Nevada Congresswoman Asks Feds to Keep Online Gambling Legal

A U.S. congresswoman whose Nevada district includes the Las Vegas Strip asked the federal government Tuesday to keep online gambling legal.

Democratic Rep. Dina Titus wrote to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, urging the Justice Department not to reverse a ruling it made in 2011 that allowed internet gambling in individual states.

While there has been no public indication that the Justice Department is considering such a move, lawmakers from both parties have asked it to either outlaw internet bets or keep them legal. An aide to Titus said numerous gambling companies have expressed concern to her office about a possible reversal of the Justice Department ruling.

President Donald Trump, a former Atlantic City casino owner, told The Associated Press during the 2016 presidential campaign he had not taken a position on internet gambling, saying he has friends on both sides of the issue. One of the Republican president’s major donors, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, is a staunch opponent of online gambling.

In 2011, President Barack Obama’s Justice Department issued a legal ruling that said online gambling within states that does not involve sporting events would not violate the Wire Act, a law concerning illegal gambling.

“In Las Vegas, we have seen that a regulated market is always better than an illegal one,” Titus wrote. “Internet gambling will not go away with a reversal of Wire Act guidance; it will merely push more consumers into black markets.”

More at Las Vegas Sun