The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG) says it is concerned by the New Mexico Finance Authority’s (NMFA) denial of a records request I filed in January.
The request sought copies of any subpoenas NMFA has received in a federal grand jury investigation of allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration.
FOG Executive Director Leonard J. DeLayo asked NMFA in a Feb. 13 letter to justify its denial of my records request and noted that the denial contrasted with the release of a similar subpoena by the governor’s office in response to requests from me and other journalists filed under the public records act.
“If you believe you have any legal or statutory authority to refuse this request under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, please provide us with that information,” DeLayo wrote in the letter, which you can read by clicking here.
NMFA General Counsel Reynold E. Romero responded in a Feb. 23 letter, which you can read by clicking here. In it, Romero cited a passage from a separate letter that accompanied a subpoena NMFA received from the federal grand jury:
“Subpoenas issued in connection with proceedings before a grand jury are specifically exempt from the customer notification requirements of the Right to Financial Privacy Act… and disclosure under certain circumstances is prohibited…” the portion of the letter from the grand jury states. “Premature disclosure of this subpoena for records might impede the investigation in this case. Therefore, you are requested to not disclose the existence of this subpoena.”
“Based upon the request from the U.S. Department of Justice,” Romero’s letter states, “the New Mexico Finance Authority stands by its decision to not disclose the documents requested by Mr. Haussamen.”
FOG has not responded.
The public records act does include several specific exemptions that allow the withholding of some types of government records, but Romero hasn’t cited any of them in denying my request. Instead, he has said the denial of my request comes under the vague exemption that allows the denial of records requests “as otherwise provided by law.”
The public records act provides for enforcement in the case of a violation only through a civil lawsuit. The suing party is entitled to recover attorney’s fees if he or she wins the case.