More questions surface about governor’s friend Karrasch

Just how bright is Kathy Karrasch, the governor's platonic friend? Well, after Gov. Jim GIbbons went to great pains to make it appear she wasn't attending official functions of the National Governors Association conference last weekend, she posted photos of herself with Gibbons and admitted adulterer Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina — at a White House dinner.

The governor's official statement a few days earlier, after first denying and admitting they traveled to the meeting, was that she didn't attend any "meetings."

Guess the Sunday evening dinner at the White House with President Obama wasn't officially a meeting. In a transcript of Obama's remarks, the president said, "I also want to let everyone know that this not too stiff of an affair."

It was a joke. He was not referring to the Nevada governor. Gibbons and Karrasch have denied they are anything but platonic friends.

The photos she posted on her Facebook page were posted on KLAS-TV, Channel 8's site today, and somehow you can't look at them and not wonder: How dumb is this woman? Or does she relish the publicity?

The governor's office was irate at my earlier request for proof the taxpayer didn't pay for her trip, including her airfare and room.

Chief of Staff Robin Reedy told R-J reporter Benjamin Spillman she approved the travel. "Do you think I would be approving travel for someone that didn't work in this office," she said, calling that "offensive."

"As long as the government doesn't pay for it, it is an insulting question," Reedy said.

Insulting questions abound when it comes to Gibbons, who initially denied he took Karrasch to the National Governors Association meeting. But that was a lie.

Then he admitted she went, but didn't attend any "meetings." A lie by omission?

Karrasch will be back in the news on Monday when the Nevada Supreme Court hears arguments about whether the emails the governor exchanged with her and nine other people over a six-month period are public records. The Reno Gazette-Journal sued to obtain the emails. A district court judge agreed with the governor that the emails, except for six emails, were not public records and denied release of the emails. The newspaper is appealing.

The case is significant because it will help define what a public record is under Nevada law.