Governor Joe Lombardo announced his appointment of Vaughn Hartung to the Nevada Transportation Authority (NTA), designating him as the NTA’s new chair on Tue., Mar. 14. Hartung announced his resignation from the Washoe County Commission the same afternoon.
The announcement of Hartung’s resignation came suddenly and without warning, triggering speculation. Further, it took until Fri., Mar. 17, for the reason behind his departure to be made public.
In late January, Judge David Hardy granted subpoenas forcing Private Investigator David McNeely to identify who hired his firm to secretly install the tracking devices on Reno Mayor Hillary Scheive and Hartung’s private vehicles.
It was an unusual ruling as McNeely had not yet secured a legal defense. Since that ruling, McNeely has retained Brian Hardy of Marqis Aurbach.
Lawyer Hardy responded to Judge Hardy’s ruling, contending that Schieve filed the civil lawsuit for “the sole purpose of forcing our Clients to disclose the identity of their client.”
In February, Judge Hardy asked Discovery Commissioner Wesley Ayers to review the case and provide the court with his opinion on whether or not the private investigator should reveal his client. Ayers determined that the “Plaintiffs’ (Schieve) interest in the disclosure of that information, coupled with the public interest in disclosure of that information in this case, substantially outweigh any interest that Defendants (McNeely) have in withholding or delaying the disclosure of the identity of their client.”
Here are the connections.
Judge Hardy’s biography reveals personal and business relationships that raise questions about his presiding over this case with neutrality and impartiality.
According to his bio, Judge Hardy was a partner in the Law Firm of Hardy & (Charles) Woodman before his appointment to the bench. Judge Hardy and Woodman were not only law partners but friends since meeting in law school at Brigham Young University (BYU) and is ever referred to as a “long-time family friend.”
Woodman made political donations to Schieve’s mayoral campaign, while Judge Hardy made one to Lombardo’s campaign. Lombardo appointed Hartung to a state position in February.
Meanwhile, Hardy and his wife donated to Deborah Schumacher, a former partner at the law firm, McDonald-Carano LLP, representing Mayor Schieve, as Wesley Ayers contributed to Schumacher’s campaign for the Nevada Supreme Court.
In 2016, Woodman ran for Municipal Court Judge in 2016. Schieve endorsed Woodman for Municipal Court Judge raising ethical questions regarding an endorsement video they had produced for his campaign.
After his loss, Woodman thanked his supporters on his personal Facebook page. Schieve responded that she “loved him and his family to pieces.”
According to the Nevada Code of Judicial Conduct: “Judges should maintain the dignity of judicial office at all times and avoid both impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in their professional and personal lives. They should aspire, at all times, to conduct that ensures the greatest possible public confidence in their independence, impartiality, integrity, and competence.”
It appears Judge Hardy has failed at this task.
In November 2020, New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. filed a complaint with the State Bar of Nevada against Brian Hardy and six other Nevada lawyers he says violated professional standards in bringing election-related disputes on behalf of the Trump campaign and other Republican parties. Nothing became of the complaint.
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