Another pay for play governor caught in the act???

Richardson exits Cabinet due to probe
By: Mike Allen and Amie Parnes
January 4, 2009 02:46 PM EST

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced Sunday afternoon that he is withdrawing as President-elect Barack Obama’s nominee for secretary of Commerce because of unanswered questions about a federal grand jury investigation back home.

"I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process," Richardson said in an e-mailed statement issued by the transition.

Obama accepted the withdrawal with regret, saying in an accompanying statement that he looks forward to Richardson's "future service to our country and in my administration."

Richardson said he had told Obama that "eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful."

The grand jury has been investigating “pay-to-play” allegations concerning a New Mexico state contract awarded to a California firm that has contributed to three political committees formed by Richardson, The Associated Press reported last month.

A source close to Richardson told Politico, "There are too many unanswered questions and while he thinks the results of the grand jury will turn out in his favor, he doesn't want to distract attention from the administration."

A Senate aide told Politico there had been "nervousness" within the Senate and more specifically the Senate Commerce Committee about the grand jury probe in recent weeks.

The announcement prompted immediate finger-pointing about the vetting process, with Democrats wondering what Obama screeners asked Richardson and what he told them, and whether he was really involved or was just being tarred by the actions of others.

One source told Politico that he heard from several members of the Commerce committee who were uncomfortable with the probe.

In a statement first reported by NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Richardson said: "Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact."

Richardson, who had sought the Democratic presidential nomination himself, was the highest-ranking Hispanic in the prospective Obama administration.

The revelation came in the hours before Obama was scheduled to leave Chicago to come to Washington to live and work ahead of the inauguration on Jan. 20.

Richardson’s withdrawal is the first false start for a presidential transition that has had an exceedingly smooth public face.

His decision is linked to a federal grand jury investigation into whether a financial services company won state contracts after its CEO contributed to a PAC controlled by the governor.

California-based CDR Financial Products Inc won nearly $1.5 million in contracts from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 after Rubin gave thousands to Richardson, including money that helped underwrite his expenses at that year’s Democratic National Convention. Rubin also later gave money to Richardson’s failed presidential campaign.

The FBI is asking whether members of the governor’s office asked other state officials to give preferred treatment to CDR.

At a time when Obama’s own governor is facing criminal charges for, among other things, pay-to-play politics involving the Senate seat the president-elect is vacating, the prospect of headlines alleging similar behavior in New Mexico were enough to imperil Richardson’s appointment.

Richardson, who was Energy secretary and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Bill Clinton, said he will continue as governor.


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