Pay to Play

That’s what The Associated Press is reporting, citing an unnamed source with knowledge of the investigation.
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 [...]

The New Mexico Independent’s Trip Jennings reports that Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.) is getting in on some of that sweet, sweet executive privilege action:
The [New Mexico] Independent sought to view documents from the governor’s office from January through August 2006 that would have divulged with whom he had met in the months prior to the [...]

It looks like Gov. Bill Richardson’s (D-N.M.) troubles might be getting a bit worse. Richardson is currently entangled in a federal pay-to-play investigation in his home state. Today, The New Mexico Independent’s Heath Haussamen reports that Steven Rattner, who is currently overseeing the Obama administration’s auto industry bailout program, has also been a major contributor [...]

This just in: Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D), gave the following statement to TWI’s sister site, The New Mexico Independent, expressing the governor’s support for his former chief of staff, Dave Contarino.

Anyone who thinks that the only thing better than one Democratic governor embroiled in a pay-to-play scandal is two Democratic governors embroiled in pay-to-play scandals received a big treat Sunday when another federal investigation that had been flying under the national radar suddenly came to light.
The twist? This scandal involves New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, [...]

As expected, the Obama-Biden transition team’s report detailing its conversations with the office of Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat clears all transition members of any wrongdoing.

Things are looking a lot worse for Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) today.
The Chicago Tribune reports that businessmen with ties to both Jackson and Illinois’ Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich’s campaign fund and then held a fund-raiser on the governor’s behalf in an effort to bolster Jackson’s chances for an [...]