FBI Probes Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons

Gibbons is accused of accepting cash gifts in exchange for helping get secret Defense Department contracts to longtime friend Warren Trepp, owner of the company eTreppid. They make, among other things, Automatic Target Recognition software being used right now by soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Feel safe?

The new governor of Nevada, Jim Gibbons, is being investigated by the FBI because of alleged gifts and payments from Warren Trepp, a defense contractor whose Nevada firm received tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts.

Sordid details:

Software designer Dennis Montgomery was also on that cruise with Gibbons. He estimates the trip cost "probably $20,000 a person." Montgomery says his former business partner Trepp chartered a 727 to fly guests from Nevada to Florida and back and picked up the tab for penthouse rooms, private meals and expensive wines.

In an exclusive interview with NBC, Montgomery — who's now at war with his former partner — makes an explosive charge. He says that near the end of the cruise, he saw Trepp pass money to the congressman.

Dennis Montgomery: There was a lot of alcohol and a lot of drinking. And that's when I first saw Warren give Jim Gibbons money.

Lisa Myers: How much?

Montgomery: Close to $100,000.

Myers: How can you know?

Montgomery: Because he gave him casino chips and cash.

Myers: Are you sure about what you saw?

Montgomery: I'm absolutely, positively sure.

Trepp was the chief trader for junk bond king Michael Milken.

He's also linked to recently convicted Ohio gangster Tom Noe.

Just the kind of guy you want supplying our Defense Department. (Support the Troops.)