{"id":1367,"date":"2007-03-08T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-08T15:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-may-have-skipped-full-vp-vetting-in-2004\/"},"modified":"2007-03-08T09:14:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-08T15:14:00","slug":"richardson-may-have-skipped-full-vp-vetting-in-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/richardson-may-have-skipped-full-vp-vetting-in-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson may have skipped full VP vetting in 2004"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In defending himself against currently vague allegations about inappropriate behavior toward women, Gov. Bill Richardson<\/span><\/a><\/b> has repeatedly said he was vetted for vice president by the John Kerry campaign in 2004 and passed the test. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Apparently, there\u2019s some disagreement about whether that\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Politico<\/span><\/a> <\/b>ran an in-depth article today looking at the allegations in which staffers of the former campaign talked about Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s vetting process. Since announcing in January he was running for president, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has been hampered by talk, particularly on liberal blogs, about unspecified and alleged problems with women.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In an interview with the publication, Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> called the talk about his behavior with women \u201cmean-spirited\u201d and said it has \u201cno foundation.\u201d But the publication notes that \u201cmany Democrats say gossip about Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s personal behavior is an important factor in keeping an exceptionally well-credentialed politician \u2013 a former energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations, who has been elected in a swing state \u2013 from entering the top tier of 2008 candidates.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> said, \u201cThe Kerry people vetted me for vice president,\u201d adding that he knew that because Washington<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> lawyer and Democratic insider Jim Johnson \u201chas said so.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Politico got this comment from Johnson \u2013 \u201cThe Kerry campaign vetted Governor Richardson, and nothing was found that would have prevented him from being chosen as John Kerry\u2019s vice presidential candidate\u201d \u2013 but it came only after five days of phone calls and e-mails, and Johnson refused to elaborate or answer further questions.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Three other people the publication identifies as \u201csenior Kerry aides or Democrats involved in the vice presidential search process\u201d all said Richardson\u2019s past \u201cwas not subject to any examination aimed at determining whether his personal conduct with women was a potential political problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

They said Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> withdrew from consideration for vice president before undergoing the final round of vetting, which would have required delivering financial documents and other personal information to Johnson for examination. Several others did go through that process, including John Edwards, who was eventually chosen.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted to be considered because he wanted his name out there. And once his name was out there, he withdrew, so there was never a full vetting,\u201d the article quoted \u201ca senior Democrat close to the vice presidential process\u201d as saying. That source added that Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s citing of the vice presidential process as proof that he has been vetted \u201cis a crazy thing to go around saying.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson Campaign Manager Dave Contarino told the publication that Johnson told him the vetting included phone calls to more than two dozen people and included allegations of \u201cthings with women.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Politico also had a call from Lanny Davis, a former Clinton<\/st1:city> aide, who said he vetted Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> for a cabinet position in 1992 and the governor passed. Davis<\/st1:city> called because the Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> campaign asked it of him.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI ended up 100 percent convinced that Bill Richardson was not a womanizer, had not had an affair, had not done anything that embarrassed him,\u201d the Politico quoted Davis<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> as saying.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In defending himself against currently vague allegations about inappropriate behavior toward women, Gov. Bill Richardson has repeatedly said he was vetted for vice president by the John Kerry campaign in 2004 and passed the test. Apparently, there\u2019s some disagreement about whether that\u2019s true. The Politico ran an in-depth article today looking at the allegations in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1367\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}