As Clinton’s Secretary of Energy in 1998 his tenure at the Department of Energy was marred by the Wen Ho Lee nuclear espionage scandal. Richardson publicly named Lee, an employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, as a suspect who might have given nuclear secrets to the Chinese government. Lee was later cleared of espionage charges and won a settlement against the federal government for the accusation. Richardson was also criticized by the Senate for his handling of the espionage inquiry, which involved missing hard drives with sensitive data, by not testifying in front of Congress sooner. Richardson justified his response by saying that he was waiting to uncover more information before speaking to Congress. Republican Senators called for Richardson’s resignation while both parties criticized his role in the incident, and the scandal ended Richardson’s hope of being named as Al Gore’s running mate for the 2000 presidential election.
Corruption under Bill Richardson is institutional and a way of life. He was also a Congressman for the third congressional district before he was named our ambassador to the United Nations, then followed by DOE Secretary. New Mexico’s biggest employer is the federal government.