LAS VEGAS -- Even for a city synonymous with sin, it was a bit jarring to listen last summer as county commissioners hashed out the finer points of how much contact a stripper can have with her customer.
One commissioner wanted to outlaw almost any touching, but that idea hardly made it to first base. By the time the debate concluded, strip club owners were happy to find that there was little substantive change in the law. By then, FBI agents apparently were already investigating accusations that several prominent politicians in Las Vegas and San Diego were taking bribes from one club-owning family to keep regulations as skimpy as a G-string.
That probe burst into view May 14 when FBI agents staged raids on Cheetah's and Jaguar's ''topless cabarets'' outside Las Vegas and a Cheetah's in San Diego, all owned by Mike Galardi or his father, Jack Galardi. Officers also searched the City Hall offices of San Diego City Councilmen Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis, and Michael Zucchet and Galardi Enterprises offices in Las Vegas.
The FBI search warrants indicated that agents sought evidence of unreported campaign contributions or cash payments to the San Diego councilmen, Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald, the Clark County, Nev., commission chairwoman, and two former commissioners. Both of the Vegas-area clubs are outside city limits and thus are governed by the Clark County Commission, although the Galardis also own businesses within the city.
With no officials indicted, it remains unclear what the precise allegations are and which votes are being scrutinized. But with a nexus of three sensational elements -- sex, political corruption, and Vegas -- the controversy, dubbed ''Operation G-Sting'' by local pundits, seems sure to heat up summer in the desert.
''This case has the potential to become the largest political corruption scandal in the history of southern Nevada,'' said Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith. ''When you have these kinds of cash-rich businesses with operators who are only too happy to ingratiate themselves with any politicians who will give them the time of day, the potential for corruption is endless.''
It certainly wouldn't be Sin City's first major political scandal. Las Vegas history is littered with the political carcasses of officials on the take. Legendary mob bosses Bugsy Siegel to Lefty Rosenthal, who built the gambling mecca, started the practice. Two state senators and two county commissioners were convicted of taking bribes in the early 1980s after a lengthy undercover FBI sting operation. It was not until 1991 that the Legislature barred politicians from spending campaign contributions for personal use.
At the heart of the current flap is former Clark County commissioner Lance Malone, who became a paid political consultant for the Galardis after his failed reelection bid in 2000. In an unusual news conference, Malone spoke out last Friday for the first time since the raids to rebut local media reports that he is cutting a deal with federal authorities.
''I have never had any substantive conversation with the FBI concerning this investigation,'' he said. ''I am not and never have been in the custody of the US Attorney's office as a government witness.''
Still, Malone offered no pronouncements of his innocence during the five-minute appearance.
More puzzling for observers is the role in this scandal of County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who has built a political career on her persona as a kindly middle-aged widow and flower shop owner who has sheltered dozens of troubled youths. The Review-Journal quoted law enforcement sources as saying that Kincaid-Chauncey is suspected of accepting $5,000 from the Galardis via Malone for a trust fund.
At her news conference, Kincaid-Chauncey insisted she is innocent: ''I've never even had a traffic ticket before.''
The political fallout of the FBI probe is already evident. Las Vegas Councilman McDonald, a former police officer whose political career has been dogged by ethics questions, is in a tough battle for reelection on June 3. McDonald announced last week that the FBI has told him he is not a target of its investigation, but the FBI declined to confirm that claim.
The two former county commissioners implicated, Dario Herrera and Erin Kenny, have said nothing publicly since the raids. Both Democrats left office last fall to run for higher office.
None of the San Diego councilmen returned calls, but a San Diego grand jury took testimony Friday from several staffers who work with them, and a top Zucchet aide resigned Thursday. The aide, Anthony Wagner, released a statement noting, ''I will never comment until the situation has been fully resolved.''
Clark County Manager Thom Reilly, the government's top appointed official, said the corruption probe has cast suspicion on his entire operation. ''I'm concerned about the broad brush this paints the government and Las Vegas with.''
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