The White House’s nominee for U.S. attorney of Nevada is a longtime Las Vegas defense attorney and state official with ties to both the Democratic and Republican parties.

George Kelesis, 70, has been a lawyer in Nevada for 45 years and is a partner of the Las Vegas firm Cook & Kelesis. He has also chaired the Nevada Tax Commission since 2023 after being appointed by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo. Kelesis also sat on the commission, which sets state taxation regulations, from 2002 to 2020.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Kelesis would become Nevada’s top federal prosecutor. It is the first time Donald Trump’s administration has nominated a person to fill the role permanently in the president’s second term. Former Republican National Committeewoman Sigal Chattah has served in “interim” and “acting” capacities since March, which has drawn legal and ethical scrutiny.

A federal judge in September said Chattah was illegally appointed to the acting role. The decision is pending appeal before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the case last week.

In choosing Kelesis, the White House is selecting someone with more bipartisan bonafides than Chattah. U.S. attorney nominees must earn the approval of their home state’s senators, and Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) had vowed to block Chattah’s nomination if it ever reached their chamber.

Rosen’s office said in a statement last week she was reviewing Kelesis’ nomination, while Cortez Masto’s office said she “plans to conduct a tough, thorough interview.”

Reached by The Nevada Independent after his nomination, Kelesis declined to comment.

Longtime Las Vegas lawyer

In the early 1980s, eventual Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Cherry heard from his law firm partner Ted Manos about a rising young Greek lawyer.

Kelesis, a Las Vegas native, had just gotten his master’s of tax law degree from New York University, which followed a law degree from the University of the Pacific and bachelor’s from UNLV.

This kind of tax degree was “unheard of in Las Vegas” at the time, and Cherry and Kelesis quickly hit it off, Cherry said in an interview with The Nevada Independent.

“I said, ‘Ted, I’m going to make this guy a trial lawyer,’” Cherry said.

So began Kelesis’ decades-long career as a Las Vegas attorney.

He started as an associate in Manos and Cherry’s law firm. In the 1990s, he became a co-partner at a law firm with Cherry and Mark Bailus, who later became a district court judge. After Cherry became the head of the Clark County Special Public Defender’s Office in 1997, their partnership ended, but they remained close.

“George is like a brother to me,” Cherry said. “He’s the ultimate tax attorney, but he also is a great trial lawyer.”

In 2005, Kelesis formed Bailus Cook & Kelesis, with Cook being his longtime colleague Marc Cook. After Bailus’ appointment to the Clark County bench in 2017, the firm became Cook & Kelesis, which is where he works today.

Kelesis’ legal work has covered myriad topics, most notably tax law, but also corporate and commercial transactions and business formation. Martindale-Hubbell, a group that evaluates lawyers’ legal abilities and ethics based on peer reviews, has awarded Kelesis the highest rating, which applies to fewer than 5 percent of attorneys.

Recently, he has also been a lawyer for Republican National Committeeman Jim DeGraffenreid in a case related to Nevada’s six so-called “fake electors” who tried to award the state’s electoral votes in 2020 to President Donald Trump, despite Trump losing the state to Joe Biden.

As chair of the Nevada tax commission, Kelesis is required to submit annual financial disclosures. His latest disclosure — filed last month — lists six affiliated businesses, all of which are tied to his law firm, according to state business records.

In a search of online business records and filings, The Indy also found about 30 Nevada businesses tied to Kelesis and his firm, most of which are no longer active. None of these businesses have shown up in federal or Clark County court filings.

Cherry, who is a registered Democrat according to state voting records, is optimistic about how Kelesis would serve as U.S. attorney. After the announcement, he emailed Rosen to sing Kelesis’ praises.

“He’ll be a great manager,” Cherry said. “He’s so sensible.”

Political ties to both major parties

Kelesis is a registered nonpartisan who has donated to officials from both major parties, according to voter data and campaign finance records.

State voter records show he has consistently voted in Nevada elections, but did not appear to vote in the 2020 general election.

His most recent political contribution came in 2023, when he donated $500 to Las Vegas City Councilman Brian Knudsen. This is a nonpartisan position, but Knudsen is a registered Democrat.

On the federal level, Kelesis gave $1,000 to George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, and $1,400 to Cortez Masto’s Senate campaign in 2015.

His law firm has also given to candidates of both parties. It made $5,000 contributions to Chattah and Lombardo in 2021 — when they were running for attorney general and governor, respectively — and a $250 contribution to then-state Senate candidate Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) in 2016.

Other companies tied to Kelesis have also made political contributions. Lollipop LLC, which has the same address as his law firm and was previously included on Kelesis’ personal financial disclosure forms, made three donations in 2021 of $5,000 each to Lombardo, then-Clark County sheriff candidate Kevin McMahill and Clark County District Attorney Steven Wolfson, a Democrat.

Another company with the same address as Kelesis’ firm, IML, Inc., gave $10,000 in 2023 to Shelley Berkley’s Las Vegas mayoral campaign. The position is nonpartisan, but Berkley is a Democrat.

Chattah’s 210-day tenure as acting U.S. attorney was set to expire this month, but depending on how an appeals court rules on the legality of her appointment, she might be able to remain in the position while Kelesis goes through the nomination process. If the nomination is withdrawn, rejected or returned (meaning no action is taken), then the Justice Department has argued to the court that Chattah should be allowed to serve for an additional 210 days from the date of that action.