{"id":4824,"date":"2009-08-19T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-19T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/08\/madrid-again-on-defense-over-fulton-controversy\/"},"modified":"2009-08-22T15:21:56","modified_gmt":"2009-08-22T21:21:56","slug":"madrid-again-on-defense-over-fulton-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/08\/madrid-again-on-defense-over-fulton-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Madrid again on defense over Fulton controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Madrid,Former AG says Wilson\u2019s bringing up alleged FBI inquiry now is \u2018meant to divert attention away from her extremely precarious legal situation\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0A new claim that the FBI probed a controversy surrounding Patricia Madrid<\/a> three years ago has the former state attorney general once again defending herself against pay-to-play allegations.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M., who the Democrat Madrid unsuccessfully challenged in 2006, said last week that the FBI contacted her in June 2006 in an inquiry into ties between Madrid and a political action committee. Whether the inquiry actually existed is unclear<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a>The controversy centered on a proposed off-reservation Indian casino in southern New Mexico. Not wanting competition for his own racino, Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino owner Stan Fulton had been working to kill a proposal by Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters and the Jemez Pueblo to build a casino in nearby Anthony.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Six weeks after Madrid\u2019s office officially objected to the Jemez proposal in June 2005, Fulton gave the Madrid PAC, Justice for America, $100,000. Fulton had also given $25,000 to the PAC several months before Madrid\u2019s office took a position on the Jemez proposal.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In an interview, Madrid defended her office\u2019s stance on the Jemez proposal, saying it \u201cwas the legal opinion, I might add, that was taken by the Western Association of Attorneys General, and it was the legal opinion that was in the best interest of the state, and I stand by that opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Asked if she could state that there was no link between the contributions to the PAC and her office\u2019s stance on the casino proposal, Madrid said this:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cStan Fulton is an outstanding supporter of New Mexico,\u201d Madrid said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Madrid added that Fulton once told her he wanted to be the most generous contributor to New Mexico schools, \u201cand as far as I know, he is.\u201d She specifically brought up money he\u2019s given to the Gadsden Independent School District in southern Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cNew Mexico should have more philanthropists of his caliber,\u201d said Madrid, who is thinking about running for land commissioner<\/a> next year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fulton admitted trying to buy opposition to casino<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve written before, Fulton admitted in 2004 to trying to buy opposition<\/a> to the proposed Jemez casino by giving $1 million to the Gadsden schools and announcing that he would give New Mexico State University half ownership of his racetrack and casino when he died — an estimated $10 million annually — only if there were no other casinos built in an area that included the Jemez proposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play to win,\u201d Fulton told me at the time. \u201cThis is a battle, and we\u2019re going to look at it like a battle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The relationship between Madrid and Fulton was a hot topic in the 2006 congressional race, which Wilson won by fewer than 1,000 votes out of more than 211,000 cast. Madrid was asked about the contributions from Fulton during a debate<\/a> with Wilson less than two weeks before Election Day, and she appeared to admit that contributions buy access.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think you have to be careful about taking large sums of money from lobbyists,\u201d Madrid said at the debate. \u201cBut even if you do, it is only to give them access to let you know about what their concerns are. Certainly it\u2019s not to have you vote or rule in any certain way or obligate you in any way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson responded by expressing shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed at what I just heard,\u201d she said. \u201cNo one buys access in my office. Any New Mexican that wants to speak to me, it\u2019s not conditional on paying at the door.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madrid said in the new interview that she\u2019s shocked that Wilson was shocked by her statement during that debate because, Madrid claimed, Wilson took hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from pharmaceutical companies and military contractors, \u201cand she gave them way more than access. She gave them her vote, time and time again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

An \u2018extremely precarious legal situation\u2019<\/span>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Madrid did not dispute that there was an FBI inquiry into her relationship to the PAC — she has said she heard in 2006 from \u201ca number of sources\u2026 that the FBI was threatening me.\u201d But the inquiry, if it existed, apparently went nowhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And Madrid said Wilson\u2019s bringing it up now \u201cwas only meant to divert attention away from her extremely precarious legal situation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

There is a criminal investigation into the firings of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias<\/a> of New Mexico and several others, and some analysts have suggested that if Wilson pressured Iglesias to speed indictments in a criminal case against Democrats to help her re-election chances, she could face obstruction of justice charges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wilson, who contends that she did not pressure Iglesias, says she brought up the FBI inquiry into Madrid in 2008 and again last week only to explain the meaning behind an e-mail she sent in 2006 that is getting national attention because it could be interpreted to boost Iglesias\u2019 claim<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new claim that the FBI probed a controversy surrounding Patricia Madrid three years ago has the former state attorney general once again defending herself against pay-to-play allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4824","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=4824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4824\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}