LV Councilwoman Fiore Investigated Over Campaign Financing

According to Jeff German, Las Vegas Review-Journal, a Federal grand jury issued subpoenas for records in the investigation into the campaign finances of Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore.

According to German, the subpoenas that came over several months followed a January FBI raid on Fiore’s northwest Las Vegas home.

Some of the subpoenas have sought documents relating to Fiore’s campaign and political action committee, Future for Nevadans, the Review-Journal reporter noted.

In April 2014, Republican Fiore, who once represented Clark County Assembly District 4 (Las Vegas), showed up at the Bundy Bunch sedition site and ended up on MSNBC yelling at host Chris Hayes. Several times Hayes tried to focus the discussion on Bundy’s rejection of federal government authority, but Fiore would interrupt, shouting, “we will not allow governance by gunpoint.”

In 2013 and 2015, health department inspectors were blocked several times from reviewing the records of Always There 4 You.[i], [ii] They were denied access by office staff, Fiore’s mother, and both Fiore’s mother and Fiore.[iii]

On November 3, 2015, the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (HCQC) voided Fiore’s license to operate Always There 4 You, a home healthcare service.[iv], [v] Always There 4 You and another Fiore-owned home healthcare service, Always There Personal Care, received about $6 million (net) in Medicaid reimbursements between 2011 and March 2015.[vi],[vii]

In January 2016, Fiore joined other far-right like-minded individuals via telephone in a “fact-finding mission,” to visit Ammon and Ryan Bundy and other militants illegally occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. [viii]

At the June 6, 2020 Clark County Republican Convention, Fiore was accused of making “racially charged remarks.” The Clark County Republican Party itself released a statement criticizing her remarks.[ix]

Following the unrest and riots resulting from the death of George Floyd, conservative talk show host Wayne Allyn Root organized a Blue Lives Matter march on Las Vegas Blvd scheduled for June 13, 2020, of which Fiore was to be a co-host. Following the  postponement of the event the next day, Las Vegas NAACP President Roxann McCoy issued a news release,[x]

“The NAACP Las Vegas is appalled that Las Vegas, Nevada City Council members Mayor Pro Tem Michelle Fiore, Councilwoman Victoria Seaman, Councilman Stavros Anthony do not care to understand Black citizens of Las Vegas and the injustices we constantly endure.”

Days after the storming of the United States Capitol encouraged by Donald Trump, Fiore attended the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting on Amelia Island, Florida, where she told the New York Times, “I surely embrace President Trump.”[xi]

Fiore was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has lived in Nevada since 1993.  She voted against a bill requiring background checks before the purchase of firearms. She is highly rated (87%) by the Nevada Policy Research Institute (NPRI) conservative group.

The NPRI is a State Policy Network (SPN) connected to the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity. The Franklin Center has strong ties to right-wing “think tanks” pushing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) corporate-backed agenda in every statehouse.  Charles Koch, one of the billionaire brothers who co-own Koch Industries, sits on the board of ALEC.

Endnotes:

[i]  “State voiding lawmaker Michele Fiore’s health care license”. LasVegasSun.com. November 3, 2015.

[ii] Nevada DHHS, Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance (July 24, 2015). “Fiore-Always there for you letter.7-24.2015”. Scribd. Retrieved April 19, 2016.

[iii] Ibid

[iv] “State voiding lawmaker Michele Fiore’s health care license”. LasVegasSun.com. November 3, 2015.

[v] Chereb, Sandra; Botkin, Ben (November 3, 2015). “Fiore loses license for home health care business”. Las Vegas Review-Journal.

[vi][vi] Fiore snubs, threatens state inspectors, could lose home health care license”. Ralston Reports. July 21, 2015.

[vii]  Whaley, Sean (July 24, 2015). “State threatens Assemblywoman Fiore with business shutdown”. Las Vegas Review-Journal

[viii] Sepulvado, John, Blanchard, Dave “Nevada, Oregon State Reps Meet with Armed Occupiers, at: http://goo.gl/sc3Wzp

[ix] Miller, Cody (June 8, 2020). “Clark County Republican Party rebukes Mayor Pro Tem Fiore’s ‘racially charged’ remarks”. KSNV

[x] “‘Blue Lives Matter’ postponed, harshly criticized by Las Vegas NAACP”. June 9, 2020.

[xi] Martin, Jonathan (January 8, 2021). “In Capital, a G.O.P. Crisis. At the R.N.C. Meeting, a Trump Celebration”. The New York Times. Retrieved January 9, 2021.