![\"Demesia](\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Padilla-Demesia-336x223.jpg\")
<\/a>Courtesy photo<\/p>
Demesia Padilla<\/p><\/div>\n
Secretary Demesia Padilla “did nothing wrong and flatly denies the allegations that she acted improperly,” said Ben Cloutier,\u00a0the department’s communications director.<\/p>\n
An audit of the taxpayer was apparently an issue the department’s staff handled delicately.\u00a0Cloutier provided NMPolitics.net with a copy of an Oct. 15, 2014 email<\/a>\u00a0that appears to reference the taxpayer, who\u00a0hasn’t been named\u00a0publicly<\/a>. Kevin Sourisseau, the department’s Audit & Compliance Division deputy director, wrote in the email that an audit of the taxpayer “has not received any special consideration from the audit staff.”<\/p>\n “Thank you for your support with this difficult and uncomfortable issue,” he wrote to\u00a0Lizzy Vedamanikam, director of the department’s Administrative Services Division.<\/p>\n The email\u00a0refers to a discussion about\u00a0the audit with Padilla the day before\u00a0and states that “No changes have been made to the audit.”<\/p>\n Cloutier didn’t immediately respond to questions about the email.<\/p>\n State Auditor Tim Keller has asked the attorney general to investigate accusations that Padilla pressured state employees<\/a> to give special treatment to the taxpayer, who\u00a0she worked for as a certified public accountant before joining\u00a0the administration\u00a0of Gov. Susana Martinez. Keller has\u00a0alleged “abuse of power<\/a>.”<\/p>\n The investigation started with\u00a0an anonymous tip to\u00a0the auditor’s fraud hotline, states\u00a0a letter<\/a>\u00a0from the auditor to Gov. Susana Martinez, Padilla’s boss.<\/p>\n An independent firm\u00a0Keller hired\u00a0found justification to launch an\u00a0investigation into whether Padilla “inappropriately” influenced employees to benefit the taxpayer, according to\u00a0a letter<\/a> from the auditor to Attorney General Hector Balderas. The firm\u00a0also found reason to investigate whether Padilla retaliated against employees who refused to help her, and whether other senior-level employees in the department assisted Padilla.<\/p>\n In a statement to NMPolitics.net, Padilla said she’s focused on doing her job.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a very political state auditor who is willing to play fast and loose with the facts to get some media attention,” Padilla said. “His allegations are based on unsubstantiated claims by two former disgruntled employees who have an ax to grind.”<\/p>\n In an earlier statement,\u00a0Cloutier said those former employees “either work for the state auditor or were fired for sexual harassment.” He didn’t name them.<\/p>\nAG is investigating<\/h3>\n