Note to billionaires: buying a newspaper doesn't mean buying the souls of its journalists.

The staff of one prominent Nevada paper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, has been vexed by its new owner, Sheldon Adelson. At first, Adelson bought the paper but refused to disclose his identity, leading the staff to tweet out the Society of Professional Journalists ethics code about "transparency." Adelson's motives for the acquisition — and the secrecy — remained obscure until the journalists started digging.

Their continued investigation into the motives behind the paper's mysterious sale to a billionaire casino magnate has led them to a clue that was in their notes all along: their own assignments.

In the month before the publication's new owner was revealed to be Sands Corp. CEO and Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson this week, three of its reporters were handed a cryptic task. Over the protests of editors, they were told by their publisher to drop everything and spend two weeks watching the every move of three county judges.

No explanation was given, and there was no expectation that the notes they jotted down on whether the judges appeared competent and professional would ever be published.

Now the identity of the paper's owner has raised some suspicious new questions about the assignment: As it happens, one of those judges was presiding over a long-running lawsuit against Adelson, the Review-Journal reported in a comprehensive story on Friday.

Image: John Locher/Associated Press

What's more is that shortly after the notes were taken, a 1,900-word article blasting the judge's courtroom manner inexplicably appeared in a tiny Connecticut newspaper, the New Britain Herald.

That newspaper was owned by the manager of Adelson's newly incorporated media company. The byline listed on the story, "Edward Clarkin," could not be matched with an actual reporter anywhere in the country.

The sensational court case in question involves the former head of Sands' operations in Macau, China, who alleges that he was fired for trying to break ties with Chinese organized crime triads. Adelson also stands accused of willfully ignoring the prostitution, drug dealing and other criminal activities at the casino.

While on the stand, Adelson was often combative with the judge, sometimes stubbornly refusing to answer questions.

The mystery of the Review-Journal's sale to a new owner who refused to be named earlier this month captivated the media world's attention. The paper's newsroom lashed out at the new management for its lack of transparency — at one point, staffers tweeted links to the Society of Professional Journalism's Code of Ethics en masse.

When Adelson's name was finally made public this week by Fortune , the news set off a new round of speculation among media watchers as to what his motivation might be.

The gambling mogul, who owns the Las Vegas casino where Tuesday night's GOP candidate debate was held, is a major Republican Party donor, and Nevada is an important swing state in election years.

Earlier this week, he reportedly met with Donald Trump to discuss his presidential aspirations and described the candidate as "very charming."

For his part, Adelson promised not to meddle in the paper's editorial affairs and claimed he would have revealed himself sooner or later had the news not broken.

Hmmm: the Adelsons say "it was always our intention to publicly announce our ownership." https://t.co/GKMB1QQJVJ pic.twitter.com/CwnAtiTwxx — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) December 17, 2015

But that vow flies in the face of what has been Adelson's approach at other media properties he owns. In 2007, he founded the Israel Hayom, a free newspaper meant to further the influence of right-wing Jewish interests in the state. He's also made comments about intentions to grow a media empire as a means of political power.

Now that Adelson has finally shown his face at the Review-Journal, it appears that tensions between the newsroom and the ownership aren't likely to ease up anytime soon. The reporters have made it clear that they don't plan to be cowed by their new owner's power.