Dane plans to even score with detectives

Tony Dane and his attorney still plan to sue the government for aggressively investigating whether the conservative political activist attempted to extort a freshman legislator.

Not sure that's a good idea, but Dane attorney David Otto isn't soliciting my opinion.

"It's a constitutional violation," Otto said. "They took all his stuff. They had no reason to. The (Virginia search warrant) affidavit is full of lies ... and we're going to sue them for taking his property without due process."

Metro detectives served a search warrant on Feb. 5 at Dane's Front Royal, Va., home. Dane reported that detectives informed him the search warrant was being carried out in connection with an extortion investigation involving rookie Republican Assemblyman Chris Edwards.

Otto sounds adamant. In earlier interviews, Dane has been just as bullish: He didn't attempt to intimidate or extort Edwards. He merely reminded Edwards that he'd been elected as a conservative and a shift in his position, especially on Gov. Brian Sandoval's tax package, constituted a betrayal that would have consequences. (Among those consequences were auto-dialed phone blasts in Edwards' district, a Dane specialty.)

In February detectives seized Apple iPhones, tablet and laptop computers, three external hard drives, five computer towers, a DVD recorder, a GPS tracker and more. A second search warrant was served at an office in Utah where Dane kept his auto-dialing equipment.

Of the Virginia raid, Otto wrote, "This search warrant was sought and executed for no other reason than the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police wishing to silence Dane's political speech."

Although Edwards has described himself as a victim and a whistleblower, he's accused in court documents of "actively soliciting campaign donations," Otto wrote in a February motion. "Nevada State Assemblyman John Moore ... has stated to police and others that Chris Edwards was actively offering to trade his vote for Speaker of the Assembly in return for money." The money, according to the motion on file in District Court, was to help pay campaign debts.

Although Dane makes his home elsewhere these days, he was a longtime local Christian conservative political activist known by opponents as a dirty trickster. He was anti-gay, anti-liberal and anti-Democrat and used his auto-dialing operation to torment political opponents. Democrats hated him, mainstream Republicans were leery of him, and he made what sounds like quite a living from the rest.

"There was no intimidation between Edwards and I," Dane said in an interview earlier this year. " ... Since when is a member of the public restrained from telling legislators what they want from their legislators? ... It takes some different tactics to get your point across."

The question is whether Dane, in getting his point across, departed from vigorous free political speech and entered the murky realm of extortion. Is political arm-twisting extortion?

Perhaps.

"They have no evidence," Otto said Monday. "It's all based on lies, exactly as I said in my papers. ... They did this to get the tax hike, just as I said. I haven't changed my position at all, and I never will. I believe there will be no criminal prosecution ever because it's based on lies."

That's a bold statement.

I'm not a lawyer, just play one in the newspaper, but even presuming no charges stem from the investigation, taking a swing at law enforcement sounds like a really awful idea given the presence of wiretaps in the investigation.

And when it comes to talking tough when they think no one is listening, Tony Soprano was a choirboy compared to many political activists. And as many mobsters would admit, tough talk on tape is a good way to find yourself slapped with a conspiracy charge.

We may one day learn the contents of those wiretaps and find out whether Tony Dane sounded like that other Tony when preparing to pull off an auto-dialing assassination.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Reach him at 702 383-0295, or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith.