Finding (the Story Behind) Elizabeth Halseth (Gone Missing)

Yesterday, I was alerted to a dossier on the Elizabeth Halseth scandal penned by... None other than Chuck Muth. Yes, believe it or not, Chuck Muth wrote a surprisingly balanced and detailed history of Halseth's political rise, as well as the origin of her likely fall from power.

Frankly, it was bizarre to read a Muth document that sheds more light on the Halseth affair than everything I've read from "the mainstream media". Hey, I have to give credit where credit is due. Kudos to Muth for being willing to spill the beans on this situation.

After reading Muth's dossier, here are just a few of the many questions I have:

- Why didn't anyone from any of Nevada's major media outlets report on the presence of Halseth's boyfriend, Tiger Helgelien, at the arrest of her husband, Daniel?

- Why didn't anyone else notice that Tiger Helgelien has family in Alaska, where Halseth has been rumored to have relocated?

- Why hasn't anyone else noticed Tiger Helgelien's early efforts to set up a Legislature campaign for this cycle (with the help of none other than Daniel Halseth)?

- And why didn't anyone bother to talk to Daniel Halseth about this?

On October 21, Daniel Halseth was arrested for an alleged domestic dispute involving his wife. Eight hours after his arrest, he was charged with “open and gross lewdness”. In the police report, Daniel accused his wife of having an affair, while she acknowledged that they were having “marital problems”. The police arrested Daniel because Elizabeth accused him of touching her inappropriately during an argument about the affair. Daniel denies that allegation. Either way, their perfect little world was about to come crumbling down.

In a December report authored by Chuck Muth, a political blogger, he states, according to the Las Vegas Criminal Defense blog that open and gross lewdness is “one of the more frequently falsely-accused offenses because police don’t need physical proof to make an arrest, and people may play the victim card out of revenge.” In the same report, Muth accuses Sen. Halseth of making similar claims against other male victims over the past 10 years.

So, you see, it turns out Daniel Halseth was right. His wife was having an affair with former golf professional, now real estate salesman, Tiger Helgelien. To make matters worse, Helgelien, who grew up in Alaska, was involved with Elizabeth’s election campaign, and Daniel built Helgelien’s website. In addition, rumors have it that Daniel was helping Helgelien raise funds for his own political campaign. Needless to say, Daniel has been devastated.

Major kudos must go to whatever this site is for reporting a side of this story that no one else has really talked about.

Obviously, Elizabeth Halseth is leaving behind a messy personal life that Senate Republicans are trying to quietly sweep under the rug. And while I typically don't like probing into politicians' personal lives, I feel obligated to talk about something that hardly anyone else (with the notable exception of Chuck Muth) is willing to discuss.

In 2010, Elizabeth Halseth became a State Senator thanks to attacking others' personal lives. Her campaign attacked Dennis Nolan over being called to testify at someone else's criminal trial. And after the Republican primary, she then attacked Benny Yerushalmi in the general election over ridiculous material like his wife's outfits! So considering this context, I've come to accept that it's perfectly appropriate to note Halseth's total hypocrisy on making other's private lives public... Before she flees over her own private life.

And not only that, but Halseth is now using her private life as an excuse not to fulfill her public duties. Why won't she show up at interim committee hearings any more? Why won't she answer constituent emails? And why has her cell phone been shut off? Hello, Elizabeth Halseth is still listed as a Nevada State Senator for the 9th District! She has an obligation to her constituents to finish the job she was elected to do. And for Michael Roberson to try to shut down questions on her whereabouts just because of his own political ambition is downright reprehensible. He may be afraid of losing his shot at becoming Majority Leader, but fulfilling one's public duties should always come above fueling someone else's political ambition.

Is it really that hard for Roberson to ask Daniel Halseth and Tiger Helgelien if they know where Elizabeth Halseth, his fellow Senator, is? And is it really that hard for him to ask her to either fulfill her duties or prepare to resign?

I just find it funny that the party of legislating private morality can't practice what they preach. And they still don't seem to understand the meaning of public morality. Tiger Helgelien is not an elected official, so he has every right to drop his campaign and return quietly to private life. However Elizabeth Halseth was elected in 2010, so she needs to answer questions from her constituents, and she needs to either return to her job or resign from this office.