The head of the state’s Taxation and Revenue Department did not pressure employees to give special treatment to a taxpayer she used to work for, a spokesman says.
Courtesy photo
Demesia Padilla
Secretary Demesia Padilla “did nothing wrong and flatly denies the allegations that she acted improperly,” said Ben Cloutier, the department’s communications director.
An audit of the taxpayer was apparently an issue the department’s staff handled delicately. Cloutier provided NMPolitics.net with a copy of an Oct. 15, 2014 email that appears to reference the taxpayer, who hasn’t been named publicly. Kevin Sourisseau, the department’s Audit & Compliance Division deputy director, wrote in the email that an audit of the taxpayer “has not received any special consideration from the audit staff.”
“Thank you for your support with this difficult and uncomfortable issue,” he wrote to Lizzy Vedamanikam, director of the department’s Administrative Services Division.
The email refers to a discussion about the audit with Padilla the day before and states that “No changes have been made to the audit.”
Cloutier didn’t immediately respond to questions about the email.
AG is investigating
State Auditor Tim Keller has asked the attorney general to investigate accusations that Padilla pressured state employees to give special treatment to the taxpayer, who she worked for as a certified public accountant before joining the administration of Gov. Susana Martinez. Keller has alleged “abuse of power.”
The investigation started with an anonymous tip to the auditor’s fraud hotline, states a letter from the auditor to Gov. Susana Martinez, Padilla’s boss.
An independent firm Keller hired found justification to launch an investigation into whether Padilla “inappropriately” influenced employees to benefit the taxpayer, according to a letter from the auditor to Attorney General Hector Balderas. The firm also found reason to investigate whether Padilla retaliated against employees who refused to help her, and whether other senior-level employees in the department assisted Padilla.
In a statement to NMPolitics.net, Padilla said she’s focused on doing her job.
“We have a very political state auditor who is willing to play fast and loose with the facts to get some media attention,” Padilla said. “His allegations are based on unsubstantiated claims by two former disgruntled employees who have an ax to grind.”
In an earlier statement, Cloutier said those former employees “either work for the state auditor or were fired for sexual harassment.” He didn’t name them.
Keller has accused the Tax and Revenue Department of trying to obstruct his office’s probe.
War of words
Democrats and Republicans have engaged in a war of words since Keller, a Democrat, announced that he was turning the allegations against Padilla, a Republican, over to Balderas, a Democrat, earlier this month. Cloutier called Keller “the most political state auditor in New Mexico history” and said the auditor was was pushing “false claims for the sake of grabbing a headline.”
The state’s Democratic Party has called for Padilla’s resignation. The state GOP called Keller “a politician willing to smear anyone to generate a headline.”
Meanwhile, Martinez’s spokesman has said the Republican governor is is looking into the matter but also said Keller is “highly partisan” and “has a history of playing fast and loose with the facts in order to see his name in the paper.”
“It’s important that we first get all the facts — something that the state auditor has failed to provide,” Martinez spokesman Chris Sanchez was quoted by the Albuquerque Journal as saying.
Keller has not publicly released evidence to demonstrate wrongdoing. The report he turned over to Balderas remains confidential for now.