The questions I asked Gov. Jim Gibbons' chief of staff, Mike Dayton, a month ago were clear enough.

Did Dawn Gibbons ever have a consulting agreement with Warren Trepp or anyone associated with him? Was there compensation of any kind, other than campaign contributions, between the Gibbons family and the defense contractor's crowd?

Dayton's denial was just as clear. He knew of none. He would ask, but he was sure there was none.

If you can't trust the governor's chief of staff to be informed and give you the straight stuff, who can you trust?

Hold that thought.

The Wall Street Journal reported Friday morning that Dawn Gibbons had indeed enjoyed a consulting agreement worth $35,000 in 2004 from Sierra Nevada Corp. of Sparks. At the time, then-Congressman Gibbons was helping to secure $2 million in funding for a helicopter radar system Sierra Nevada was developing.

The Dawn Gibbons consulting deal was a story I'd heard for weeks. After last month's front-page Journal exposé, I asked Dayton for the administration's take on the piece. And then I asked the Dawn Gibbons consulting questions.

On Friday morning, after the Journal's latest revelation, I reminded Dayton of our February conversation.

"I didn't know the context to which you were asking that," Dayton stammered. "When you said consulting contracts in that context, I was not aware of any contracts that she had.

"I thought you were talking about Warren Trepp. I'm sorry if I misunderstood you. I thought the question was related to Warren Trepp."

Didn't know the context?

With mumbo-jumbo like that, Mike Dayton could be a congressman.

Miscommunication, misdirection, deception, half-truths and outright lies are part of my business. I deal with fabricators and incompetents on a regular basis.

Truth is, I get lied to more than the night clerk at the No-Tell Motel.

But I'm not used to being misled, whether consciously or through ignorance, by someone who represents the governor of the state.

Frankly, it surprised me and almost made me blush.

But not half as much as the absurdity of the thought that Sierra Nevada hired Dawn Gibbons for her public relations skills.

(All calls seeking comment on the story in one of the nation's largest and most respected newspapers were referred to the governor and first lady's defense counsel, Abbe Lowell of Washington, D.C.)

I can't stop smiling at the thought that Dawn Gibbons toiled "numerous hours setting up meetings, large press conferences and pilot demonstrations, as well as providing advice," as Lowell said in a news release.

Even the first lady's friends groan at that half-baked alibi.

Whether it was news conference management or, as the Journal also reported, "a market survey and demonstration of a hand-held emergency-communications device for sale to casinos and state and local governments," the consulting deal reeked of an obvious conflict.

The Sierra Nevada contract is straight out of Political Juice 101: Make friends and influence elected officials by hiring their friends and family at good pay for duty with no "in" basket.

Whether "conflict" is a euphemism for "payoff" remains for FBI agents and federal prosecutors to determine.

Perhaps the recently issued grand jury subpoenas in the investigation of the occupants of the Nevada Governor's Mansion will help clarify matters.

Meanwhile, let's collectively retch at the knowledge that our governor and first lady need to retain defense counsel.

But back to the chief of staff.

If Dayton didn't know about the consulting agreement and its enormous potential for trouble, then his superiors haven't been candid with him.

Given the mounting pile of eTreppid connections and other questionable conduct, that lack of candor doesn't seem all that surprising.

If he's been kept uninformed, he has incompetent bosses. If he attempted to keep a member of the press in the dark, he's incompetent himself.

Either way he should think about looking for other work.

Not that I expect Dayton to step down on my account. Everyone tells me stories that aren't true. But I'm beginning to wonder whether an ability to dissemble is a prerequisite for his job.

Why, I won't even ask the first lady to resign over her corny and questionable insider deal.

Giving Dayton the benefit of the doubt, one he doesn't deserve, it means he's a dope who has been kept in the dark. That says plenty about the collective savvy of the governor's office these days.

But if Mr. and Mrs. Nevada aren't even fully disclosing their questionable side deals with their chief of staff, what aren't they telling us?

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.