Secretary of State Mary Herrera
As of this morning, three current and former employees in Secretary of State Mary Herrera’s office have confirmed that they have taken allegations of potential criminal wrongdoing to law enforcement agencies.
Faced with the reality of a growing election-year scandal, the woman ultimately responsible for the integrity of the November election bolted from her own news conference earlier today rather than answer any questions.
Five months ago, then-Elections Supervisor A.J. Salazar said Herrera runs ‘a crooked organization’ and submitted his resignation. He also said he had turned over his allegations to the attorney general for investigation.
Earlier this month, Office Administrator Manny Vildasol, who secretly recorded video in Herrera’s office, said he had turned the video over to the FBI because it shows “issues of criminal activity and unethical behavior.” He has since been placed on administrative leave.
Last week, office spokesman James Flores was placed on leave. The attorney representing Flores and Vildasol was quoted by the Santa Fe New Mexican and KOB-TV as saying that Flores, like Vildasol, has been interviewed by the FBI.
Salazar’s resignation came in a scathing letter in which he accused Herrera of violating the Governmental Conduct Act and election laws. Among his allegations is that Herrera ordered exempt employees to collect signatures for her re-election bid at a meeting held during work hours, that she was improperly soliciting donations from contractors doing business with the office to help fund a training, and that she retaliated against him after he tried to stop those potentially illegal actions.
We don’t know much about the allegations being made by the others.
The scandal comes in the context of the pending trial in the case against Herrera’s predecessor, Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who’s facing felony charges including money laundering, fraud, soliciting or receiving kickbacks and tax evasion in the alleged theft of millions of dollars.
In an election year, voters might already confuse Herrera and Vigil-Giron when they see headlines about the case against Vigil-Giron. With all the headlines about Herrera, her political problem grows exponentially worse.
No comment
So, according to The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Steve Terrell, Herrera called a news conference earlier today to talk about voter information that was being mailed out in advance of the election. But he wrote that she “bolted” before reporters could ask questions. Just before leaving, she called the allegations of wrongdoing “blatantly false and ridiculous… Thrown at the press like red meat in an election year.”
“Reading a statement, Herrera said the state is investigating the two employees – Vildasol and Flores. She emphasized that she is not involved with the investigation,” Terrell wrote.
He added that as reporters began asking questions, Herrera “turned and walked briskly to the safety of her own office.”
I sent Herrera several questions related to the scandal by e-mail on Wednesday, to both her government and personal e-mail addresses. She hasn’t responded.