EDITORIAL: District Attorney Steve Wolfson should err on the side of transparency in theft case

For more than three years, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson managed to keep hush-hush the fact that one of his aides stole $42,000 from his campaign account. But even though the Review-Journal exposed the crime in a March report by Jeff German and David Ferrara, Mr. Wolfson continues to stonewall regarding certain records surrounding the incident.

Mr. Wolfson’s office routinely deals with hundreds of theft cases each year. Many people accused of such crimes go to jail. But Mr. Wolfson took a more merciful approach with Audrie Locke, a community liaison and spokeswomen for the DA’s office, whom he lauded as a top employee.

Mr. Wolfson fired Ms. Locke from her $80,000-a-year job after he discovered in August 2014 that she had dipped into his campaign checkbook to help fund a video poker addiction. Ms. Locke paid back the money, and she agreed to undergo treatment for a gambling problem. Mr. Wolfson rehired her after she completed rehab in October 2014.

But Ms. Locke never faced criminal charges. Mr. Wolfson called her behavior an “aberration” and said he was simply exercising his prosecutorial discretion by not pursuing the issue in court. But perhaps it would ease public fears that the district attorney had offered preferential treatment to a friend if Mr. Wolfson could offer additional examples of such leniency and forgiveness. He has yet to do so.

Mr. Wolfson, who has served since 2012, is running for re-election. His lone opponent, local criminal defense attorney Robert Langford, recently told Mr. German that Mr. Wolfson needs to “stop the secrecy” and that the public has a right to see bank statements documenting the theft so voters can be more fully informed on the issue.

The secretary of state’s office concluded that Mr. Wolfson has no obligation under state law to acknowledge the theft on his campaign finance reports because the money was returned within a few weeks.

Under the letter of the law, perhaps that’s true. Yet how refreshing it would be if Mr. Wolfson erred on the side of full transparency rather than haughtily dismissing concerns about his handling of this matter.

No doubt Mr. Langford harbors political motives. He’s running a campaign, after all. But that shouldn’t detract from that fact that, on the issue of Audrie Locke, Steve Wolfson and accountability, he makes a good point.