This article has been updated.
The federal probe into allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration is complete and has been forwarded to the office of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder for consideration, a public official whose agency has been at the center of the probe said today.
“It’s my understanding is that the grand jury investigation has been completed. It has been forwarded to the U.S. Attorney General’s office,” Stephen Flance, chairman of the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA), said today at a legislative hearing, according to the New Mexico Independent.
When the AG’s office will make a decision on whether to take action in the case is not known publicly.
Though a previous media report has suggested that the grand jury had wrapped up its work and the case was in the hands of officials in Washington, today’s was the first confirmation of that by any public official involved in the probe. Flance was speaking to the New Mexico Finance Authority Oversight Committee.
“We are waiting to see what comes out of the investigation. Are we worried? Yes. We are. But I really believe the NMFA will not be a target. That’s where things stand now,” the Independent quoted Flance as saying.
Holder declined to comment on the probe last week when he was in Albuquerque. Gov. Bill Richardson skipped that New Mexico visit by Holder, instead appearing at a number of events in Truth or Consequences.
Investigators were probing allegations that CDR Financial Products received a state investment contract that paid almost $1.5 million in exchange for $110,000 in contributions to two Richardson political committees and his 2006 gubernatorial re-election campaign. CDR was paid to advise the NMFA on interest-rate swaps and restructuring escrow funds for $1.6 billion in bonds related to the transportation project dubbed GRIP, or Governor Richardson’s Investment Partnership.
Two Richardson spokesmen did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Flance’s statement.
Harris, Contarino, Stratton, Romer scrutinized
Among those close to Richardson investigators have looked at are David Harris, who headed the finance authority at the time in question; Dave Contarino, Richardson’s former chief of staff and manager of his presidential and gubernatorial campaigns; Richardson political adviser Michael Stratton; and J.P. Morgan banker Chris Romer, who is also a Colorado state senator.
The governor’s office and NMFA were among agencies that were subpoenaed in the investigation. The governor’s office released its subpoena to the public; the NMFA has not. Haussamen Publications, my business that publishes this site, has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to force the NMFA to release copies of subpoenas it has received in the investigation.
According to Jennings, Flance also told legislators today that several NMFA officials were interviewed by the FBI and grand jury, and said the agency turned over reams of documents.
“With some level of confidence, I can say no one who is currently with the authority is under any suspicion … of being involved in wrongdoing,” Flance said.
Update, 4:40 p.m.
Wondering how Flance got his information? He told Jennings, for a follow-up article, that it came from NMFA’s general counsel, Rey Romero. Romero, according to the Independent, wouldn’t say how he had obtained that information, but, when asked if he trusted his source, he said, “Yes.”