Michele Fiore unfit for return to judicial post in Nye County

The word “shameless” doesn’t begin to capture what Michele Fiore represents. A convicted felon who exploited the memory of a murdered police officer to pay for her plastic surgery and her daughter’s wedding now wants to reclaim her position as a justice of the peace in Nye County.

This is not just wrong, it is a grotesque insult to the rule of law and the very idea of public service.

The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline and the Nevada Legislature must act swiftly to ensure that Fiore never again dons a judicial robe.

Let us be clear: Fiore was unqualified to be a judge even before her conviction. She does not have a law degree. Her judicial appointment in 2022, after failing in her bid to become state treasurer, was already a troubling example of political cronyism in action.

But what was once merely unseemly has now metastasized into a crisis of legitimacy. Fiore is no longer just an unqualified judge. She is a convicted criminal.

In October, a federal jury found Fiore guilty of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy. Her crime? Soliciting over $70,000 in donations for a memorial statue to honor slain Las Vegas police officer Alyn Beck and then spending the money on herself.

The evidence presented in court was damning. Donors, including Gov. Joe Lombardo — a fellow Republican — believed their money would pay tribute to a fallen hero. Instead, it paid for Fiore’s rent, cosmetic procedures and wedding expenses for her daughter. This wasn’t merely a violation of the law; it was a staggering betrayal of public trust.

And yet, somehow, it gets worse.

Fiore was convicted on charges similar to those that led disgraced former U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., who was sentenced Friday to 87 months in prison. Fiore is Nevada’s own George Santos, every bit as outrageous, every bit as out of control, every bit a liar.

But Fiore will not have to face sentencing because, on Wednesday, she received a “full and unconditional” presidential pardon from Donald Trump — a fellow partisan and convicted felon.

The pardon came just six days after a federal judge rejected Fiore’s request for a new trial.

While the pardon power has historically served specific public interests — such as President Gerald Ford pardoning former President Richard Nixon to help the nation heal from Watergate — Trump offered no explanation, public interest rationale, or acknowledgment of Fiore’s crimes and the suffering she caused to the family of the fallen officer whose memory she exploited for personal gain.

It was not justice. It was a political favor.

A pardon, of course, is not an exoneration. It is not an acquittal. It does not erase the conviction. It is simply a get-out-of-jail-free card issued by a president (or governor, for state crimes) and importantly, it covers only the punishment or sentence imposed by the federal (or state) criminal justice system — not the penalties imposed by an independent state oversight commission such as The Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline.

And importantly, Fiore’s conviction still stands. The facts have not changed. She is still guilty of a crime that makes her categorically unfit to serve in any position of public authority — especially one that involves judging the actions of others.

Her claim of being a “vindicated soul” is as ludicrous as it is offensive. Nothing about her conduct has been vindicated. Her story is not one of redemption, but of impunity. And the idea that she could walk back into a courtroom, gavel in hand, as though none of this ever happened is a slap in the face to law enforcement officers, to the people of Nye County and to every Nevadan who believes in basic decency.

If the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline fails to act now, it will be complicit in a dangerous erosion of public confidence in the judiciary.

This is not a partisan issue, it is a moral and ethical one. A justice system that allows a known fraudster and con artist to sit in judgment of others is no justice system at all. Judicial officers must be held to the highest ethical standards. Fiore doesn’t even come close.

It’s worth noting that Fiore’s trajectory has long signaled where this was heading. From tax liens to racially inflammatory comments to conspiracy theories about cancer and the federal government, she has long embraced the chaos and opportunism that define far-right populism in the Trump era.

Her pardon was no act of grace, mercy or justice. It was a cynical reward for loyalty that is not unlike Trump’s pardoning of violent Jan. 6 insurrectionists who bashed police officers with fire extinguishers. It is a continuation of Trump’s scorched-earth campaign to delegitimize the rule of law.

Nevada has a chance to say: Not here. Not in our courts. The Commission on Judicial Discipline must make clear that no matter how powerful your political allies may be, you cannot use a fallen officer’s memory to enrich yourself and then return to public office as if it never happened. The legislature should also pass legislation making clear that convicted felons cannot serve as judges in our state courts. Such rules already exist to prohibit convicted felons from serving as a sheriff in Nevada, they need only be extended to Justice Court officers.

We cannot undo a presidential pardon, but the integrity of Nevada’s judiciary and the public’s faith in that system depend on how we respond to it using the tools we do have.

Michele Fiore may have escaped prison. But she should not escape all of the consequences of her disgusting acts of fraud.