Bill Richardson’s office now says the governor did not meet with investment marketer Marc Correra, the son of a friend and fundraiser, “regarding any state business” before the state decided to invest $90 million in a fund Correra was pushing, the New Mexico Independent is reporting.
The investing of that money with Vanderbilt Financial is the subject of the pay-to-play lawsuit brought by Frank Foy on behalf of the state.
“The governor did not meet with Anthony (Marc’s father) or Marc Correra regarding any state business during the time period you are asking about,” Gilbert Gallegos, Richardson’s deputy chief of staff, said, according to the Independent. “Further, the governor was not familiar with Vanderbilt during that time period.”
As I wrote earlier today, the Independent’s Trip Jennings has been on a quest to get an answer to the question about Marc Correra. Until today, Richardson and his staffers have refused to answer the question, and his office has cited executive privilege in denying Jennings’ request for documents that would have indicated who Richardson met with in the months prior to the decisions by two state boards to invest with Vanderbilt.
Earlier today, the Independent published an article authored by Jennings about the untested area of state law the governor’s office is wading into by citing executive privilege in denying Jennings’ records request. The article quotes Al Lama, Attorney General Gary King’s chief deputy, as saying, “The scope of the privilege is undecided. The recognition of privilege in New Mexico is to safeguard the executive’s decision-making process and a court has not determined that disclosure of who the governor met with is or is not confidential.”
The same day that article is published, the governor’s office finally answers Jennings’ question.
Hmm…
This article has been updated for clarity.