Earlier this year, The Globe obtained the scoop that Las Vegas City Councilwoman Victoria Seaman was intending on filing a lawsuit against her fellow councilwoman and former friend, GOP nominee for State Treasurer Michelle Fiore. Today, Seaman filed the lawsuit (see below) accusing Fiore of assault. The city is also named as a defendant and alleges: “The city by and through its employees, agents, elected officials and/or contractors committed the illegal act of destroying evidence of a crime to deprive the public of the knowledge of events which might embarrass, discredit or reflect poorly on the Las Vegas City Council.”

The lawsuit further alleges that city officials “acted in concert to destroy video evidence of a crime when they knew or should have known that such evidence was important and should be preserved and maintained because it might be necessary for future criminal or civil proceedings.”

Seaman also alleges that city officials were “unresponsive and unsympathetic to her concerns and requests.” Because of the city’s inaction, Fiore “became emboldened and began to be even more hostile, aggressive and malicious. She continued distorting the truth about the attack that had occurred to members of the community, claiming she was attacked by Councilwoman Seaman,” the suit alleges.

The alleged altercation between Seaman and Fiore reads like a scene from the Wild West.

According to Seaman, in January 2021, Fiore broke Seaman’s finger, grabbed her hair and threw her to the ground in the private hallway between the City Council chambers on the building’s second floor. This altercation allegedly occurred after an Audit Oversight Committee in which a source close to Seaman said that Fiore disrespected Seaman in the chambers and then slammed Mayor Goodman’s door in Seaman’s face.

The feud continued, with Seaman’s lawyer sending Fiore a cease-and-desist letter referring to conduct that is “pervasive and rises to the level of infliction of emotional distress, not to mention escalation to physical violence, assault, and battery.” Seaman alleged that she had received death threats following the fight and a then a website, set up anonymously on Sept. 5, targeted Seaman as a “con artist” who files frivolous lawsuits.

Video that may have captured all or part of this melee was apparently deleted by Las Vegas City Hall. After initially being supplied with video last February that did not confirm the altercation, the Review- Journal broadened its request. On March 4th, a city attorney told the newspaper that it would take thousands of hours for staff to review the footage—a dubious claim since the exact time and date of the alleged fight was known by all. The City requested $63,680 and 150 days to “to review all 150 surveillance cameras at City Hall,” according to the Review-Journal. Before the newspaper had responded to that hefty demand, the city deleted the requested footage in accordance with what it claims is a policy of automatically deleting footage after two months.

In a response to its request for video, on September 8, City Attorney Bryan Scott told the Review Journal: “It is my understanding that the city’s video surveillance system recordings are deleted automatically by the surveillance system after 60 calendar days.”

In comments to The Globe, both councilwomen expressed their respective positions:

Seaman: “I am relieved today, as now the truth is being told. Filing this lawsuit was my last resort. I have lived with the scars of this humiliating attack for over a year. I have been physically and emotionally distraught, suffering physical pain, humiliation, embarrassment, and trauma during the attack, and because the City refused to adequately address or rectify the verbal, physical, emotional, and mental abuse by Councilwoman Fiore.”

Fiore: “The same liberal Republicans who supported my primary opponent are now doing whatever they have to, to attempt to stop me from winning this election and returning Nevada to a state of financial common sense. This will be no more successful than it was in the primary where I won with the largest margin of any candidate. I look forward to the truth coming out as soon as possible.”