Culture of corruption: Bill Richardson edition
Well, well, well. Another Obama ally off the hook. Last month, it was Chris Dodd who escaped accountability for his Countrywide sweetheart home loan deals. This week, it’s failed Commerce Secretary nominee Bill Richardson. The decision to drop federal corruption charges against Richardson was made by…top officials in crime-coddling Attorney General Eric Holder’s Department of Injustice.
Birds of a feather skate together:
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won’t be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor’s large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.
The decision not to pursue indictments was made by top Justice Department officials, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified because federal officials had not disclosed results of the probe.
“It’s over. There’s nothing. It was killed in Washington,” the person told The Associated Press.
A federal grand jury began an investigation in 2008 into a possible pay-to-play scheme in which lucrative work on state bond deals went to a Richardson donor. The federal probe derailed Richardson’s appointment as commerce secretary in President Barack Obama’s administration.
Richardson withdrew his nomination in January, saying the investigation would have delayed his confirmation although he said expected to be cleared.
Of course he did.
Chapter One of Culture of Corruption fills you in on all of Richardson’s shady pay-for-play schemes. A relevant excerpt for you from my section on Richardson:
The White House transition team knew about the pay-to-play scandal involving a California company, CDR Financial Products, well before Obama unwisely fêted Richardson’s ability to show “how government can act as a partner to support our businesses.” FBI and federal prosecutors launched their probe of CDR’s activities in New Mexico in the summer of 2008.
The feds had been digging into a nationwide web of favor-trading between financial firms and politicians overseeing local government bond markets. CDR was tied to a doomed bond deal in Alabama which, according to Bloomberg News, threatened to cause the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. CDR raked in nearly $1.5 million in fees from a New Mexico state financial agency after donating more than $100,000 to Richardson’s efforts to register Hispanic and American Indian voters and to pay for expenses at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, the news service reported. The state agency that awarded the money consisted of five Richardson appointees and five members of his gubernatorial cabinet. CDR made contributions both shortly before and after securing consultant work with the state of New Mexico. CDR’s president also contributed $29,000 to Obama’s presidential campaign.
It took 33 days before Team Obama threw Richardson and his ethical baggage off the bus. On January 4, 2009, Richardson announced his withdrawal. “Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration (sic) have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact,” he told NBC News. “But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.” Obama gave the obligatory send-off: “”It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time.”
But it is a measure of Obama’s obliviousness that he nominated the ethically-challenged Richardson in the first place. Mother Jones writer James Ridgeway’s comment on the day of Richardson’s withdrawal proved quite prescient: “It may be premature to say that Obama and his team have too high a tolerance for corruption. But this first self-destruct among his cabinet picks could well prove all the more damaging because it’s something they should have seen coming from miles away.”
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More: Babalu Blog notes that Richardson was in Cuba when the decision came down.
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Categories: Bill Richardson,Corruption,Eric Holder
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Remember when Eric Holder and other Democrats said they would take politics out of the Justice Department. Looks like they lied. And we have to put up with these guys for three-plus more years.
The stuff coming out of Justice these days makes janet reno look like a rookie.
The obama administration – THE MOST CORRUPT AND INEPT IN HISTORY!
oh but if you (cough) torture a prisoner for the sake of protecting lives in the United States and abroad you will be chased to he!! and back until the libtards are satisfied.
IMPEACH OBAMA and his CRONIES NOW!!!
I second that….
and dangerous.
I’m sure they’ll get around to this after they address Rangel’s real estate corruption, Pelosi and her husband’s company corruption, Dodd’s mortgage corruption, the tax cheats in the administration’s cabinet, etc., etc., etc.
Why can’t we get a federal investigation of Eric Holder and his cronies in Washington? This all sounds like coverup material to me. Aren’t there any Representatives in Congress that can push for federal investigations for the people?
IMPEACH OBAMA and his CRONIES NOW!!!
My sentiments exactly!!!!
Holder is an A$$hole. And that is coming from a Christian senior citizen. See what they are turning me into?? I never used to use that language. Now, it is the only appropriate thing I can think of to say when describing these cockroaches.
Happy! I’m shocked at you! my ears!
Now go throw three Hail Marys and score a Touchdown.
Of course, if Rush Limbaugh jaywalks, I’d expect them to throw the book at him.
Seriously, don’t people see this?
crooks investigating crooks = no improper conduct found…
The Rule of Law is gone.
Prepare for the worst. Without a respect for the ideals of justice for all we’re doomed.
No surprise, really, when you look at the small fragments of Osama Obama’s history we have been allowed to hear about.
Holder is merely acting the way Lord Obama wants him to. Why else would he have been chosen?
And the Child-President is acting the way his hidden string-pullers want him to.
Impeachment resolutions should be introduced in Congress today. That they won’t be indicates an overwhelming need to replace Congress with ethical, patriotic citizens.
The nation is in danger. Sadly, some of the most dangerous threats come from within.
man o man we’re in a time warp with no controlling legal authority again…and how about that Glen Beck yesterday? I had never seen that show so we TiVo’d it yesterday. Wow! He has made a lot of accusations that has the O team going bonkers and the only fact the White House has disputed is he called Peter Orzag a czar instead of a director.
The most transparent administration ever…another cronie paid in full.
Enough already. This criminal gang must be stopped…NOW. I call upon all law abiding people in this country to refuse to recognize this criminal gang. Do not obey their laws, fight them will every ounce of ability you have. 2010 is now. FU Hussein Obama, you are not my president.
Soooo we will stop investigating blatant malfeasance and conflict of interest, but it’s full speed ahead investigating the CIA for preventing attacks on the US because they were not nice enough to avowed enemies who were admittedly planning to attack us.
Okie dokie then. It truly is silly season.
Eric Holder leaves the criminals alone and wants to prosecute the good guys. Is he evil or just insane?
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There are two tiers in our justice system–and in our Left Wing Media and government. A benevolent and forgiving standard for rich persons and well connected “democratic” / liberal / socialist / statist / marxist / communist politicians.
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There is a much harsher standard for low / normal income people and conservative / traditional / constitutional / patriotic Americans. Some examples of this dichotomy are:
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“Scooter Libby” persecution for a non-crime. Set up a “perjury trap”, find him guilty of nothing, and destroy him financially and imprison him. Bill Richardson–nothing to see here–move along–we have more important things to investigate–like CIA prisoner “abuse”.
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Larry Craig “toe tapping” in an airport bathroom stall–a really big reason to run him out of the Senate. Teddy Kennedy and Mary Jo’s death in his car–boys will be boys–an unavoidable accident–let him off and re-elect him to the Senate endlessly. Bwaney Fwank’s gay hooker ring in his basement–boys just want to have fun.
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Hugo Chavez, Fidel Castro, and Evo Morales–just good socialists helping out their people. The Honduran Government following their Constitution and removing a socialist / communist president who breaks their laws–a “military coup” against the people.
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The double standard exists everywhere–except in the lives of principled people.
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John Bibb
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They are not mutually exclusive.
Someday these people will be gone and we will treat them the same way they are treating the CIA.
Odopey goe’s to Hawaii before the election….. Grandma dies. hmmmmmm
Odopey goes to Marthas Vineyard before Health care vote…… Kennedy dies. hmmm
I wonder if Odopey’s end of life death panels traveled with him???? hmmmm
KOS mode off now………
Dumba$$ Voters 08, thanks again dillweeds.
Tip: avoid cities Odopey plans on visiting.
Of course you’re only saying this because you’re racist.
/RINO mode on: We couldn’t possibly do that, it wouldn’t be cricket! /RINO mode off.
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HI FLYOVERMAN #21. From your lips to God’s ears.
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Where would right wing nuttopia be without the MSM to actually produce news for them to hyperventilate over? Long live the New York Times and the Associated Press.
Pay to play is a way of life here in New Mexico. Richardson has raised it to a high art. I’ve had my own personal experience with it. He’s guilty as hell, and so are most of the people close to him.
And where would the LGM Collective be w/o MM.com?
well lgm got me with seering retort, I’m forever changed…
Sorry, lgm, the Death Panel has determined that their lives are becoming too expensive to prolong and they need to take a pain killer and await the inevitable.
Yes.
The world would be a much better place without the AP and NYT.
And the truth – unsullied by innuendo, opinion, political bias and advocacy – would at last have a chance to be heard!
Oh, you mean the self-proclaimed communist who is advising our POTUS? Or are you referring to the fact that radical communist organizations are actually writing the bills that supposedly were written by Congress? (No wonder they don’t bother reading them). That is so silly. I mean, who would do that to our country? You fear-monger! /sarc off.
Equal justice under the law . . . If you believe that please call me, I have a couple of large bridges I’d like to sell you.
Yeah , yeah, we know all that! Do you actually have a cogent comment about Richardson skating free, even with the most ethical administration ever?
Gee, will all the Stupid Party Senators who voted to confirm this AG – Attorney Gangsta – have something to say about this or will they be too busy seeking to collaborate with the Dems on a cut-down, slightly less fascist health takeover bill?
I think you know the answer to that question.
IOKWADDI (It’s OK When A Democrat Does It)
FIFY
Richardson was quoted today as saying, “I would do it all over again. In fact I am. The laws don’t apply to Democrats. We don’t pay taxes, we don’t go to jail. That’s why we think you conservatives are so stupid! We’re riding on a gravy train and you dumb bastards are breaking your backs working. Pathetic!”
A number of black (Democrat) mayors, governors, and congressman currently in prison or on their way, would only comment off the record stating, “What the f#ck? Why are we goin’ down an they is skatin’?”
Former President Clinton laughed but was obviously red faced with anger when told of these comments, “Hey – I gave everybody, black, white, hispanic, drug lord, terrorist, the same exact chance to buy a pardon, so don’t come to me with that crap.”
Attorney General Holder, who ran the pardons for cash program for Clinton, told ABC news, “Just be patient. What do you think President BO meant when he said, ‘Yes we can.’”
When are they going to change the name of the Department of Justice to the Department of Seletive Justice?
I guess I’m going to have to start reading the Santa Fe New Mexican. We never get the whole story in the small town paper.
Oh, that’s right. I almost forgot about Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich. And we just sat there and took it. That man should still be in prison, and his pardon was a travesty. But no one followed up on it. I thought that nothing could be worse than a POTUS actually pardoning a scumbag like tht. But now, the government is doing much much worse. And some of the same criminals are in charge now who were commiting crimes against this country in the Clinton administration. Why can’t we EVER learn from history??
Rogue Cheddar said (#36):
Yeah. Skating is what politicians do. Ask Oliver North. Ask Newt Gingrich. Heck, ask Bush. I don’t like it, but there’s nothing new under the sun (Jeremiah?).
My ride will becoming to an end in the not too distance future, I hope and pray the ride lasts long enough to see this once great country regain her liberty and righteous values that made her the greatest in history.
Wouldn’t hurt my feeling to see all these un-America bastards punished to the ump degree also…top to bottom…that being Odopy to the local lib turd dog catcher. Just a dream I have to keep me going…because what’s happening to this country is making me angry as hell and sick to my stomach.
Ummm….not Jeremiah. Try Solomon.
Breaking news; the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, and lgm says Republicans do it too. More news at 7pm.
So this is Richardson’s reward for endorsing Obama instead of Hillary.
Here in New Mexico, no one was surprised at the indictments. We all know Richardson is dirty… the entire NM political machine is corrupt. I’m just glad we have term limits so we will finally get rid of that slug.
At least the donks are being consistent: we’re becoming a Banana Republic financially, and now we’re becoming one in the highly selective application of our laws.
“We had to destroy America in order to ‘save’ it.”
- The unofficial motto of the donkey party
LGM is dirty also. According to his views it’s ok to be a lying scum deceiver. Maybe thats why his posts are so inane. People here aren’t dirt like him so it’s hard for us to understand his position that scum is ok if it benefits his “side”. Good people don’t think that way.
lgm thus confirms my comment about IOKWADDI.
Gingrich and North were on the take in a pay for play scheme? Gee, I totally must have missed that one.
lgm has his own view of reality. There are none so blind as one who will not see. The difference between most of us on this board and lgm is this: when we see corruption we recognize it. lgm only sees the corruption when it’s not his political party.
Golly! Who would have guessed that lgm would be Biblically illiterate? I NEVER saw that coming…
Lets see, US Justice department 4, Justice 0;
With the New Black Panthers breaking election laws, the secretary of Justice a tax evader, and now a governer caught up in corruption. All being let off the hook. How dare they look into the CIA for improper conduct.
Jeremiah, Isaiah, Solomon. It was so long ago.
Doesn’t that give you a warm fuzzy about the DOJ battling terrorists in the USA? The department of Justice can’t find its A$$ with both hands.
It’s actually ‘the preacher’ in Ecclesiastes, but traditionally attributed to Solomon.
Richardson was meeting with Hugo Chavez before and now he’s in Cuba??
Is it too much of a pun to say red flags are going up???
Why even bother to comment. It is totally obvious that in the BO administration that the “fix” is all the way in. All you have to do is look at the totality of BO’s appointments and see nothing but major major trouble.
But Richardson can claim he was cleared. Thats all that counts. I did not see the evidence other than what Michelle laid out. Did the Grand Jury not find anything wrong at all or did they find something and the DOJ let it go?
Is what he did illegal or not? If it was illegal, he should not be able to claim he was cleared but that they just didn’t prosecute him. Big difference.
Good job, Spaceycakes. You may go to the head of the class, and you get a cookie.
LGM, you’re right about politicians, of course. But you must remember that this is what gets Repubs in trouble: Claiming the moral high ground means that when you fail, you are brought down that much lower, harder and faster. This admin has claimed a high degree of ethics, and has now failed at maintaining that expectation. That’s the real story.
Do I get to choose my cookie? I can’t eat chocolate; it gives me a headache.
You can have any cookie you like, Spacey. I’ll get one of my vendors to bring in some Oatmeal Raisin if you like…..
newt gingrich never committed a crime, he screwed around on his wife, and we all know thats a badge of honor for democrats. oliver north went on trial for his sin of following orders. what we are talking about here are democrats who NEVER go to trial for their crimes, they are just swept aside by a corrupt ethics commission and an equally corrupt doj. i can’t wait to hear the howl from you when the next congress impeaches holder over these findings.
I just realized that I slightly mis-spoke. Claiming the moral high-ground isn’t in itself what gets Repubs in trouble. The trouble is that when they do fail, the media and political opponents are far more harsh on them than they are on Dems that fall off.
i.e.: When a Repub cheats on his wife with a professional lady of the evening, he is nailed hard by the media, usually because he has taken a family values type of stance. When a Dem does it, there’s barely a whisper, because the Dem never promised he’d be good, so he “hasn’t really done wrong.” See how that works?
Again, this admin has claimed a moral position which it has repeatedly failed to live up to.
Sarah Palin was investigated for every spurious allegation anyone could come up with, why not Richardson for the pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor’s large political donors?
Nobody in NM has the guts to follow this through? Why is Washington involved? Nobody in D.C. stopped the suits filed against Sarah Palin.
If this isn’t the same ol’ same ol’ hypocrisy of the Dimmies… aaargh!
They dare because they are rotten from the top down!
When the next GOP President and Congress is elected, will they have the political will to go back and prosecute these clear criminal violations, just as the Obama Administration seeks to prosecute anything under Bush instead of those would REALLY break the law? Oh, and will we say that we won’t as we do it? Ah, the messages we send our children…
So …. on the Ledger of Life we can mark you down as “Don’t Care” regarding the most corrupt Administration in American history? And we can also mark you down as having no shame at all for having voted it in?
Check. Check.
And yet the media does not hold them to account for it. So your thesis is wrong.
They do not attack the Republicans because the Republican claimed moral high ground. They attack the Republican because he or she is a Republican. And they let the Democrats skate because the Democrat is a Democrat. Period.
Saying it was because the Republican claimed moral high ground was always just an excuse to pursue their bias.
The media has been completely unmasked.