{"id":750,"date":"2006-10-20T13:45:00","date_gmt":"2006-10-20T19:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/former-staffer-accuses-democratic-treasurer-candidate-of-falsely-reporting-contributions\/"},"modified":"2006-10-20T13:45:00","modified_gmt":"2006-10-20T19:45:00","slug":"former-staffer-accuses-democratic-treasurer-candidate-of-falsely-reporting-contributions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/10\/former-staffer-accuses-democratic-treasurer-candidate-of-falsely-reporting-contributions\/","title":{"rendered":"Former staffer accuses Democratic treasurer candidate of falsely reporting contributions"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The former chief fundraiser for the Democrats\u2019 candidate for state treasurer has accused the candidate of filing false campaign contribution reports, according to the Albuquerque Tribune<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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

James B. Lewis and the Democratic Party say it isn\u2019t true. The secretary of state is investigating.<\/p>\n

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

Rosetta Stewart has accused Lewis in a notarized affidavit of inaccurately reporting campaign contributions on several occasions, according to the newspaper. The claims are that Lewis:<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>\u2022 told Stewart a $500 contribution given by an unnamed man would be made to \u201clook like his son La Ron Lewis contributed it,\u201d according to the Tribune.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 told her it was OK to accept money even if people didn\u2019t want their names tied to their gifts, and \u201che would handle the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Stewart is a registered Republican, the Tribune reported. When asked why she went to the party with her allegations, according to the newspaper, she said, \u201cThere\u2019s no real particular reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

She said she does not work for Lewis\u2019 opponent, Republican Demesia Padilla, but \u201cjust wanted to come forward because I do not want the people of the State of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> to be deceived any longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

It was the Republican Party that asked the secretary of state to investigate. The party has also asked for an attorney general investigation. A secretary of state spokesman told the Tribune that, if there is any merit to the claims, the case will be turned over to the attorney general.<\/p>\n

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

In the affidavit, according to the newspaper, Stewart said she \u201cresigned because of (Lewis\u2019) lack of honesty and integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The Tribune reported that La Ron Lewis is listed on a report as giving his father $500. James Lewis said that\u2019s because his son donated the money.<\/p>\n

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

Stewart also claimed that, earlier this year, she and Lewis met with an unidentified couple. The couple agreed to donate $2,500, according to the affidavit, \u201cbut for some reason didn\u2019t want their names mentioned,\u201d the Tribune reported.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cJames Lewis told them that he knew how to go around it, and that he would make sure that their contribution would be under Lee Griffin\u2019s name,\u201d the affidavit states. Griffin<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> gave $2,500 on Feb. 13 and $1,500 on Aug. 10, according to Lewis\u2019 finance report.<\/p>\n

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

Lewis told the newspaper he and Griffin<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> are longtime friends. He said he didn\u2019t stay for dinner with Stewart and the unidentified couple, and couldn\u2019t say whether they actually donated to his campaign. He said it\u2019s common for Griffin<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> to raise cash for his campaigns by encouraging others to donate.<\/p>\n

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

Griffin<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> denied the allegation made by Stewart.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEverything I contributed came from me,\u201d he told the newspaper. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former chief fundraiser for the Democrats\u2019 candidate for state treasurer has accused the candidate of filing false campaign contribution reports, according to the Albuquerque Tribune. James B. Lewis and the Democratic Party say it isn\u2019t true. The secretary of state is investigating. Rosetta Stewart has accused Lewis in a notarized affidavit of inaccurately reporting […]<\/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-750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750","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=750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}