American Tax Officer

Chapter 234: Chapter 164: Deputy Governor and Secretary of State

Gavin was restless for a long time, but in the end, he couldn't harden his heart.

A 40-50% conviction probability was indeed too low.

If they failed to secure a conviction in the end and had a falling out with the IRS, wouldn't the IRS give his people hell?

He didn't dare to gamble.

"Dial tone..."

Just then, the ring of the desk phone interrupted Gavin's train of thought; he quickly answered, "Who's this?"

"This is Hosein, Gavin. What exactly is going on in your Nevada State? There are some media reports saying your IRS has detained several of our FBI senior agents. Is there any truth to this?"

Hearing the call and the questioning from the Deputy Director of the FBI, Gavin clenched his fist. He hadn't expected the incident to escalate so quickly and already reach Washington D.C.

Then he replied stiffly, "Rest assured, Deputy Director Hosein, the IRS just had a little misunderstanding with us, I can handle it."

"You'd better take care of it. Don't let the IRS actually arrest our FBI agents on charges of tax evasion. The image we've built over the years at the FBI can't be destroyed in Nevada State, understand?"

"I understand, Director Hosein!"

After ending the call, Gavin's expression was extremely grave.

Because he had already detected the warning in the Deputy Director's words—if that David actually took their agents to court and sent them to prison, then he was doomed!

"To the Ninglin Branch Office!"

Gavin stood up straightaway, clear in his mind that David was reluctant to make an official statement to the media because he didn't want a real showdown with the FBI either.

So he couldn't just sit and wait for death; he had to take the initiative to talk this over in person.

Twenty minutes later.

Gavin arrived at the Ninglin Branch Office, and upon his arrival, the inspectors and some directors turned to look.

Soon after, Nisen approached David and said, "Director, Gavin has arrived. He says he would like to talk to you."

David was not overly surprised; yesterday, he had wanted to talk to Gavin nicely, but that guy didn't give him the time of day.

And today, did he think he could just come over and see him?

Things were not that easy!

David smiled playfully and replied, "Tell him that I'm currently swamped with public duties and can't find the time now!"

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Nisen almost laughed out loud when he heard this. He immediately went out to Gavin waiting in the reception hall and said, "I'm sorry, Special Agent Gavin, our director is currently swamped with public duties and can't spare the time."

Gavin nearly had a surge of blood to his brain upon hearing these words, nearly fainting from anger on the spot.

When David came to see him yesterday, he had responded in the same way.

But now that he was here himself, the other side was giving him the same response.

It was somewhat a case of poetic justice.

Gavin, suppressing the urge to vomit blood, asked, "Then when can your director spare the time?"

Nisen shrugged his shoulders, "That's hard to say."

"Then tell him I'll be waiting right here for him, and ask him to see me as soon as possible!"

There was no other choice, the situation was unfavorable to the FBI at the moment, and the Deputy Director in Washington D.C. had put so much pressure on him, so even though he knew he was swallowing a bitter pill, he had to grit his teeth and bear it.

Nisen returned to David's office, barely holding back his laughter, and said: "Ha, Director, you should have seen his downcast face. I nearly died laughing..."

"What did he say?"

"He said he'll be waiting at the office and asked that he see you as soon as possible."

"Then let him wait!"

David planned to leave him hanging to teach him a lesson about respecting the rules!

"Oh right, go find Director Bezi for me and ask him to pull the files on Nevada's Deputy Governor and the Secretary of State for me."

The FBI situation was already more or less under control, and next up was dealing with the nuisance, Stevenson.

According to David's thinking, in order to take down Governor Stevenson, he definitely couldn't use the same brusque methods he used on the city hall or the FBI now.

He had to borrow some power, some momentum, so it wouldn't backfire on him.

More than half an hour later, Nisen brought in the files.

The Deputy Governor of Nevada was named Laurie Frederick, aged 48.

The predicament of America's Deputy Governors and Vice Presidents is almost the same—they generally don't wield much power.

Many media outlets have joked that the daily work of a Deputy Governor is to wake up in the morning, check the papers to see if the Governor has died, and if not, go to the office, drink tea, idle away, and act as a mascot at important events.

And this Laurie Frederick was no different. Because of Stevenson's strong personality, he could hardly get involved in any state government decision-making and was virtually invisible.

However, by digging deeper into his background, David discovered that he had once served as the mayor of Reno and Henderson.

During his term as mayor of those two cities, he was very proactive, planning many affectionate policies for the cities which ultimately had notable effects.

But after being elected Deputy Governor, several good policies he proposed over the past few years had been outright vetoed by Stevenson.

From this, it could be inferred that the relationship between the Deputy Governor and the Governor wasn't particularly good.

"This Laurie Frederick... might just be the key for my next move!"

While Lawson Rubins was Stevenson's political opponent, he currently was just a candidate for Senator, and didn't have enough clout.

If he had the cooperation of the Deputy Governor, the odds would be much better!

Putting his thoughts away, David picked up another file to review.

The second file was on the Secretary of State, a position equivalent to the Secretary of State for America at the state level.

The Secretary of State typically handles the state's civil affairs, including managing the state government's seal, processing paperwork, and so forth.

In addition, the Secretary of State oversees business registration and voter registration within the state.

In terms of elections, the Secretary of State, as the chief election officer, is responsible for election matters in their state, from determining qualifications for candidates to be included on the ballot to certifying election results.

On social media, the Secretary of State has to work hard to convince voters that the election system is secure, user-friendly, and will produce fair results.

Moreover, it's the Secretary of State's role to ensure that voters know where to find information about voter registration deadlines, polling station hours, and election day details.

In summary, the Secretary of State is an official in the state governments tasked with managing and overseeing elections, business registrations, and has a significant impact on the state's administrative and civil services.

They are the power behind the Governor and Deputy Governor, effectively the third in command in Nevada.