Is this a new investigation of Hostage Negotiator Bill Richardson?

[dem629]

I had never heard of it before. Perhaps it's because I've never been a fan of Hostage Negotiator Bill Richardson, so I tended not to pay too much attention to news about him. But if it's not new and has been ongoing for a while, it seems odd that he ran for President in the first place.

[leftstreet]

1. It doesn't make sense, given Obama's much publicized vetting team

:shrug:

[patrice]

2. Could be evidence of $ei$mic $hift$ since vetting? nt

[merh]

6. If someone doesn't think what they have done is wrong

do you expect them to tell you about it when they answer your questionnaire?

[janx]

3. I want to know who initiated it. n/t

[SoCalDem]

4. Nope.. it has been going on for a while It's almost de rigueur

to "investigate" elected officials...the higher up, the better.. MOST politicians have accepted campaign money from SOMEONE who is "connected" to something shady..sooner or later...and since all governments do manage to contain people from opposing parties, it's not hard to get an investigation going.

Once it's started, we all know how wildly it can careen into "other areas".

As governor, he is privy to all the inside scoop, and at least has a chance of preparing himself for questions that may arise, but once out of office, he loses his standing, and can be blindsided at any moment...and count on HIS enemies to also be anti-Obama, so I can see why he withdrew. I wish he had not accepted in the first place.

He only has 2 years more as governor, and from what I have heard, this "case" is nowhere near "finished", so he will probably just hang in there until his term is over, and hope that he is cleared..

The thing is, once accused, you are never really cleared..He will always be referred to as having been a target of a long-time investigation that did not find "enough" wrongdoing to nail him..

Supposedly, this is about a large construction firm who got a lot of state work, AFTER large contributions to his campaign..

[janx]

7. From the NYT:

“David Rubin makes a lot of contributions to a lot of causes, especially liberal Democratic causes,” Mr. Ripp said. “It’s unfortunate that people are trying to connect dots that aren’t there.”

Mr. Rubin’s company was one of six that answered a request for proposals in December 2003 on a $1.6 billion-bond program to pay for transportation projects. In March 2004, the company scored second-best in the bidding process and lost the main contract to a joint venture between Smith Barney and Ryan Labs.

But at the same time, the New Mexico Finance Authority decided to hire CDR to do two other consulting jobs — one to advise on complicated bond swaps and investments in so-called derivatives, and another to restructure the escrow funds of the bonds. The California company was paid $1.4 million for those services.

“I think it was a very open and transparent process,” said Stephen Flance, chairman of the authority. “To my knowledge there was never anything out of the ordinary or inappropriate.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/us/politics/19richardson.html?_r=1&ref=us

[merh]

5. It's not new

this has been ongoing for a while -
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/15/grand_jury_investigation_into.html