Senator Harry Reid's Secret Ally in Nevada

Poor Brian Krolicki.

The Lt. Governor of the state of Nevada is being indicted by State Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and a Grand Jury on four counts, two for misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer, and two counts of misappropriation by a Treasurer. These charges stem from his time as State Treasurer and his management of a college savings program. Now, the indictment in itself is bad enough, but what is curious is the timing of the indictment. Krolicki had indicated he planned to make a run against incumbent Senator Harry Reid in the 2010 election and then the indictment came down. Now for those who are not residents of Nevada, Krolicki is one of those honest politicians in office. He's a decent person and doesn't engage in a lot of hostile politics. When he was the State Treasurer the state had a budget surplus and he did a fine job. He was the first Republican to openly announce his plans to run against Reid in 2010 and then this very public indictment comes down. Krolicki claims he did his job with the college savings money and never did anything wrong, and in fact believes the indictment by Masto is politically motivated due to the timing. Reid says Krolicki's claims are "pure fiction." Well, we all know Reid. We know he operates, how he works, and what he says. We also know Krolicki, and as I have heard many times on local talk radio, the indictment is shocking. Krolicki just isn't that type of person. Reid is.

One thing to remember is that an indictment, regardless of whether it's false or not, still hangs out there. When 2010 rolls around, even if Krolicki's innocent, Reid will still be able to leverage the indictment against Krolicki. And that's the tragedy of the whole thing, and just heaps suspicion all over the indictment as well as Reid and Masto. I hope I'm not the only one keeping an eye on this story as Krolicki's chances of winning against Reid are very good in 2010. And in full disclosure, if it turns out Krolicki really is guilty, then he deserves the full penalty allowable. But I have the feeling that he isn't guilty at all.