It’s an odd, if not uncomfortable and unprecedented, situation.

Nevada’s highest-ranking federal law enforcement official was until recently the right hand of a Republican constitutional officer who spent most of last year calling the Democrat who is now Nevada’s highest-ranking state government official hopelessly corrupt.

Among other accusations last year, then-Attorney General Adam Laxalt implied (unfairly) that “Shady Steve” Sisolak had been investigated by the FBI, which his former chief of staff, Nick Trutanich, now works alongside in the DOJ as the U.S. attorney for Nevada. And Trutanich just forced another high-ranking Democrat, then-Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson, to plead guilty to wire fraud, leading to much Republican (and some Democratic!) schadenfreude.

No wonder some Democrats are worried and are combing through campaign reports. Ever since Atkinson’s fall, Carson City has been a cauldron of rumors, even more so than usual, with one question continually bubbling up: Who’s next?

After sitting down with Trutanich (with other reporters) on Friday, and having dealt with him when he was Laxalt’s right hand, I have concluded: The Democrats are actually damn lucky.

Even though Trutanich is very close to Laxalt – he and the former attorney general served in Iraq – the U.S. attorney displayed during that 30-minute pad-and-pen briefing a commitment to the rule of law and fairness. His reputation in Carson City as Laxalt’s right hand was impeccable, even among those who despised Laxalt (glance across the street from the AG’s office at the Capitol).

The sense I got Friday was that Trutanich will be just as professional and impervious to outside influences as a fed as he was in state government. (I hope my instincts are still good.) “My love for the rule of law has only deepened in the last 60 days,” he told a small group of reporters in a conference room in his downtown Las Vegas office.

He also expressed his love for public service, which he said runs in the family’s blood. His father was a deputy district attorney, and he has other relatives in law enforcement.

Trutanich, who was nominated last July by President Trump and confirmed in January, repeated what he said at the beginning of his news conference announcing Atkinson’s guilty plea.

“The vast, vast majority of public servants in this state do right by their constituents,” he said.

Also true: The vast, vast majority of prominent elected officials in Nevada these days (five of six constitutional officers, 42 of 63 lawmakers) are Democrats. So if any others are under scrutiny by the feds, simple odds favor them being Democrats.

Indeed, I asked Trutanich about the comment by IRS Special Agent-in-Charge Tara Sullivan at that Atkinson presser in which she praised his efforts and added, "I want to thank the U.S. attorney for his tremendous leadership, not on just this case but on all public corruption cases he is overseeing in this district."

It seemed a strange thing to say, especially from someone supposedly trained to be careful, so I wondered (without much hope of a straight answer) what she meant.

“I am not going to confirm or deny any active investigation,” he replied, unhelpfully but, yes, professionally.

When I later followed up and asked him about his closeness to Laxalt and what the former AG had said about Sisolak, wondering whether that would be a problem, Trutanich gave a peremptory, albeit a little bizarre, answer: “There are career officials in the DOJ who evaluate recusal issues,” he said. “I would confer on any recusal.”

That was an answer to a question I hadn’t asked, but it still struck me this way: Trutanich will go by the book, and he knows the book.

I want to be clear: I had my testy times with Trutanich while he was with Laxalt. We butted heads over a few issues, including that some lawyers in the attorney’s general office (himself included) had not passed the Nevada bar (he subsequently did) and especially over his defending the attorney general over Laxalt’s attempt to get the then-Gaming Control Board chairman to interfere in a lawsuit involving Sheldon Adelson.

I thought Trutanich went well beyond the call of duty to make the case that Laxalt had done nothing unusual. He thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill. Or so he told me.

But he maintained his equanimity and never diverted from his case – or talking points – during our discussions. And he displayed that same unflappability Friday, often pausing before answering questions, occasionally with a wry smile as if to say, “I know what you are looking for, and there’s not a chance in the world I am going to give it to you.”

Consider how he handled questions about dealing with legalized marijuana and the inescapable fact that dispensaries dotting Las Vegas essentially are illegal under the laws he is sworn to enforce. “I don’t think Nevada is safer because marijuana is legal on every street corner,” he said. But then he quickly pivoted to talk about the opioid crisis, which he called “a danger to the community.”

When pressed about whether that meant he was just fine with marijuana establishments, which are illegal under federal law, Trutanich offered only this: “We enforce federal law consistent with district priorities.”

Trutanich’s ostensible agenda in meeting with reporters – no cameras or recorders were allowed because he said he wanted it to be informal – was to lay out those priorities: Violent crime, the opioid crisis, national security, supporting local law enforcement.

He also wanted to announce a Project Safe Neighborhoods summit Thursday, which will bring together law enforcement officials from across Nevada to talk about keeping communities safer. That idea struck me as redolent of the law enforcement summit Laxalt held shortly after being sworn in. Which got me thinking — and my thought may not put nervous Democrats at ease.

Maybe it’s just my political pundit’s reflex, but I couldn’t help but muse on Friday that I was watching the launch of a long and successful career that could well culminate with Trutanich holding a higher office than his ex-boss ever did.

Jon Ralston is the founder and editor of The Nevada Independent. He has been covering government and politics for more than thirty years. Contact him at [email protected]