Fiore again ousted from GOP Assembly leadership

LAS VEGAS — Nevada lawmaker Michele Fiore was once again removed Thursday from leadership positions in the Republican Assembly Caucus after comments she made to the media about her tax troubles angered her superiors.

Assembly Speaker-elect John Hambrick announced Fiore was replaced as majority leader by Assemblyman Paul Anderson, and bumped from chairing the taxation committee by Assemblyman Derek Armstrong.

Hambrick criticized Fiore for publicly accusing two Republican consultants of conspiring against her, and for bringing “undue negativity and disharmony to our caucus.”

“I found that Michele’s explanations of her IRS issues were unacceptable,” Hambrick said in a statement. “They left unanswered questions, were full of deflections and slanderous allegations that have left our caucus further divided.”

Fiore and her staff didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The conservative Fiore, a sophomore legislator from Las Vegas, came under fire last week after journalist Jon Ralston reported that more than $1 million in liens had been filed against her and her personal care businesses in the past decade.

Fiore was briefly removed from leadership but restored hours later.

Hambrick said Thursday that he was concerned about her problems with the IRS and had been assured that she would address the issues the following week.

Fiore discussed the liens in a round of interviews earlier this week, blaming a dishonest employee and her ex-husband for the tax problems and saying she was now 100 percent in compliance with the IRS.

“My trust level was so high because I was so consumed — that was my mistake,” Fiore said.

She also named two Republican consultants whom she said were conspiring to bring her down.