{"id":98681,"date":"2015-11-07T12:47:19","date_gmt":"2015-11-07T19:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=98681"},"modified":"2015-11-08T15:27:09","modified_gmt":"2015-11-08T22:27:09","slug":"fbi-still-asking-questions-about-mccleskey-newspaper-reports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/11\/fbi-still-asking-questions-about-mccleskey-newspaper-reports\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI still asking questions about McCleskey, newspaper reports"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_98693\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-98693\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/McCleskey-Jay-771x512.jpg\" alt=\"McCleskey with Gov. Susana Martinez on election night in 2010.\" width=\"771\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/McCleskey-Jay.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/McCleskey-Jay-336x223.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/McCleskey-Jay-768x510.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Enrique Knell<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">McCleskey with Gov. Susana Martinez on election night in 2010.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The FBI has interviewed some New Mexico Republicans about Gov. Susana Martinez&#8217;s fundraising and political consultant <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mccleskeymedia.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jay McCleskey<\/a> in recent months, The Santa Fe New Mexican <a href=\"http:\/\/www.santafenewmexican.com\/news\/local_news\/federal-probe-targets-gov-s-top-adviser-mccleskey\/article_6cb560e4-4c58-5b1d-b1b9-f64109f0a884.html\" target=\"_blank\">reported Friday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond that, details are few.\u00a0Specific allegations aren&#8217;t included in the article\u00a0and no charges have been filed. The source quoted in The New Mexican&#8217;s article is a &#8220;prominent New Mexico Republican&#8221; who wasn&#8217;t named but &#8220;confirmed being interviewed in recent months by federal agents about funds from Martinez\u2019s campaign, as well as money from her 2011 inauguration committee, going to the governor\u2019s political consultant, Jay McCleskey.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>Read more<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.santafenewmexican.com\/news\/local_news\/federal-probe-targets-gov-s-top-adviser-mccleskey\/article_6cb560e4-4c58-5b1d-b1b9-f64109f0a884.html\" target=\"_blank\">The New Mexican article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanielLibit\/status\/662759409244880896\" target=\"_blank\">Daniel Libit&#8217;s tweets<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/meet-gov-martinezs-top-adviser\/\" target=\"_blank\">NMPolitics.net&#8217;s 2011 McCleskey profile<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<p>No law-enforcement sources &#8212; named or anonymous\u00a0&#8212; were quoted about\u00a0the investigation. Federal agencies\u00a0generally don&#8217;t\u00a0confirm, deny, or release details about ongoing probes.<\/p>\n<p>So what does it all mean?<\/p>\n<p>Politically, the article could have traction. It was\u00a0being\u00a0shared widely on social media. McCleskey, a cutthroat political operative, is hated by many Democrats and some Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>On Facebook, some were celebrating the report.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a God,&#8221; wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haussamen\/posts\/10100937394216761?comment_id=10100937409211711&amp;offset=0&amp;total_comments=11&amp;comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R8%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Clay Mills<\/a> of Santa Fe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Finally!&#8221; wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haussamen\/posts\/10100937394216761?comment_id=10100937414326461&amp;offset=0&amp;total_comments=11&amp;comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R7%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\">Emanuele Corso<\/a> of Pe\u00f1asco.<\/p>\n<p>From a practical standpoint, there&#8217;s little new information in the article\u00a0and its meaning isn&#8217;t clear.\u00a0Claudia Anderson of Farmington asked <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nmpolitics\/posts\/913176012051457?comment_id=913231065379285&amp;offset=0&amp;total_comments=10&amp;comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\">on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0how outraged she should\u00a0be on a scale of 1-10 &#8220;over allegations of an investigation made by an anonymous source, that the supposedly investigating agencies will neither confirm or deny, over incidents not fully explained.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So far this is registering 0 for me, and I&#8217;m a Democrat,&#8221; Anderson wrote.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I hate when I agree with Claudia Anderson but, like she says, this is mostly speculation at this point,&#8221; wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haussamen\/posts\/10100937394216761?comment_id=10100937555214121&amp;offset=0&amp;total_comments=12&amp;comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\">Jimmie Cisneros<\/a> of Carlsbad.<\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;ve known <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfreporter.com\/santafe\/article-7465-downs-doings.html\" target=\"_blank\">since 2013<\/a> that the FBI was asking questions about payments to McCleskey&#8217;s political firm and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/06\/e-mail-mess-looks-a-lot-like-richardson-scandals\/\" target=\"_blank\">controversial Downs at Albuquerque deal<\/a>. We&#8217;ve also known for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfreporter.com\/santafe\/blog-4554-updated-fbi-interviewed-former-martinez-finance-director-about-downs-lease.html\" target=\"_blank\">more than two years<\/a> that Andrea Goff, former campaign finance director for Martinez,\u00a0talked with the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Due to intense speculation and misinformation,\u00a0I feel it is appropriate to come forward and acknowledge that I complied with a request from the FBI to answer questions related to various activities including those related to the Downs Racino,&#8221; Goff announced in 2013.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>It may be significant\u00a0that the FBI has continued interviews in recent months. But\u00a0the new article lacks\u00a0details to put the interviews in context. People interviewed by the FBI can sometimes\u00a0provide useful information to reporters by detailing the questions they were asked &#8212; but they usually can provide\u00a0little or no context about investigators&#8217; intent, direction or progress in an investigation.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, The New Mexican wrote that it&#8217;s &#8220;unclear what potential violations federal agents are investigating.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Craig Richard Bullock of Las Cruces\u00a0pointed that out in questioning\u00a0the source of The New Mexican&#8217;s article.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Not only does the only information about the supposed investigation come from only one mysterious person,\u00a0this person doesn&#8217;t even seem to know what or who the FBI is investigating outside of a few questions regarding campaign funds,&#8221; Bullock wrote\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haussamen\/posts\/10100937394216761?comment_id=10100937438293431&amp;offset=0&amp;total_comments=11&amp;comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R6%22%7D\" target=\"_blank\">on Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The New Mexican wasn&#8217;t the only news source to report on the\u00a0developments Friday. Daniel Libit, whose <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationaljournal.com\/s\/66104\/man-who-discovered-susana-martinez-could-also-be-her-downfall\" target=\"_blank\">2013 profile<\/a> of McCleskey claimed the political consultant could be Martinez&#8217;s downfall, tweeted Friday\u00a0that\u00a0multiple sources told him the investigation had <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanielLibit\/status\/662759409244880896\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;crested.&#8221;<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Libit\u00a0didn&#8217;t elaborate on whether any of the sources were in law enforcement or what he meant by &#8220;crested.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>NMPolitics.net profiled McCleskey <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/meet-gov-martinezs-top-adviser\/\" target=\"_blank\">in 2011<\/a>, shortly after Martinez took office. McCleskey\u00a0had recently left a political firm that did lobbying to start his own company. He\u00a0was being criticized for a possible conflict because\u00a0of his work to help\u00a0Martinez win election in 2010. But because of that\u00a0political work, McCleskey told NMPolitics.net that\u00a0McCleskey Media would do no lobbying or government relations work.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;People contact us all the time looking for government relations help, and we don\u2019t do that. We decline,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Today McCleskey Media does a great deal of political work for Martinez and many other New Mexico Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>As for The Downs deal, I wrote <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/06\/e-mail-mess-looks-a-lot-like-richardson-scandals\/\" target=\"_blank\">in 2012<\/a> that the situation created at least the appearance of impropriety:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>A company that gave lots of money to Martinez\u2019s 2010 campaign won a lucrative contract after hiring a GOP insider who was communicating privately about the contract, before it was awarded, with, at the very least, McCleskey \u2013 who Martinez has called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/meet-gov-martinez%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98top-adviser%E2%80%99\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201ca top adviser.\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>McCleskey and Martinez&#8217;s office haven&#8217;t responded today to requests from NMPolitics.net for comment on The New Mexican&#8217;s new report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FBI has recently been asking questions about Gov. Susana Martinez&#8217;s fundraising and political consultant Jay McCleskey, The Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting. The FBI has been doing that since at least 2013, and the impact of the new report, which is light on details, isn&#8217;t clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98693,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[142,2111,107],"class_list":["post-98681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-crime","tag-jay-mccleskey","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98681","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=98681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}