LAS VEGAS - The Las Vegas Sun and KLAS Channel 8 went to court Thursday to gain access to sealed documents that may show the Attorney General's Office conducted a secret intelligence probe of top gambling regulators.
Attorney Dominic Gentile, who represents the news organizations, filed a motion asking District Court Judge James Mahan to allow him to argue in court for the public release of the documents.
Gentile also filed a 16-page motion formally asking Mahan to unseal the documents.
Mahan set a hearing for next Thursday on whether the Sun and Channel 8 have standing to intervene in the case. He also scheduled a March 2 hearing on the motion to unseal the documents.
Gentile said in his papers that Mahan improperly slapped a confidentiality order on the documents in December when he turned them over to Mike Anzalone, a former investigator for Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa's office who is now suing Del Papa.
Anzalone contends he was forced to resign in February 1996 because he wouldn't participate in the intelligence inquiry, which stemmed from the criminal probe of ex-Gaming Control Board computer expert Ron Harris.
The 900 pages of documents turned over to Anzalone are believed to detail Del Papa's efforts to gather intelligence on former Control Board Chairman Bill Bible, a political adversary, and other prominent people.
