Whose idea was it to investigate Richardson in the first place?

[janx]

I have been cruising the intertubes and have come up with nothing about that...? :

:shrug:

Does anybody know?

[CoffeeCat]

1. Obviously, someone decided...

...that Richardson wouldn't be in the Obama administration, so they dug out their file titled "Richardson", then
decided which piece of information would be used against him.

Every elected official in this country has dirt on them.

Piss off the wrong people and the trigger is pulled.

Welcome to Amerika.

[NashVegas]

2. It's Awful, But I Agree

All of these people have insurance policies all over the place. Mass blackmail is about the only thing that makes sense to explain many of the decisions leaders - on both sides of the aisle, IMO - have been making..

[CoffeeCat]

20. I agree with you...

Blackmail is the only thing that explains the compliance of Democrats, and how they've allowed George Bush to get
his way every time.

I just wonder...what is the underlying structure here? Is there one power structure (neocons) that keep everyone
in check? Who has the power in this situation? It has to be the PNAC neocons.

Then you have to ask...what do they want? What is their goal? Are they trying to destroy the country? Or just
enrich themselves?

With so many in on this--it's unbelievable that not ONE courageous person has stepped forward to lift the sewer
grate and expose these criminals.

Whoever runs the power structure--you can bet that they didn't plan on an Obama presidency. There were neocons
on both sides of the political aisle who were supposed to win. They didn't. You have to wonder how Obama
figures into all of this. Was he taken into a room, by the shirt collar and told, "Ok sonny...this is how things
are going to go down?" ...or what?

We're constantly given little snippets of evidence, which indicate that what plays out in the media--is a facade.

I guess that makes me tin-foil girl to think those things.

[CoffeeCat]

21. dup

duplicate

[janx]

5. I know that, TS, but I want to know who, specifically.

I want to know who has gone after my guv! :grr:

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. I'll give you three guesses.

And I'll bet you only need one. I guess it wasn't enough that "they" took the job that Richardson was best qualified for. Nope, that wasn't enough revenge on "Judas". :eyes:

[janx]

12. But is there any documentation of this? I understand that people

can assume so, but I'm just trying to find out where this officially originated. News stories don't include that information.

[joshcryer]

13. Baseless speculation.

But the hate will continue no doubt.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

24. You're right, he was the most qualified for that job.

[janx]

22. Actually, after some surfing I found that it's the company that's

under investigation, or at least was initially.

[Sebastian Doyle]

23. The "R" in "CDR" is "Rubin"

and there's your link to Team you know who.

[grantcart]

30. lol this has been in the public domain since August

Company A donates to campaign. Company A gets big contract.


Company B gets pissed and complains to feds.


Now what do you expect the Feds to not look at it.


As long as Company A had the best bid and was the obvious company to get the contract everything is fine.


No conspiracy and no malefesance.


This is the reason that we have all of the campaign finance laws so we can see who gets government contacts and see if they have been making any contributions.


Let the system work and keep the conspiracy mindset out of it.

[NMDemDist2]

3. here's the WaPo article from a while ago

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/15/grand_jury_investigation_into.html

A federal grand jury is investigating how an investment company won more than $1.5 million in work advising the state of New Mexico after making contributions to the political action committees of Gov. Bill Richardson, President-elect Barack Obama's choice to be commerce secretary.

The "pay-to-play" investigation is looking at whether the governor's office played a role in the the hiring of CDR Financial Products -- and the probe is in a highly active stage, two sources familiar with the matter said. Tomorrow in Albuquerque, the grand jury is expected to hear testimony from several witnesses, including officials at J.P. Morgan, who worked with the state and CDR on the state's investments, and from Richard's political action committee, the sources said.

[elleng]

4. Dunno, but may have been something going on locally;

there were several 'stories' about him not being as 'good' as he appears.

[AtomicKitten]

6. I'd rather he withdraw now than be eviscerated in a confirmation hearing.

Maybe it's political payback of some sort or just a coincidence.

:shrug:

[janx]

8. He seems pretty confident that he'll be cleared.

This is a drag.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

25. Bullshit is what it is.

[Ichingcarpenter]

7. Why did Bush fire NM US attorney David Iglesias and replace him with

someone that would do his bidding?



Dangerous New Turn in Justice Department Investigation
David C. Iglesias


The Justice Department's independent watchdog offices, the Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility, finished the definitive investigation about the firings, stating that U.S. Attorneys may not be removed for an "illegal or improper reason." I was not disappointed or surprised by the findings contained in its blistering report which I cooperated with fully. Every reason given for my ouster was examined and rejected as "disingenuous after-the-fact rationalizations" by former Justice Department personnel, thus sounding the death knell to my alleged "performance-related" problems. More importantly, the firings of my colleagues and me "severely damaged the credibility of the Department and raised doubts about the integrity of Department prosecutive decisions" according to the investigation. Several Republican officials took key roles damaging America's premier crime fighting organization.

The 392-page report described a "fundamentally flawed" process of termination, one in which politics were allowed to overrule the historic independence of U.S. Attorneys. Pat Rogers, the New Mexico Republican committeeman, despite his incessant drone of criticism, curiously refused to cooperate with the Justice Department investigators, as did Senator Pete Domenici, his chief of staff Steve Bell, former White House Advisor Karl Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and former DoJ official Monica Goodling. The Attorney General, Michael Mukasey called it straight, the removals were "haphazard, arbitrary and unprofessional". He further stated the reputations of the terminated US Attorneys were "unfairly tainted by the removals and their aftermath."

The local New Mexico GOP power brokers, on the other hand, did not care about the evidence, all they cared about was partisan wins, by any and all means. Rogers, former Republican Committeeman Mickey Barnett and New Mexico Republican Chairman Allen Weh among others,will never get it. Once in office, United States Attorneys, like federal judges, are required to stay out of politics. We were not like other political appointees since we are the only presidential appointees that have the power to take away a citizen's life, liberty, property and reputation. This is an awesome responsibility and must be administered fairly and without consideration of partisan gain.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-c-iglesias/new-dangerous-turn-in-jus_b_133614.html?show_comment_id=16722468

[janx]

15. Thanks.

If anyone knows, Iglesias does.

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. I don't know about Richardson but I do know about the Justice Dept

and the tainted use of it by New Mexican republicans and the bushies that this thing
has a smell on it.

[DeschutesRiver]

9. Well, ever since I heard the message delivered from James Carville

all those months ago now, that Richardson was a Judas, and the strongly implied threat given with it that there would be payback for Richardson's decision endorse Obama instead of Hillary, I figured there would be some kind of investigation that would shove Richardson to the sidelines. Either something that was true, but nobody had dug into it, or something fabricated to sidetrack a confirmation process just long enough to impact Richardson.

Intellectually, I don't mind Carville at all; but the day he made this comment, he looked downright mean and all about business. One of the few times I have ever heard him do what was definitely a "delivery of a message" to a Clinton camp traitor per their view. Chilling in a way. So this could be the payback, although I hope not. Because it could eventually cause Hillary's SOS bid to blow up in her face as well (payback for payback, if the motivation and political strength for that exists right now), and for once I don't think this has anything to do with her (more with Bill and the boys who help him to screw those who screw Bill).

Anyway, just my conspiracy worry for the day. There are so many political shennigans and skullduggeries going on right now that I can hardly keep up with them from one day to the next.

[DeschutesRiver]

10. And as I scan the front page, I see the "donor questions re Bill and Hillary" thread

maybe this isn't going to end pretty for either cabinet potential appointee. Maybe this is why Richardson hadn't resigned yet as gov, and why Hillary is being similarly cautious about resigning from her Senate seat too soon.

There is apparently no end to the nastiness in politics these days. Perhaps this IS going to play out to be a payback from one candidate to another, that will result in both blowing out from consideration in Obama's cabinet ultimately. What a damned mess that would be.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

26. Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) is what I think they call it.

[mod mom]

16. Best description ever: Carville-Million Dollar Asshole

Did Carville Tip Bush Off to Kerry Strategy (Woodward)

By M.J. Rosenberg - October 7, 2006, 9:11AM
I just came across a troubling incident that Bob Woodward reports in his new book. Very troubling.

On page 344, Woodward describes the doings at the White House in the early morning hours of Wednesday, the day after the '04 election.

Apparently, Kerry had decided not to concede. There were 250,000 outstanding ballots in Ohio.

So Kerry decides to fight. In fact, he considers going to Ohio to camp out with his voters until there is a recount. This is the last thing the White House needs, especially after Florida 2000.

So what happened?

James Carville gets on the phone with his wife, Mary Matalin, who is at the White House with Bush.

"Carville told her he had some inside news. The Kerry campaign was going to challenge the provisional ballots in Ohio -- perhaps up to 250,000 of them. 'I don't agree with it, Carville said. I'm just telling you that's what they're talking about.'

"Matalin went to Cheney to report...You better tell the President Cheney told her."

Matalin does, advising Bush that "somebody in authority needed to get in touch with J. Kenneth Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio who would be in charge of any challenge to the provisional votes." An SOS goes out to Blackwell.

The rest is history.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/oct/07/did_carville_tip_bush_off_to_kerry_strategy_woodward




Million Dollar Assholes: Carville, Shrum & Greenberg




I love documentaries. A lot. Real people in real situations are always weirder, more original and more interesting than any fiction Hollywood can brew.

I saw a documentary that blew me away today but I don't mean in a good way. It was called Our Brand is Crisis, about how the firm of Carville, Greenberg and Shrum (as in James Ragin' Cajun Carville and Bob $5 million man Shrum) travel around the world meddling in political situations they know little about for fun and profit when they're not busy losing Presidential elections.

The film takes place in the Bolivian election of 2002, when Carville et. al. convinced the Bolivian people they needed to elect Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, aka Goni, an American-born candidate who speaks Spanish with an accent and who had failed miserably once before as President during the 90s. He is elected by the thinnest of margins, only to be forced to resign 14 months later amid riots that left 100 people dead.

-snip

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2005/04/million-dollar-assholes-carville-shrum.html





Globalism extends to the American way of campaigning, it seems, and the hubris of the gringo strategists — earnest ex-Clintonistas employed by James Carville’s Greenberg Carville Shrum group — would be hilarious if human lives and a country’s political will weren’t at stake.

It’s a galling and provocative experience to viewers of any political persuasion, and a reminder to the left of how easily idealism can run amok.

The Carville boys were hired by Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada, a.k.a. ‘‘Goni,’’ a patrician Bolivian businessman who served a rough term as Bolivia’s president in the mid-’90s. Goni’s legacy was an unsuccessful program of ‘‘capitalization’’ (i.e., he welcomed foreign investment and watched foreigners get all the jobs).

By 2002, the time of filming, unemployment is through the roof and rural campesinos are agitating for political representation. Goni is old news and his poll numbers are dismal. Enter Jeremy Rosner, Greenberg Carville Shrum’s point man in Bolivia, an articulate manipulator of mass moods (and a fellow who bears an uncanny resemblance to Seth Meyers of ‘‘Saturday Night Live’’ — reality parodies itself here better than any comic could).

-snip
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/06/30/a_campaign_in_bolivia_thats_made_in_america/

[DeschutesRiver]

17. goodness, what a world this is.

I knew he was a mean sob, but I hadn't seen all of that. Runs pretty deep then.

At least I am not being suspicious without any reason to be. Besides, anytime you make a comment like he did, ie the Judas reference, and then a threat of payback, you ought to expect that the first place suspicion will fall is onto you, based directly on the comments you made. Carville has probably already figured this out, and mud won't even stick to him for long.

[leftstreet]

18. 'when they're not busy losing Presidential elections'

Thanks for those links.
Interesting.

[IsItJustMe]

14. My question is this, "When will the herd turn against Richardson and start calling him corrupt and

scum.

I guess it all depends on the msm.

[Metric System]

27. Oh look, another thread filled with insinuations and innuendo. How predictable. How pathetic.

HILLARY'S GOING TO STEAL THE NOMINATION!!!

HILLARY'S TAKING IT TO THE CONVENTION!!!

HILLARY'S GOING TO UNDERMINE OBAMA IN THE GENERAL ELECTION AND WORK AGAINST HIM COVERTLY!!!

OBAMA DOESN'T WANT HILLARY AS SOS, SHE'S TRYING TO BOX HIM IN AND FORCE HIM TO PICK HER!!!

Same tune, different song.

[janx]

28. I hope you didn't mean to direct your post to me. n/t

[Metric System]

29. No. It's meant as a commentary about many of the responses, not your original post.

[grantcart]

31. Hell if I had any idea that Hillary was this powerful I would have supported her instead lol

[Metric System]

32. Ha!

[Fearless]

33. Venting a bit?

The thread is going 3 ways: that way, the opposite, and the wtf is going on way. Pretty tame if you ask me.

[janx]

34. If it's any consolation, it was meant to be the WTF is going on? way.

:rofl:

But now I understand that it's the investment company that was initially questioned; since it did business with New Mexico, the slow arm of litigation must follow its lumbering course...

[Fearless]

35. My oh my...

:rofl:

[Garbo 2004]

36. CDR's dealings w local gov'ts have been under investigation for a couple years.

Apparently the FBI's investigation into the company's dealings with New Mexico started around August 2008:

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/apcontract08-30-08.htm

This December article provides more background info on the Feds looking into CDR's activities in New Mexico and elsewhere.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aL0GGUluJeT8&refer=worldwide

[davidpdx]

37. I hope Richardson is cleared in this

He's a good guy and I'm sorry to hear that he won't be in Obama's cabinet. Thanks to the people who posted the articles on the background about the situation. I was also unclear as to how this all began.

[CK_John]

38. IMO, it's the DOJ letting everyone in politics know they are on tape. n/t