 pages of documents to a former investigator suing Del Papa for forcing him to resign in 1996 because he wouldn't participate in the secret probe.
Biggar has reported that he saw documents in the attorney general's file that show intelligence was gathered on former Gaming Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, his friend, politically connected gaming lawyer, Frank Schreck, and employees who worked for Bible. At the time, Bible was locked in a heated rift with Del Papa.
The discovery commissioner has suggested the documents may show an abuse of power on the part of the attorney general's office.
Del Papa has denied conducting an intelligence investigation. But her deputies have acknowledged that intelligence was gathered on regulators.