OPINION: The Biggest Little City Has Big (And Concerning) Connections

When people think of Nevada, the bright lights of the Las Vegas Strip along with the melody of slot machines often comes to mind. Immortalized by films like Casino, The Godfather, Rain Man, and Ocean’s Eleven, Las Vegas was aptly named ‘Sin City” for the prevalence of gambling and adult entertainment. With so much attention directed towards this Southern Nevada metropolis, her much smaller, Northern sister city of Reno is often overlooked. Yet, there’s a reason why “The Biggest Little City in the World” has been given significant attention by politicians like Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Harry Reid. 

The tragedy of the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting, with almost 60 lives lost and hundreds injured, still casts a shadow of sadness over the city. As all eyes seem to be focused on Las Vegas for a multitude of reasons, developments made in the Reno metro area, spurred by large investments from the greater Seattle and San Francisco Bay Area companies such as Amazon, Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, and Google, seems to be overshadowed. Reno’s major technology center is the largest in the world, spanning from Singapore to Dubai to Toronto and everywhere in between.

Some of the most expensive real estate in the nation is located just miles away on the shore of Lake Tahoe. This area includes  Incline Village and Crystal Bay, and public records show some interesting connections to a fifth-generation Nevadan judge, David Hardy, who has political and financial ties to state leadership, Blackrock, politicians and Democratic donors connected to the largest data center in the world with tentacles wrapped tightly around our elections.

Judge Hardy is directly involved in pivotal cases garnering the attention of officials curious about his propensity to protect those who have far-reaching political influence. According to the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct, judges must adhere to strict Ethics standards. That’s what makes Hardy’s judicial activity in Washoe County all the more concerning. Hardy is also a pivotal figure on the State of Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

Judge Hardy is currently presiding over a lawsuit in Washoe County while sitting on a critical State of Nevada Ethics Commission post. Hardy personally contributed to Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve’s campaign, but used his former business partner’s address. Therefore, Hardy has direct financial ties to the plaintiff in a case he is currently presiding over known as Trackergate.

In July 2023, Hardy allowed a personal and professional associate of his, Rost Olsen, a junior attorney with the Public Utilities Commission who held a Deputy Attorney General post after only one year of attorney experience, to speak on behalf of Hillary Schieve in court. Olsen chose to insert himself into Schieve’s lawsuit to defend her, and included 17,000 employees with the State of Nevada in his legal brief, while openly mocking the State of Washington for granting him a license to practice law based on his character and fitness. At the same time, Olsen’s social media posts include several photos of himself posing with Hardy and his family, and a post praising Barack Obama. In addition to taking a public stance on his political preferences, Olsen brazenly crafted a post on LinkedIn, mocking the Supreme Court of the State of Washington for Licensing him without requiring a proficiency exam.

In December 2021, Olsen, was appointed to the Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and serves in this position alongside Judge Hardy.

Judge Hardy not only contributed to Hillary Schieve’s campaign, but he is also contributed to former State Supreme Court Judge Deborah Schumacher, who was a partner at Schieve’s current attorney’s law firm, McDonald Carano. Adam Hosmer-Henner, Schieve’s attorney at McDonald Carano, is directly connected to Chief US District Judge for the State of Nevada, Miranda Du. Du was appointed by Obama in 2012.

Judge Schumacher is also directly connected to Harry Reid and Eric Holder–who was instrumental in laying the groundwork for illegal immigration, opposition to Voter ID, and was held in contempt of congress due to his obstruction of the Fast and Furious investigation.

As the Reno mayor, Schieve serves on the board for the Reno Housing Authority (RHA), which gives the RHA access to and has been accepting US Treasury taxpayer dollars and grant funds, and is nested under the City of Reno and Washoe County. It’s imperative to note the RHA is not a nonprofit entity. It’s also notable that Schieve’s own Reno City Manager, Doug Thornley, is directly affiliated with a Real Estate Investment Lobbyist Firm, and cuts checks to Mayor Schieve’s RHA, some amounting to over a million dollars each. Public records related to financial audits have never been published, while Thornley cuts the RHA multi-million dollar checks.

Additionally, Washoe County also disburses millions of dollars annually to RHA, with no accounting provided to the public. The Washoe County District Attorneys office has a history targeting citizens who request public information– Washoe County DA’s Lindsay Liddell and Christopher Hicks included. Liddell works alongside Schieve’s attorney, Adam Hosmer-Henner, of McDonald Carano, as they both work under Judge Miranda Du.

Judge Hardy’s assistant, Carrie Lipparelli, previously worked for former Governor Brian Sandoval and is married to Paul Lipparelli who served as DA for both Carson City and Washoe County and currently works with government agencies. Paul’s brother is former Nevada Senator Mark Lipparelli, who is involved with the Nevada Gaming Control Board and Golden Entertainment. Golden Entertainment’s board includes beverage distributor Southern Glazers who also donated to Hillary Schieve’s campaign.

Washoe County’s website indicated Judge Hardy holds an elections post with the State of Nevada. His friend and business partner, Charles Woodman, is also a supporter of Hillary Schieve, as evidenced by campaign contributions and posts of Woodman posing with Schieve’s sister Amanda, who works at SWITCH data centers. Switch, founded by major Democrat donor Rob Roy, is the largest international data center in the world, with a facility at the Tahoe Reno Industrial Complex. Their customers are directly involved in our state elections: Crowdstrike (Russiagate), Cloudflare (Election Security Software), Google, and more.

Also located at the Reno Tahoe Industrial Complex is Blockchains LLC, founded by Jeffrey Berns. Hardy mysteriously sealed a sexual harassment case filed against Berns, hiding details from public purview – the second case of its kind filed against Berns. Berns, a WEF Smart City proponent, publicly praised Hillary Schieve and worked directly with local and state lawmakers to build Smart City infrastructure in Storey County and the State of Nevada.

Finally, Judge Hardy has global connections with Israel, Ukraine and other foreign interests via his multi-million dollar powerhouse, the Prometheus Foundation where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors and works directly with Blackrock Asset Managers.

Prometheus Foundation’s 990 for 2020 indicate a Crystal Bay, Nevada address and reflects assets at just over $71 million. Their Form 8949, Sales & Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, list RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Wealth Management as their Asset Manager, which is a division of Blackrock Asset Management, an ESG Company.

‘ESG,’ as a term, was coined in the 2006 United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) Report and has grown to be the overarching way for investors and business leaders to discuss the message behind each of these standards. Critics contend these investments, standards and messaging are driven by a far-left political agenda.

For example, Prometheus also list a company called Mystery Science – which features “Next Generation Science Standards”. Schools pay several thousand dollars to administer ESG curriculum to students. 

Notable Prometheus Network Members include the likes of Andrew Bernstein, who gave accolades to a book written by Catherine Nixey called “ “The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World”. Bernstein publicly applauds Nixey’s book saying, “… it is good to be reminded that religion, including Christianity, is a force for evil. Catherine Nixey’s book is a vivid reminder of that frightening truth.”

Hillary Schieve’s lawsuit in response to finding a tracker on her vehicle has opened eyes to the political and international activity within the City of Reno which connects “The Biggest Little City in the World“ to elections, the U.S. Treasury, the Democratic party, and foreign countries. 

It would seem Judge Hardy’s connections within the courts and the State of Nevada’s Ethics Commission would be pivotal and cause the public at large to be concerned about due process, integrity and judicial ethics.