SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE FROM ROGER WHOMES CAMPAIGN
Friday, on the eve of early voting, Dick Gammick threatened media outlets, including radio and TV stations, who have been running the story of his former daughter-in-law and of how he has been protecting his son from child support prosecution and threatened her if she reported his unethical behavior.
Indeed, succumbing to the threats of the district attorney, radio stations running the ads featuring Gammick’s former daughter-in-law have taken them off the air, a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of Gammick’s former daughter-in-law and Gammick’s opponent, Roger Whomes. The Whomes campaign is taking steps on Monday to right this wrong.
Gammick threatened the media providers with prosecution by the FCC and other “consequences” if they continued to run the “My Children Can’t Afford Dick Gammick” ad. As a result, the Whomes campaign has submitted an affidavit by Rebecca Roy swearing that her version of the events is true.
The affidavit Gammick used to stop the ads is from one of his own at-will attorney employees. The affidavit does not refute anything that Roy said. She made it clear in the ad that (1) Gammick having the case in his office was a total conflict of interest, (2) Gammick’s son owed her over $15,000 in child support, when any amount over $10,000 is a felony, and (3) Gammick threatened her that her case would not see the “light of day” and she would not see a “dime” of child support if she spoke out. As Roy’s affidavit shows, he even threatened her that he “knew people” in the attorney general’s office (where her child support case is now) to back up his threats.
No wonder he wanted her silenced. No wonder he does not want the public to be informed.
History has many examples of this sort of censorship. Censorship is one of the first steps toward dictatorship.
Gammick must know that when voters hear how he has abused his power, to the disadvantage of his grandkids and for the benefit of his son, they are not likely to conclude he has the integrity to remain the Washoe County district attorney. What he must not have realized is that there are many voters who value the First Amendment and individuals’ having the right to speak out against wrongs by their government. This is not the first time Gammick has threatened the media for reporting facts; last summer he berated and threatened a Reno Gazette Journal reporter for doing her job.
This is just another dirty trick by Gammick, showing his distrust of the voters and his contempt for the rights of others. First he tells them to “wait and see” if he will serve a full term and endorsed the idea of the district attorney being appointed so he would never have to face the voters. Now, he simply wants to make sure the voters do not have the complete story and that one of his victims is silenced.
