Jury chosen in high-profile trial of Nevada power broker

RENO — A jury was seated Tuesday in the illegal campaign contributions trial of former power broker Harvey Whittemore.

Opening statements were set to begin Wednesday.

The 59-year-old Whittemore, who once wielded much influence in Nevada politics as a legislative lobbyist, is accused of unlawfully funneling $138,000 in campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Whittemore was indicted in June 2012 on four felony charges, including making excessive campaign contributions, making contributions in the name of another and lying to the FBI and the Federal Election Commission.

The indictment alleges Whittemore used his family members and employees as “conduits” to make illegal contributions to Reid’s campaign.

He is alleged to have met with the Nevada Democrat in February 2007 in Las Vegas and agreed to raise $150,000 by the March 31, 2007, campaign finance deadline.

Whittemore then “knowingly devised a scheme” to funnel his own money to the campaign, the indictment alleges.

At the time, federal law allowed a maximum $4,600 to be contributed to a campaign by an individual and $9,200 by a couple.

Whittemore is alleged to have reimbursed his associates through checks and wire transfers from his personal account.

The indictment alleges Whittemore duped Reid’s campaign committee into believing the contributions came from the individuals.

Reid is not expected to testify at the high-profile trial, which is taking place in the courtroom of Senior U.S. District Judge Larry Hicks. The trial is expected to continue into next week, with as many as 30 government witnesses.

Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, retired U.S. District Judge David Hagen, former Nevada Supreme Court Justice Bob Rose and former state Sens. Sue Lowden of Las Vegas and Bernice Mathews of Sparks are among the prospective defense witnesses.

The defense also has listed a host of well-known legislative lobbyists and family members as possible witnesses.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Myhre and Eric Olshan, a trial attorney with the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, are jointly prosecuting the case.

Two Las Vegas lawyers, Dominic Gentile and Vincent Savarese, are leading the defense.

Whittemore, who is free on his own recognizance, has denied wrongdoing.

“It is his position that his conduct was lawful and, if it wasn’t, he did not have the intent the law requires for a violation to have occurred,” his lawyers wrote in court papers last week.

With more than 30 years of experience as a lawyer and lobbyist, Whittemore had extensive knowledge of the political system, the lawyers explained.

“He had campaigned for and contributed or raised money from others for many candidates for elected office for that entire period of time and stayed abreast of the developments in state and federal campaign contribution and disclosure laws,” the lawyers said.

Whittemore family members used their own money to contribute to Reid’s campaign, and any reimbursements to his employees were “unconditional gifts,” according to the defense court papers.

The investigation became public Feb. 9, 2012, as FBI agents fanned out across the state at some 30 locations to serve subpoenas.

Allegations had surfaced that employees of Whittemore’s former development company, Wingfield Nevada Group Holding Co., and its subsidiaries were among those used as conduits.

At the height of his powers as a lobbyist, Whittemore represented some of the state’s biggest industries in Carson City, including liquor and tobacco and gaming. Sometimes called the “64th legislator,” he had the highest level of access to lawmakers. He also oversaw the Reno office of Lionel, Sawyer & Collins, one of Nevada’s premier law firms.

But in recent years, Whittemore, who once considered Reid among his closest friends, had turned his attention away from lobbying to land development.

At the time of his big push to contribute money to the majority leader’s campaign, Whittemore was orchestrating the development of Coyote Springs, a master-planned community in Southern Nevada. With the help of Reid and other members of Nevada’s congressional delegation, Whittemore sought to overcome several governmental hurdles because of county water issues and federal land issues.

But in 2008, the 43,000-acre development stalled because of the housing crash and economic recession and has languished since then.

The forerunner to the federal investigation was a multimillion-dollar lawsuit Whittemore’s former business partners filed in Las Vegas, alleging Whittemore embezzled $44 million from the Wingfield Nevada Group.

The company is controlled by Thomas Seeno and Albert Seeno Jr., two brothers who partnered with Whittemore in master-planned communities in Northern and Southern Nevada, including the Coyote Springs development.

The partners sparked the criminal investigation when they turned over evidence of the alleged campaign violations to the FBI.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow him on Twitter @JGermanRJ