Free Republic

This is the fourth federal investigation of former Gov. Bill Richardson or his administration ... One ended with no charges but a strongly worded letter that the state’s procurement system had been corrupted. It did cost Richardson a position as commerce secretary under President Barack Obama. A second investigation ended with two heavily redacted federal appeals court decisions and no charges. A third, involving state investments, entered the federal investigation equivalent of interdimensional space where we may never hear of it again. And now we are on No. 4, which centers on how Richardson and friends paid off a threatened...

New probe into another failed 2008 presidential bid -- of New Mexico governor BILL RICHARDSON has a decidedly JOHN EDWARDS flavor du jour. He allegedly ponied up campaign funds to silence a woman’s affair claims.

A federal grand jury is investigating former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson over possible campaign-finance violations stemming from his 2008 presidential run, including allegations that he arranged for supporters to pay off a woman who planned to say they had engaged in an extramarital affair... Several of Mr. Richardson's close associates have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque is investigating former Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign for possible financial irregularities. The grand jury has been hearing testimony in secret since at least September, and a number of witnesses have been granted immunity, according to defense attorneys familiar with the general outlines of the investigation. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the FBI would confirm or deny the existence of the latest investigation. But the Journal has learned that one area under scrutiny is whether money from campaign supporters was used to settle a threatened lawsuit against Richardson in the fall of 2007...

As of mid-day, October 21, only two individuals have filed to be on the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, Barack Obama and Darcy G. Richardson. However, filing doesn’t close until October 28. Darcy Richardson is the author of six books, all non-fiction books involving U.S. political history. He lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and has recently worked in the financial services industry. He has extensive political experience, and he frequently blogs at UncoveredPolitics.

Rep. Laura Richardson tries to head off ethics probeBy JOHN BRESNAHAN | 11/2/11 11:42 PM EDT Rep. Laura Richardson is lobbying members of the House Ethics Committee in a last-ditch bid to avoid a formal investigation into allegations that she pressured her staff to engage in banned political activities while on her congressional payroll. The California Democrat sent a private letter to all 10 members of the secretive panel Tuesday, stating that she would agree to a minor sanction such as a public reprimand over the alleged violations. But Richardson urged her House colleagues not to move forward with a...

Gov. Susana Martinez’s push to repeal the 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses is generating opposition from the state’s Roman Catholic hierarchy. The state’s Catholic bishops, an active voice in many hot-button political issues in recent years, are urging Martinez and state lawmakers not to scrap the controversial law, contending it benefits public safety and the economy. A statement released this week and signed by Archbishop Michael Sheehan, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces and Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, asserts the law leads to more drivers having auto insurance and allows immigrant...

How does a company bidding on a $38 million state road contract end up with confidential documents regarding the job? Taxpayers deserve an answer if New Mexico wants its public procurement process to have any credibility. It is undisputed that FNF Construction, the second-lowest bidder and the company the Richardson administration tried to give the job of rebuilding 18 miles of Interstate 10 south of Las Cruces, got the internal documents. And, according to the story in Sunday’s Journal by investigative reporter Colleen Heild, they would have succeeded except that federal officials who held the purse strings balked at the...

An ethics watchdog group is calling for the FBI to conduct a criminal investigation into Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.)Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington announced Tuesday that it has obtained internal e-mails from Richardson’s office that the group says shows the California Democrat forced her congressional staff to work on and contribute to her campaign. Richardson denies the allegations.“Internal emails regarding a fundraising event dubbed ‘Democratic Idol’ show Richardson Chief of Staff Shirley Cooks told employees they were required to attend the event, wearing staff shirts embroidered with the phrase ‘37th Congressional District,’” CREW said in a statement Tuesday....

Allegations of ethics violations within the office of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) are worthy of a criminal investigation, a leading ethics watchdog group charged Tuesday. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has asked the FBI to probe allegations that Richardson habitually threatened her congressional staff with their jobs if they didn't work on her campaign. “Rep. Richardson presented staffers with an odious choice: work on her campaign, or lose their jobs,” Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, said in a statement. CREW says it also has evidence – based on internal emails – that Richardson's staff was asked to do...

New documents disclosed in a complaint from the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) appear to show California Democrat Rep. Laura Richardson and her staff clearly violating congressional ethics rules and potentially federal law. The documents show Richardson using official taxpayer resources for political events, including fundraisers. “Rep. Richardson didn’t just violate House rules, she likely committed crimes,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. In one instance, Richardson’s chief of staff, Shirley Cooks, told all of Richardson’s aides in an email from her official House account, “All staff are required to attend” a fundraiser held Sept....

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The whiff of scandal cost Democrat Bill Richardson a job in President Barack Obama's administration. Now, the former New Mexico governor's political legacy are threatened again because of investigations into separate pay-to-play schemes, including allegations that campaign contributions influenced his appointment of judges. Richardson denies wrongdoing, as he did two years ago when he withdrew his commerce secretary nomination because of a federal grand jury investigation.

NM judge booked, fingerprinted in political bribery scandal tied to Democrats, RichardsonArticle by: Associated Press Updated: May 20, 2011 - 3:35 PM LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A New Mexico judge charged with bribery in a scandal tied to former Gov. Bill Richardson pleaded not guilty Friday, then was booked, fingerprinted and ordered to hand over his passport. State District Judge Michael Murphy is accused of telling a potential judicial candidate that if she wanted a seat on the bench she needed to donate to the Democratic Party through a political activist linked to Richardson. Allegations in a special prosecutor's report...

Just when Bill Richardson appeared to be in the clear on corruption charges in New Mexico, new allegations of pay-for-play during his administration may envelop the former Governor again. A grand jury indicted a sitting district judge on charges of corruption for buying his appointment from Richardson in 2006, and a whistleblowing judge believes the rot went all the way to the top: Third Judicial District Judge Mike Murphy allegedly said he gave $4,000 to get appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Bill Richardson in 2006, and told several people that other judicial appointees had to give money as well....

Richardson: Bin Laden death should lead to cap-and-trade POLITICO Published 04:45 a.m., Wednesday, May 4, 2011 Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson hopes that Osama bin Laden's death will spur President Barack Obama to promote climate change legislation. "My hope is that from this success in the foreign policy arena two days ago, that he will be emboldened to take once again to the Congress legislation - not just to increase a renewable energy standard - but climate change legislation that this country and the world need," Richardson said Tuesday at a Climate Leadership Gala hosted by the Earth Day...

The high-flying administration of Gov. Bill Richardson left town without paying all its air travel tabs. Nearly $24,000 in bills for use of the state jet and other government aircraft still hadn't been paid when Richardson left office Dec. 31, according to the General Services Department. The flights were taken over several years, and one bill was 5 years old. The General Services Department has four airplanes and bills agencies for their use. On April 1, the department sent past-due notices to six executive agencies. The billings covered at least 15 round-trip flights between May 2006 and November 2010 and...

A letter of resignation sent by a former staffer to Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Cali.) appears to indicate that ethics investigators are probing the Los Angeles-area Congresswoman -- a fact Richardson has denied to local reporters. In a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO, the congresswoman's former district scheduler, Maria Macias, reveals that she was interviewed under oath by ethics investigators, alluding to possible ethics and workplace rules violations. "The office does not comment on confidential personnel matters," Richardson spokesman Ray Zaccaro told POLITICO, who also declined to reveal the subject of the investigation, which is confidential under Congressional...

About two weeks before he left office, Gov. Bill Richardson's staff handed over his office's records to the State Records Center and Archives. But there was one condition. Richardson agreed to turn over his records under the condition that for the next eight years, only four people would have access or be able to grant access to the documents — Richardson himself; his chief of staff, Brian Condit; general counsel Justin Miller; and scheduler Janis Hartley. Richardson's action is allowed under a state law passed in 1967, Records Center Director Sandra Jaramillo said ... Attempts to reach Richardson and his...

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson threw his support behind Mohamed ElBaradei in Egypt on Monday, even as the Nobel laureate criticizes the Obama administration for its approach in the region. Richardson, who recently flew to North Korea on what the White House said was an unofficial trip, said on MSNBC that ElBaradei is the United States’ “best hope” to replace Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who he said he hopes “goes soon.” He acknowledged that ElBaradei, whom protesters have embraced, has been “taking shots at the United States.” ElBaradei told CNN on Sunday from his home that President Obama’s approach...

Former Gov. Bill Richardson signed a contract with a child care workers union on his last day in office that the new administration says could cost taxpayers a half-million dollars. The contract covers an estimated 2,600 child care workers under contract with the state Children, Youth and Families Department to provide home care for the children of low-income parents. It sets up an arbitration and grievance process for child care providers who take state payments and establishes a system in which dues are deducted from paychecks and sent directly to their union. Martinez's staff contends the contract will require CYFD...