In Nevada and the Las Vegas Sun newspaper has announced its filing of a federal lawsuit against billionaire American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson (pictured) and the other owners of the rival Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The newspaper used a Tuesday report to detail that its legal action contends that the Journal is violating a long-running joint operating agreement in an attempt to starve its more left-leaning competitor of cash and, ultimately, prevent it from being ‘an alternative voice in Las Vegas.’

Incompatible insert:

Established in 1950, the Las Vegas Sun has been included as a section within the Journal since October of 2005 while maintaining its own editorial and online independence. It reported that its lawsuit, which also names 86-year-old Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, as a defendant, includes a charge that its more conservative counterpart recently initiated a ‘baseless and unlawful’ attempt to have the pair’s joint operating agreement dissolved.

Reportedly reads the Las Vegas Sun’s legal action…

“Unable to financially blot out the [Las Vegas] Sun and tired of publishing his only rival, Adelson and the [Las Vegas] Review-Journal have recently filed a baseless and unlawful claim in Nevada state court seeking to terminate the joint operating agreement; the same agreement that grants anti-trust protection to the [Las Vegas] Review-Journal.”

Trump support:

Boston-born Adelson, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer for American casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corporation, purchased the Las Vegas Review-Journal four years ago and is reported to have subsequently contributed approximately $30 million to the Presidential campaign of Donald Trump. The Las Vegas Sun explained that it had banked $12 million in 2015 as part of its joint operating agreement’s profit share scheme but had received no cash since 2017.

Criticism charge:

Joseph Alioto, a California attorney representing the Las Vegas Sun, reportedly declared that Adelson is now seeking to muffle his Nevada media critics and monopolize the Las Vegas newspaper market so as to stifle criticism of his right-leaning editorial views.

Alioto reportedly stated…

“This guy wants to be in charge of what is said in the daily newspapers during the Nevada elections in 2020. There’s no question about that. It’s going to be an election year and he wants to show his buddy, [Donald] Trump, that he’s in charge in Nevada. What they want to do is take away the voice of the [Las Vegas] Sun so that the [Las Vegas Review-Journal] will be the only local major newspaper with opinions. There’s a commercial element and a First Amendment element and they want to control both.”

‘Baseless’ challenge:

In response, the in-house general counsel for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Benjamin Lipman, reportedly described the lawsuit from the Las Vegas Sun as ‘a commercial dispute’ while proclaiming that the allegations contained within the legal action are ‘baseless’.

Lipman reportedly stated…

“It’s our belief that the [Las Vegas] Sun’s federal court action is nothing more than an attempt to prevent the courts from ruling on our allegations that [it] has breached the joint operating agreement.”