{"id":5550,"date":"2009-08-27T12:25:08","date_gmt":"2009-08-27T18:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=5550"},"modified":"2009-08-28T00:55:03","modified_gmt":"2009-08-28T06:55:03","slug":"richardson-isnt-in-the-clear-yet-analyst-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/08\/richardson-isnt-in-the-clear-yet-analyst-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson isn’t in the clear yet, analyst says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Gov.

Gov. Bill Richardson (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

The federal investigation into allegations of pay to play in one state agency may be over<\/a>, but that doesn\u2019t mean Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> is fully in the clear, a top New Mexico political analyst said today.<\/p>\n

Albuquerque pollster and analyst Brian Sanderoff pointed out in an interview that federal<\/a> and state<\/a> investigators are still looking into allegations in the investment scandal that started in New York and has spread to New Mexico and other states. That case, which is separate from the probe that has ended, involves some prominent Richardson friends<\/a> and donors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The probe that we learned today has ended — the federal investigation into allegations that CDR Financial Products<\/a> received a lucrative state investment contract from the New Mexico Finance Authority in exchange for campaign contributions to Richardson and two political action committees he started — cost the governor the commerce secretary job in Washington. But even as President Barack Obama accepted Richardson\u2019s withdrawal<\/a> of his nomination for that post in January, the president said he looked forward to Richardson\u2019s \u201cfuture service to our country and in my administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Richardson said at the time that he would continue serving as governor \u201cfor now\u201d and was \u201ceager to serve in the future in any way (Obama) deems useful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sanderoff said today that the end of the CDR case probably isn\u2019t enough to convince the president to offer Richardson a cabinet-level job.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy guess is things will have to settle down awhile before we\u2019ll be seeing any talk of cabinet-level positions,\u201d he said. \u201cAs long as there\u2019s talk of other investigations, I think the Obama administration will be shy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if some clear declaration is made by the justice department at some point that the governor has been cleared (of wrongdoing in any case),\u201d Sanderoff said, \u201cthen that would be another story.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the investment scandal, the founder a company that was once New Mexico\u2019s investment adviser is under indictment in New York in a pay-to-play investigation there. Among the allegations is that the founder of Aldus Equity<\/a>, Saul Meyer, helped the son of New York\u2019s then-state comptroller win an investment contract in New Mexico in exchange for his company getting increased business in New York.<\/p>\n

In addition, Richardson has taken $20,000 in campaign contributions from another man tied to the scandal who is reportedly negotiating a settlement in New York to avoid criminal charges.<\/p>\n

\u2018The governor is focused on New Mexico\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Richardson hasn\u2019t commented on today\u2019s news that he and others won\u2019t be charged in the CDR case. He\u2019s in Cuba<\/a> on a trade mission and won\u2019t return until Friday. His office has not responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

But Josh Geise, executive director of the Democratic Party of New Mexico<\/a>, wrote in an e-mail that, even though the CDR probe has ended, he believes Richardson\u2019s focus will remain in New Mexico, not Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor is focused on New Mexico and the work we need to do here to balance the budget and get the economy moving,\u201d Geise wrote. \u201cAs he has recently with the North Koreans<\/a> and Cuba, I\u2019m certain he will do what he can to help the country and the Obama administration — as governor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless, today\u2019s news is likely a relief for a governor who has had the CDR probe hanging over his head for a year. Media outlets first reported in late August 2008<\/a> that federal investigators were looking into the CDR situation, and intense scrutiny has continued ever since.<\/p>\n

After Richardson withdrew his nomination to be commerce secretary, his poll numbers plummeted<\/a> (they later rebounded a bit<\/a>, but have not returned to previous levels). He also took a lower profile on the national stage, and was one of two governors to skip a February meeting<\/a> of the National Governor\u2019s Association.<\/p>\n

But in recent months, the longtime global troubleshooter has been more visible. In May, he appeared on national TV<\/a> to talk about two journalists being held in North Korea. Earlier this month, he was involved in discussions surrounding former President Bill Clinton\u2019s trip to North Korea<\/a> to secure the release of those journalists, and then he was all over TV talking about it.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s in Cuba, where he\u2019s promoting trade<\/a> between the state and that nation.<\/p>\n

The pending investment scandal<\/strong><\/p>\n

But, as Sanderoff said, there are some pending situations that could keep Richardson in New Mexico, at least for now. Federal prosecutors have subpoenaed two state agencies in an ongoing investigation into investment practices in New Mexico. Of interest, according to a federal subpoena released in June, is Texas-based Aldus Equity, New Mexico\u2019s former investment adviser. Meyer, its founder, has been indicted<\/a> in an ongoing New York investigation into pay-to-play allegations.<\/p>\n

Among the allegations in the New York inquiry is that Meyer helped the son of the New York state comptroller, Alan Hevesi, win a lucrative contract in New Mexico for a firm he was representing in return for Aldus\u2019 increased business in New York, according to the criminal complaint<\/a>. At the time, the comptroller\u2019s son, Dan Hevesi, was acting as a third-party marketer.<\/p>\n

Third-party marketers<\/a>, once obscure figures in the investment world who act as matchmakers between private equity and hedge funds and states looking for a good return on their money, have grabbed headlines in New Mexico in recent months. That\u2019s due to the millions of dollars paid out to them, including $22 million<\/a> to Marc Correra.<\/p>\n

Correra is the son of a friend and prominent fundraiser for Richardson.<\/p>\n

Richardson has one other direct tie<\/a> to the investment scandal: Steven Rattner<\/a>, the former head of Obama\u2019s auto-bailout program, gave $5,000 to Richardson\u2019s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and $15,000 to Richardson\u2019s 2006 re-election bid.<\/p>\n

Richardson heads the State Investment Council<\/a> (SIC) which, in 2005, voted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle Group LLC<\/a>. At the time of the 2002 and 2006 campaign contributions, Rattner was a managing principle in the company, which he left in February of this year to take the auto-bailout job.<\/p>\n

Rattner recently left the auto-bailout job and is reportedly negotiating a settlement<\/a> with the New York attorney general in order to avoid criminal charges in that state.<\/p>\n

Richardson and his administration have taken strong action in response to the investment scandal, banning the use of third-party marketers<\/a> by investment companies seeking to do business in New Mexico and compiling and publicly releasing information<\/a> about third-party marketers who have been employed by those companies.<\/p>\n

\u2018Is it really over?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Also pending is the lawsuit filed by Frank Foy<\/a>, a former investment officer for the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board, alleging pay to play in a deal in which the state lost $90 million on investments made in exchange for a little more than $15,000 in contributions to Richardson\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n

Richardson and administration officials have strongly denied those allegations and accused Foy of being on a political witch hunt.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the pending situations led Sanderoff to ask what may be an obvious question:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it really over?\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Mexico Independent\u2019s Trip Jennings contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal and state investigators are still looking into an investment scandal that involves some prominent Richardson friends and donors, Albuquerque pollster and analyst Brian Sanderoff pointed out.<\/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":[112,124,122,123,114,107],"class_list":["post-5550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-bill-richardson","tag-foy-lawsuit","tag-gripgate","tag-investment-scandal","tag-public-corruption","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550","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=5550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}