New Mexicans who were counting the days until Gov. Bill Richardson moved on to Washington are disappointed with the news this morning that he has withdrawn his name as Obama’s Commerce Secretary.
Richardson is being investigated by a federal grand jury about the possibility he exchanged government contracts for campaign contributions. For now, Richardson denies it, but says he is withdrawing because the investigation will not be finished until after the confirmation hearings. "Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," Richardson told NBC News. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."
Obama accepted his decision with “deep regret,” saying “Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office.”
For the past month, Richardson has been dodging questions about allegations that in 2004 he awarded state business worth $1.5 million to Beverly Hills company, CDR Financial Products. About the same time, CDR’s founder donated $100,000 to Richardson’s political action committees. He also donated $29,000 to the governor’s 2008 presidential campaign.
With the Gov. Blagojevich pay-for-play scandal now playing out just prior to Obama’s inauguration, the president-elect has to be relieved about Richardson’s withdrawal. But, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper, “In a transition focused on avoiding drama, headed by a president-elect who has made ethics reform a major part of his political persona, the fact that a high-level appointee may be guilty of straight-up corruption means someone screwed up big time. Either the massive questionnaire that Obama Administration job seekers had to fill out was ignored for top people, or Richardson lied to the Obama staffers who were in charge of scrutinizing his background.”
The answer will no doubt emerge in the forthcoming grand jury investigation.