{"id":2270,"date":"2007-09-21T17:36:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-21T23:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/09\/pearce-refuses-to-explain-why-groups-claim-is-false\/"},"modified":"2007-09-21T17:36:00","modified_gmt":"2007-09-21T23:36:00","slug":"pearce-refuses-to-explain-why-groups-claim-is-false","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/09\/pearce-refuses-to-explain-why-groups-claim-is-false\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearce refuses to explain why group’s claim is false"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce<\/a>, R-N.M., is still refusing to explain why a watchdog group\u2019s accusation that he failed to report a financial transaction he was required to disclose is false. <\/p>\n

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

Pearce spokesman Brian Phillips said Thursday the office was preparing a news release \u201cwith accompanying documents\u201d in response to the allegations made earlier this week by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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

Today, Phillips put out the release, without any \u201caccompanying documents.\u201d The release accused CREW of being an \u201cextreme leftist\u201d group whose motive in publishing false allegations is \u201cto tarnish Republicans and suppress the vote in 2008.\u201d But the release failed to back up that claim or explain why CREW\u2019s allegation is wrong.<\/p>\n

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

I made another request for an explanation after I read the release. Phillips refused.<\/p>\n

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

Pearce\u2019s news release did respond to the group\u2019s second allegation \u2013 that the congressman may have advocated for drilling on the Otero Mesa in exchange for campaign contributions from those with ties to oil companies. CREW tied that allegation in part to its assertion that the Bureau of Land Management changed its position on drilling in 2000. Pearce noted he wasn\u2019t elected until 2002.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIn addition, the BLM disputes the claim that they changed their position in 2000,\u201d Pearce\u2019s release states. \u201cMr. Pearce\u2019s office has received communication from the BLM stating they, in fact, never opposed drilling in Otero Mesa. \u2026 Oddly, the group\u2019s own press release acknowledges Pearce has been \u2018consistent\u2019 on his position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\n

Pearce says explanation is simple, doesn\u2019t provide it<\/span><\/p>\n

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

But the group\u2019s first allegation, made Tuesday when CREW released its list of the 22 most corrupt members of Congress<\/a>, is that Pearce failed to report on a public financial disclosure form the fact that he sold the assets of Lea Fishing Tools, Inc. to Key Energy Services for more than 540,000 shares of stock in 2003. The group says Pearce was required to report the sale and his failure to do so likely violated the Ethics in Government Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Pearce\u2019s disclosure form indicates that, between 2002 and 2003, Lea Fishing Tools changed its name to Trinity Industries, and indicates that the company\u2019s value increased. In 2002, it was reported at between $1 million and $5 million. In 2003, it was reported at between $5 million and $25 million. But the report does not indicate that Pearce owns Key Energy Services stock or that he sold the assets of Lea Fishing Tools.<\/p>\n

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

Phillips characterized the allegation on Tuesday as \u201coutright lies,\u201d but refused to elaborate. After several requests, he promised the news release that was sent today. The only direct response to the allegation in the release was this:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThese claims are utterly and demonstrably false,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cWe\u2019ve checked the law, we\u2019ve reviewed the forms, and I am confident the law was followed. To double check, I have sent a letter to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to confirm my financial disclosure statements. If a mistake was made on the disclosure form, I would act to clear it up immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

I e-mailed Phillips to seek further explanation and to ask whether the House committee has checked and found no fault in Pearce\u2019s disclosure statements. Phillips didn\u2019t answer the second question. He responded to the first by suggesting I read the rules on financial disclosure<\/a> and said they are \u201cfairly straight-forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

I have read the rules, and here\u2019s what I found: All transactions that exceed $1,000, in real property or stocks and other forms of securities, must be reported on the forms, except for purchases or sales of properties that are to be used solely as personal residences, transactions between the member of Congress and a spouse or dependent child, bequests and inheritances, stock splits, the opening and closing of accounts, deposits to and withdrawals from such accounts, the purchase or sale of certificates of deposit and contributions to retirement plans.<\/p>\n

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

If there\u2019s a \u201cstraight-forward\u201d answer in there that backs up Pearce\u2019s claim, somebody explain it to me.<\/p>\n

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

CREW has provided documents, explained position<\/span><\/p>\n

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

In the meantime, I\u2019ll point this out: CREW\u2019s director, a former assistant U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorney, has talked with me about the disclosure forms and the allegations against Pearce. Her group has explained where it believes the transaction should appear on a specific form and pointed out that it does not appear there or anywhere else on the form. The group provided a detailed report<\/a> and supporting evidence<\/a> to back up its allegations.<\/p>\n

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

Pearce has responded by saying the group is lying but not explaining why he\u2019s right. Instead, he made his own allegation:<\/p>\n

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

\u201cTheir real objective is to tarnish Republicans and suppress the vote in 2008,\u201d Pearce said. \u201cNew Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> is going to be an important state in the presidential election. If they can get Republicans to stay home by repeating absurd charges about me, then they won\u2019t be there to vote against Hillary or whoever wins the nomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Pearce didn\u2019t provide any evidence in the release to back up those allegations against CREW. If Pearce is correct that CREW\u2019s allegations are demonstrably false, he could have put an end to this by providing the \u201cstraight-forward\u201d explanation his spokesman says exists.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M., is still refusing to explain why a watchdog group\u2019s accusation that he failed to report a financial transaction he was required to disclose is false. Pearce spokesman Brian Phillips said Thursday the office was preparing a news release \u201cwith accompanying documents\u201d in response to the allegations made earlier this week […]<\/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-2270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270","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=2270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}