LWW
12-05-2011, 06:18 PM
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">PHOENIX - Bill Richardson, the former governor of New Mexico who ran for president in 2008, is being investigated by a federal grand jury for possible violations of campaign finance laws, according to people with knowledge of the inquiry.
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>Defense lawyers and others briefed on the investigation said one of the accusations is that Richardson raised $250,000 from supporters to quiet a woman who had threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against him.</span>
Kenneth J. Gonzales, the U.S. attorney for New Mexico, said in a statement that he could "neither confirm nor deny the existence of any grand jury investigation into alleged criminal conduct" by Richardson.
But others close to the case said <span style='font-size: 11pt'>several people with links to Richardson had testified before a grand jury</span> in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
The Albuquerque Journal first reported on the existence of the investigation Nov. 16, and The Wall Street Journal followed up Thursday with more details about <span style='font-size: 11pt'>money paid to a woman who had said she had an affair with the governor.
In interviews Thursday, people with knowledge of the investigation said a sexual harassment claim might be at the root of the inquiry.</span>
Whether such a surreptitious payment would violate the law is debated by campaign finance experts, because unreported private gifts are allowed, whereas political contributions must be documented.
Richardson, who has been giving speeches and consulting since he left the governor's office at the end of 2010, was traveling overseas Thursday and did not respond to requests for comment.
A longtime former aide, however, suggested that the investigation was politically biased.
"This is about humiliating someone they don't like politically," the aide said of prosecutors, likening the inquiry to the one involving President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s that resulted in his impeachment but not his removal from office. "This has nothing to do with justice."
<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Another former member of the Richardson administration confirmed that a sexual harassment claim was made against Richardson around 2007 by a woman connected to state government and that a settlement was discussed with one of the former governor's personal lawyers.</span>
A one-time adviser to the governor, who, like the others, insisted on anonymity to discuss the politically delicate case, said a government employee complained privately in 2007 that she had felt pressured into having a sexual relationship with Richardson.
The former adviser said Richardson's lawyers entered into a confidential settlement with the woman for $250,000. </div></div>
I predict that the same folks who blindly defended John Edwards against massive evidence ... which oddly happen to be the same people who convicted Herman Cain with no credible evidence ... will trip over each other to grant Richardson a pass. After all ... he was once a candidate to be their new godking!
<span style='font-size: 26pt'>LET THE DENIALS BEGIN! (http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/wire/us/article_07f2b16a-1f8d-11e1-b7f9-001a4bcf6878.html)</span>
<span style='font-size: 14pt'>Defense lawyers and others briefed on the investigation said one of the accusations is that Richardson raised $250,000 from supporters to quiet a woman who had threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against him.</span>
Kenneth J. Gonzales, the U.S. attorney for New Mexico, said in a statement that he could "neither confirm nor deny the existence of any grand jury investigation into alleged criminal conduct" by Richardson.
But others close to the case said <span style='font-size: 11pt'>several people with links to Richardson had testified before a grand jury</span> in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
The Albuquerque Journal first reported on the existence of the investigation Nov. 16, and The Wall Street Journal followed up Thursday with more details about <span style='font-size: 11pt'>money paid to a woman who had said she had an affair with the governor.
In interviews Thursday, people with knowledge of the investigation said a sexual harassment claim might be at the root of the inquiry.</span>
Whether such a surreptitious payment would violate the law is debated by campaign finance experts, because unreported private gifts are allowed, whereas political contributions must be documented.
Richardson, who has been giving speeches and consulting since he left the governor's office at the end of 2010, was traveling overseas Thursday and did not respond to requests for comment.
A longtime former aide, however, suggested that the investigation was politically biased.
"This is about humiliating someone they don't like politically," the aide said of prosecutors, likening the inquiry to the one involving President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s that resulted in his impeachment but not his removal from office. "This has nothing to do with justice."
<span style='font-size: 11pt'>Another former member of the Richardson administration confirmed that a sexual harassment claim was made against Richardson around 2007 by a woman connected to state government and that a settlement was discussed with one of the former governor's personal lawyers.</span>
A one-time adviser to the governor, who, like the others, insisted on anonymity to discuss the politically delicate case, said a government employee complained privately in 2007 that she had felt pressured into having a sexual relationship with Richardson.
The former adviser said Richardson's lawyers entered into a confidential settlement with the woman for $250,000. </div></div>
I predict that the same folks who blindly defended John Edwards against massive evidence ... which oddly happen to be the same people who convicted Herman Cain with no credible evidence ... will trip over each other to grant Richardson a pass. After all ... he was once a candidate to be their new godking!
<span style='font-size: 26pt'>LET THE DENIALS BEGIN! (http://www.elpasoinc.com/news/wire/us/article_07f2b16a-1f8d-11e1-b7f9-001a4bcf6878.html)</span>