Richardson Withdraws as Commerce Nominee
WASHINGTON — Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, one of the country’s most prominent Hispanic politicians and President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to be commerce secretary, on Sunday dropped out of consideration for that post. He attributed his decision to the ongoing investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico. A LA CUAL HACE VEROSÍMIL CON SU RENUNCIA
Mr. Richardson said that he would continue as governor, and he added, “Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact.” VEREMOS
His decision came, he said, after he had concluded “that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process.” Mr. Richardson said in a statement, released by the Obama campaign, that the investigation might last weeks or months.
The withdrawal was one of the most direct setbacks to face Mr. Obama since his election, and it came after he had assembled his list of cabinet nominees in near-record time. Mr. Obama, who was flying late Sunday to join his family in Washington after a vacation in Hawaii, said he had accepted Mr. Richardson’s decision “with deep regret.”
“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,” Mr. Obama said. He vowed to quickly put forward a new nominee.
The news came as the incoming administration continues to face distractions over allegations that Governor Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois sought to profit personally in his choice of someone to succeed Mr. Obama in the United States Senate.
A federal grand jury in New Mexico is investigating accusations that Mr. Richardson’s administration gave substantial contracts to a California financier who contributed heavily to the governor’s political action committees, The New York Times reported last month, citing a person familiar with the grand jury proceedings.
Questions about the contracts almost certainly would have been raised in Mr. Richardson’s Senate confirmation hearings.
Since August, federal investigators have been examining how the California company, CDR Financial Products Inc., won two consulting contracts in 2004 worth about $1.4 million to advise the state on a large bond issue. The investigation was first reported in The Albuquerque Journal.
The Richardson withdrawal, first reported Sunday afternoon by NBC News, raises questions about the thoroughness of the Obama team’s vetting process, which had been touted as one of the most stringent ever. Stories about the investigation of the CDR contract and of the donations by David Rubin — the president of CDR and a major Democratic contributor — to the Richardson-linked political action committees have appeared in news reports at least since August. ¿POR QUÉ ENTONCES NO LAS TOMARON EN CUENTA?
In 2003 and 2004, Mr. Rubin gave about $100,000 to two political action committees that Mr. Richardson controlled, according to published reports.
An individual knowledgeable about the grand jury proceedings, who requested anonymity because of the secrecy of the proceedings, said last month that a grand jury was investigating “how CDR gets business in New Mexico and whether the governor’s office was involved in getting them business here.”
The person said jurors were hearing testimony about whether someone in the governor’s office had pressed the New Mexico Finance Authority to give business to CDR.
Allan Ripp, a spokesman for Mr. Rubin, said last month that the company had won the consulting work fairly after a lengthy review by New Mexico officials.
Mr. Richardson, who is in his second term as governor, served as ambassador to the United Nations and as energy secretary in the Clinton administration. But after ending his own bid last year for the Democratic presidential nomination, he chose to support Mr. Obama rather than Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.
In naming Mr. Richardson, who is of Mexican descent, as his pick for the Commerce position, Mr. Obama had said that he was assembling a cabinet that would be among the most diverse ever. LA DIVERSIDAD NO ES GARANTÍA DE UN MEJOR EQUIPO DE GOBIERNO. ES UN GUIÑO A LOS VOTANTES DE OBAMA.
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