GOP gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo texted that he'd like to see the Las Vegas Sun's owner out of business

Brett T. | 4:47 PM on August 10, 2022

Here’s some shocking news from Jessica Hill, the politics reporter at the Las Vegas Sun. It seems that someone shared some texts with the Sun in which sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Joe Lombardo suggested he’s like to see the owner of the Sun out of business. We’ve seen how every newspaper in Florida treats Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Lombardo would probably like to avoid the same scenario in Nevada.

In texts shared with the @LasVegasSun, GOP gubernatorial candidate and Sheriff Joe Lombardo suggests he'd like to see Brian Greenspun, the owner of the Sun, out of business. https://t.co/8Ttptt7S0g

— Jessica Hill (@jess_hillyeah) August 10, 2022

Hill reports the shocking details:

The text message was direct: “Maybe start by putting Brian Greenspun out of business.”

That text wasn’t from a competitor of the Las Vegas Sun, owned by publisher and CEO Brian Greenspun. Rather, it was from Republican gubernatorial candidate and Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo.

Stephen J. Cloobeck, a businessman who made significant wealth in timeshares and is a deep-pocketed Democratic donor, reached out to Lombardo on July 29 as well as other “politically active folks” to detail his new media company.

After Cloobeck explained Factz — a “purple” online news site run by web entrepreneur Nik Richie, who ran the gossip site called Dirty — Lombardo messaged back, “Well that would be fantastic if we can get there. Maybe start by putting Brian Greenspun out of business. I would like to talk to you about it?”

Cloobeck shared the text message chain with the Sun. The Sun confirmed it was Lombardo’s cellphone number in the text exchange.

In an interview with the Sun, Cloobeck said he was “shocked” and “dumbfounded” when he saw Lombardo’s response.