Free Republic

San Diego (CNN) -- Mitt, we hardly knew ye. Or should I say, "primo!" As much as it embarrasses me to admit it, given some of his views and how he expresses them, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and I could be distant cousins. Romney's father, George, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and so was my grandfather, Roman. Que? You didn't know that Mitt Romney was half-Mexican? It's true. In fact, if he makes it to the White House, in addition to becoming the first Mormon in the Oval Office, he could also be the nation's first Hispanic president. Don't...

This is the fourth federal investigation of former Gov. Bill Richardson or his administration ... One ended with no charges but a strongly worded letter that the state’s procurement system had been corrupted. It did cost Richardson a position as commerce secretary under President Barack Obama. A second investigation ended with two heavily redacted federal appeals court decisions and no charges. A third, involving state investments, entered the federal investigation equivalent of interdimensional space where we may never hear of it again. And now we are on No. 4, which centers on how Richardson and friends paid off a threatened...

A federal grand jury is investigating former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson over possible campaign-finance violations stemming from his 2008 presidential run, including allegations that he arranged for supporters to pay off a woman who planned to say they had engaged in an extramarital affair... Several of Mr. Richardson's close associates have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony

A federal grand jury in Albuquerque is investigating former Gov. Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign for possible financial irregularities. The grand jury has been hearing testimony in secret since at least September, and a number of witnesses have been granted immunity, according to defense attorneys familiar with the general outlines of the investigation. Neither the U.S. Attorney’s Office nor the FBI would confirm or deny the existence of the latest investigation. But the Journal has learned that one area under scrutiny is whether money from campaign supporters was used to settle a threatened lawsuit against Richardson in the fall of 2007...

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Tuesday that he would leave Cuba after exhausting all possible avenues to try to win the release of a jailed U.S. government subcontractor, adding that he was treated so poorly he doubted he could ever come back to the island as a friend.

Gov. Susana Martinez’s push to repeal the 2003 law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses is generating opposition from the state’s Roman Catholic hierarchy. The state’s Catholic bishops, an active voice in many hot-button political issues in recent years, are urging Martinez and state lawmakers not to scrap the controversial law, contending it benefits public safety and the economy. A statement released this week and signed by Archbishop Michael Sheehan, Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces and Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup, asserts the law leads to more drivers having auto insurance and allows immigrant...

How does a company bidding on a $38 million state road contract end up with confidential documents regarding the job? Taxpayers deserve an answer if New Mexico wants its public procurement process to have any credibility. It is undisputed that FNF Construction, the second-lowest bidder and the company the Richardson administration tried to give the job of rebuilding 18 miles of Interstate 10 south of Las Cruces, got the internal documents. And, according to the story in Sunday’s Journal by investigative reporter Colleen Heild, they would have succeeded except that federal officials who held the purse strings balked at the...

NM judge booked, fingerprinted in political bribery scandal tied to Democrats, RichardsonArticle by: Associated Press Updated: May 20, 2011 - 3:35 PM LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A New Mexico judge charged with bribery in a scandal tied to former Gov. Bill Richardson pleaded not guilty Friday, then was booked, fingerprinted and ordered to hand over his passport. State District Judge Michael Murphy is accused of telling a potential judicial candidate that if she wanted a seat on the bench she needed to donate to the Democratic Party through a political activist linked to Richardson. Allegations in a special prosecutor's report...

Just when Bill Richardson appeared to be in the clear on corruption charges in New Mexico, new allegations of pay-for-play during his administration may envelop the former Governor again. A grand jury indicted a sitting district judge on charges of corruption for buying his appointment from Richardson in 2006, and a whistleblowing judge believes the rot went all the way to the top: Third Judicial District Judge Mike Murphy allegedly said he gave $4,000 to get appointed to the bench by then-Gov. Bill Richardson in 2006, and told several people that other judicial appointees had to give money as well....

The high-flying administration of Gov. Bill Richardson left town without paying all its air travel tabs. Nearly $24,000 in bills for use of the state jet and other government aircraft still hadn't been paid when Richardson left office Dec. 31, according to the General Services Department. The flights were taken over several years, and one bill was 5 years old. The General Services Department has four airplanes and bills agencies for their use. On April 1, the department sent past-due notices to six executive agencies. The billings covered at least 15 round-trip flights between May 2006 and November 2010 and...

Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson hopes that Osama bin Laden's death will spur President Barack Obama to promote climate change legislation. “My hope is that from this success in the foreign policy arena two days ago, that he will be emboldened to take once again to the Congress legislation — not just to increase a renewable energy standard — but climate change legislation that this country and the world need,” Richardson said Tuesday at a Climate Leadership Gala hosted by the Earth Day Network in Washington. Climate change legislation, particularly anything labeled as toxic as “cap and trade,” is...

About two weeks before he left office, Gov. Bill Richardson's staff handed over his office's records to the State Records Center and Archives. But there was one condition. Richardson agreed to turn over his records under the condition that for the next eight years, only four people would have access or be able to grant access to the documents — Richardson himself; his chief of staff, Brian Condit; general counsel Justin Miller; and scheduler Janis Hartley. Richardson's action is allowed under a state law passed in 1967, Records Center Director Sandra Jaramillo said ... Attempts to reach Richardson and his...

Former Gov. Bill Richardson signed a contract with a child care workers union on his last day in office that the new administration says could cost taxpayers a half-million dollars. The contract covers an estimated 2,600 child care workers under contract with the state Children, Youth and Families Department to provide home care for the children of low-income parents. It sets up an arbitration and grievance process for child care providers who take state payments and establishes a system in which dues are deducted from paychecks and sent directly to their union. Martinez's staff contends the contract will require CYFD...

Once aimed at completion last year, the $209 million taxpayer-financed project in the southern New Mexico high desert stands half-finished. In her first two weeks in office, a wary new governor sacked both the Spaceport Authority's board and its executive director. Records show the ambitious project launched under Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson has faced construction delays and a lack of planning. Competition from other states interested in commercial space flights continues to loom. There's also the prospect that the state may need to spend an additional $10 million to $20 million to build a second runway to deal with the...

Unsettling revelations about the Richardson administration keep coming to light even as the former governor eases back into private life. In the midst of ongoing federal investigations into pay-to-play allegations and insider investment deals involving the State Investment Council and the Educational Retirement Board comes word of a fishy deal that died thanks to some sharp-eyed former state staffers. What was afoot was a plan to invest $100 million of New Mexico taxpayers' money in a Baltimore casino deal. The arrangement included a familiar cast of characters — former State Investment Officer Gary Bland, Canadian developer Michael Moldenhauer, and former...

In his quest to become "anonymous and insignificant" former Gov. Bill Richardson today got himself appointed to be a "goodwill ambassador" for the Organization of American States. Secretary General (José Miguel) Insulza asked former Governor Richardson to assume once again the charge of Special Envoy for Hemispheric Affairs, a position he held from 2006 to 2007. The meeting gave the North American politician an opportunity to share with the head of the hemispheric Organization his gratitude for the trust placed on his experience, which will allow him once again to confront the challenges of regional migration as OAS Special Envoy....

An 88-year old commercial real-estate magnate — and Bill Richardson campaign contributor — convicted of embezzling and stock manipulation is among 19 people who received executive clemency this year from New Mexico's outgoing governor. Eddie Gilbert, who in the 1950s was called "the boy wonder of Wall Street," served two prison sentences for crimes committed in New York decades ago. A Richardson spokesman said Wednesday that Richardson's action regarding Gilbert is not an actual pardon...Richardson does not have the power to pardon federal crimes. The governor of New Mexico also doesn't have the power to pardon crimes committed outside the...

The Hispano Round Table of New Mexico, representing more than 50 groups, unanimously passed a resolution saying the Democratic governor was "ruthless, dishonest, deceptive, dishonorable, contemptuous and abusive" toward their community, failed to create a promised state Department of Hispano Affairs, and misled prominent Hispanic groups with that promise. A spokesman for the governor, Gilbert Gallegos, said Richardson "will not lower himself to respond to such a ridiculous assertion." The resolution said the Hispano Round Table was making "a national and international call to censure Richardson." The resolution demanded he "immediately stop representing and speaking for or on behalf of...

Billy the Kid was a killer and a thief. So why is the governor of New Mexico thinking of pardoning him? Because he was also a snitch. Stephanie Simon explains why New Mexico may give Billy The Kid a pardon for a crime he committed in 1879. Plus, President Obama may cut corporate taxes and why 2010 was turbulent for airline travelers. The outlaw testified against three men accused of gunning down a one-armed lawyer in 1879. Some historians say he would never have done so unless he had been told he wouldn't be prosecuted for some of his crimes....

Gov. Bill Richardson's administration and Gov.-elect Susana Martinez continued to play tug-of-war Wednesday over a state operation that is charged with processing DNA samples and maintaining related records on thousands of criminals across New Mexico. The incoming Republican governor, Democratic legislative leaders, prosecutors, defense attorneys, victim advocacy groups and others have opposed the department's plan to relocate the lab.

The State Fair Commission, whose members are appointed by the governor, had been scheduled to consider an eleventh-hour, back-room deal enabling the Downs at Albuquerque to build a new slots casino. Craig Swagerty, general manager of Expo New Mexico, the agency that runs the fair, said the meeting was canceled because he didn't expect a quorum of commissioners to attend. Maybe commissioners realized the deal just didn't look good with Richardson leaving office Friday. The Downs and its officers — including Richardson good buddy Paul Blanchard — contributed more than $300,000 to Richardson's two campaigns for governor. Blanchard also was...

Whether he was simply ruminating to the world or had inside information, an Albuquerque pastor and freelance columnist sparked international speculation about Gov. Bill Richardson's next career move with an article suggesting the departing governor might become America's next secretary of state. Michael Williams, who runs a family counseling ministry in Albuquerque and pens occasional columns for the website Examiner.com, wrote a Christmas Eve piece saying that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was contemplating retirement and that Richardson is a natural replacement for her in the Obama Cabinet. What happened next shows the bizarre nature of information in the Internet...

A report says Hillary Clinton could step down as Secretary of State and would potentially be replaced by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.

Gov. Bill Richardson took the oath of office in 2003 under the shadow of two federal investigations — one involving national security and the other dealing with stock price manipulation. He leaves office this week with another probe lingering, this one into how the son of a good friend and political adviser made millions of dollars from state investments. In between, there was the investigation into allegations of state contracts for campaign cash that derailed his nomination to President Barack Obama's Cabinet. Richardson's appointments of political advisers, supporters and contributors went deep into state agencies, boards and commissions, eliminating the...

US “troubleshooter” Bill Richardson, who just returned from a trip to North Korea, is likely to be tapped to succeed Hillary Clinton to become the next U.S. Secretary of State, Yonhap News Agency said Saturday citing a report. “Numerous sources are pointing toward New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson as possibly replacing Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State in 2011,” Exminer.com said. The possibility is opening up, with some circumstantial signs backing up the view. For example, the current U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s husband, Bill Clinton, is suffering from heart conditions and she is said to want to spend...

SANTA FE — Gov. Bill Richardson says he will establish a Santa Fe-based international peacemaking institute after leaving office at year's end. Richardson, who returned to New Mexico late Tuesday after an unofficial mission to North Korea, told the Journal in a Wednesday interview that the institute will focus on brokering peace accords and rescuing hostages. The two-term Democratic governor has secured an office in Santa Fe's downtown area and plans to call the institute the Richardson Center for Peace and Dialogue. "It's not going to be big," Richardson said. "It's not going to be affiliated with anybody. It will...

Bill Richardson’s trip to North Korea isn’t approved by the Obama administration, but he’ll give officials a “full report” when he returns, the State Department says. The New Mexico governor is on a “private visit” to North Korea and “did not ask our permission before he went,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters on Monday. “We did not approve his visit

- North Korea said New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson met Monday with a ranking official of the communist country to deliver "a present" for leader Kim Jong-il. A two-paragraph dispatch by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) suggested Richardson has failed to meet with the 68-year-old leader amid festering regional tensions.

Richardson in N.Korea, hopes to 'make a difference' by Dan Martin 1 hr 34 mins ago BEIJING (AFP) – Veteran US troubleshooter Bill Richardson arrived Thursday in North Korea, saying he hoped he could "make a difference" as Seoul announced plans for a live-fire drill on a key frontline island. Richardson's visit comes less than a month after the North sparked global alarm and racked up regional tensions with its deadly shelling of the South's Yeonpyeong island and revelations of an extensive uranium enrichment programme. South Korea on Thursday announced a major reshuffle of its military aimed to boost the...

Blitzer headed to North Korea By: CNN’s “The Situation Room” Anchor Wolf Blitzer Beijing, China (CNN) - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson arrived here just a little while ago - a short layover on the way to Pyongyang, North Korea. I am traveling with him covering his four day private visit to North Korea. I've been to China and South Korea - including the DMZ - but never to North Korea and am looking forward to seeing it.

WASHINGTON | Wed Dec 8, 2010 4:03pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson said on Wednesday he would travel to North Korea from December 16-20, hoping to ease mounting tensions with Pyongyang over its nuclear program and belligerence toward South Korea. "I am increasingly concerned with the recent actions by the North Koreans, which have raised tensions and are contributing to instability on the Korean Peninsula," Richardson said in a statement, saying he was going as a private citizen. "I am not carrying any messages, but I want to be helpful during this volatile period," Richardson said....

Any casual observer can easily see how [NM] state government is structured to prevent things from happening. And that is why, as his eight years in office wind down, I find myself, grudgingly, tipping my hat ever so slightly in the direction of Gov. Bill Richardson. For better and for worse, and, I have little doubt, motivated largely by his desire to be president, Bill Richardson changed a state that is designed to change only rarely. ... Richardson pushed through tax law changes, got the state Constitution amended by popular vote to increase funding for schools, established a Department of...

Gov. Bill Richardson has announced furloughs and layoffs will be avoided in the latest round of state budget-cutting, which takes effect today. Richardson's office just sent out a news release in which the two-term Democratic governor said he'll use $1.4 million in federal stimulus money under his control to help executive and judicial branch agencies avoid furloughs.

Gov. Bill Richardson's job approval rating has plummeted as he nears the end of his second term and nearly two out of three New Mexico voters think the state is on the wrong track. The Democratic governor's approval rating has eroded significantly in the last two years, a new Journal Poll found. The state has been hit hard by recession and budget cutting has followed. The administration has been clouded by investigations of pay-to-play politics. Just 33 percent of proven, likely voters surveyed statewide Aug. 23-27 said they approved of the job Richardson is doing. Sixty-three percent said they disapproved...

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- Descendants of frontier lawman Pat Garrett personally delivered a message to New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson that they're opposed to a posthumous pardon for outlaw Billy the Kid, who was killed by Garrett nearly 130 years ago.

Seriously: is Bill Richardson trying to wreck John McCain? Ask yourself: what would be the one thing most likely to undermine McCain with Arizona Republican Senate primary voters? Surely it would be the possibility that if re-elected, born-again immigration hawk McCain would revert to the squishiness that led him to collaborate with Ted Kennedy on a "path to citizenship" for illegals. Yet on this evening's Ed Show, that's exactly what the New Mexico governor—twice—imagined McCain might do. View video here.

PHOENIX — For nearly 30 years, the governors of the states that line both sides of the United States-Mexico border have gathered to celebrate border bonhomie. They issue proclamations and pledges to work together, air grievances and concerns behind closed doors and pose for the cameras in symbolic showings of cooperation. But this year the 28th annual conference has collided headlong with Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration, inspiring bitter recriminations among Mexican governors and rancor among some American ones.... Arizona Governor Jan Brewer happens by rotation to be the chairwoman and host of this year’s conference, scheduled for September at...

Here is video of former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson saying he is "kind of sad about Arlen Specter" losing the U.S. Senate primary in Pennsylvania to Rep. Joe Sestak. Richardson agreed that Specter's loss "surprised him," but said the country is in an "anti-incumbency" mood. Specter has no one but himself to blame. First he was a RINO, then he decided to be a complete turncoat. How can anyone be "surprised" he lost?

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington chose New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson for a dubious distinction Wednesday, naming him to a list of the nation's most unethical and incompetent governors. Richardson's office called the Washington, D.C.-based group's report on him "ridiculous" and cited the Journal as the culprit for his inclusion. "Governor Richardson has led the way for ethics reform in New Mexico," said Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia. "It's also difficult to take it seriously, since it relies almost exclusively on the Albuquerque Journal as its source." The CREW group cited Richardson, a Democrat, for using state investments to...

Since the imposition of the state "hiring freeze" in November 2008, at least seven workers in the Governor's Office have moved to jobs elsewhere in government. All but one of them has been given exempt, or political appointee, positions, earning just about the same amount of money they did in the Governor's Office. Under the hiring freeze imposed by Gov. Bill Richardson to help ease the state budget crunch, an exempt position can be filled only if the hiring is necessary and critical to an agency's mission. ~~big snip~~While the administration uses the term "hiring freeze" to describe the employment...

The shady Iranian fundraiser who for years donated lucrative sums to top Democrats—including the president, vice president and secretary of state—has pleaded guilty to a major bank-fraud scheme that could land him in jail for nearly two decades.Disgraced Democratic money man Hassan Nemazee admitted this week that he defrauded three financial institutions out of nearly $300 million in loan proceeds by falsifying documents and signatures to show he had hundreds of millions of dollars worth of collateral. The Ivy League-educated crook then used the proceeds to donate big bucks to the campaigns of federal, state and local candidates. Among them...

Gov. Bill Richardson's office wouldn't answer Journal questions this week regarding the governor's whereabouts and whether he was working in state or traveling outside New Mexico. Turns out Journal reporters weren't the only people left out of the loop. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, who is supposed to be in charge of state government when the governor is out of state, said Wednesday morning that she didn't know where Richardson was [and] had only a vague idea of when he would be returning. So are privacy concerns enough to keep his schedule from Denish, too?

New Mexicans should brace for tax increases in 2010, Gov. Bill Richardson warned Monday. "It's inevitable," Richardson told a news conference in the state Capitol. "It's very painful." Richardson ruled out tax hikes during a recent special legislative session called to deal with a projected $650 million state deficit for this year. His remarks Monday represented his strongest words to date on the likelihood of increasing taxes during the regular session that begins in January. Reaction to Richardson's remarks were mixed. Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, agreed with Richardson and said tax loopholes should be closely scrutinized. "We should remember that...

Today is Halloween, but Gov. Bill Richardson has been running around as Dr. Doom all week. Richardson is upset the Legislature approved a 7.6 percent cut in funding for most of his agencies as a means to help address a $650 million budget deficit. Day after day this week, in a well-orchestrated public-relations campaign, Richardson and other administration officials warned of dire consequences ... Senior citizens will go hungry, poor children will go without medical care, state parks will be shut, two prisons will be closed and hundreds of criminals will be set loose to prey on you, the administration...

SANTA FE, N.M. - Gov. Bill Richardson spent almost $139,000 for dinners and receptions at the governor's mansion last year, entertaining thousands of guests including movie stars George Clooney and Robert Duvall. A discretionary expense account covers the costs of the events. Spending from the fund was up 63 percent from 2007, when the governor campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination and traveled extensively outside of New Mexico. Expenditures totaled $138,925 in 2008, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press in response to a public records request. That is up from $85,197 in 2007 from $109,486 in 2006....

ELEPHANT BUTTE LAKE, N.M. (KRQE) - One mariner knew a collision with his own boat could not be avoided as a large houseboat with Gov. Bill Richardson aboard and an aide at the helm tried to dock Saturday at an Elephant Butte Lake marina. No one was hurt in the 5:15 p.m. incident that damaged three boats and the marina. However Brian Condit, Richardson's chief of staff, was cited for negligent operation of the houseboat Bloody Mary. Richardson told KRQE News 13 Wednesday that he was napping at the time. "I think it's important that we get the facts out,"...

The wailing and gnashing of teeth on both sides of the political aisle over last week's nonindictment of Gov. Bill Richardson and two former aides is to be expected in a state lacking the rich tradition of political corruption prosecutions they have in places like Illinois or New Jersey. Here in the Land of Enchantment, we're not used to the sharp elbows and eye gouging that accompany such matters. From comments coming from both sides, we don't even know the rules of these contests. And trust me, there are rules. Republicans are complaining that the Justice Department in Washington, D.C.,...

(English-language translation) HAVANA (AP) — The United States should implement the announced permission for Cuban-Americans to travel to Cuba, and the island should respond by eliminating exit restrictions on its citizens, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson recommended. This was one among a list of suggestions the American devised during his visit to the island, which ended on Friday. "There is a very good environment, the best I have seen in many years," Richardson stated in relation to a possible approach between the two countries. According to the governor, "humanitarian" steps should be taken to stimulate links between people [involved] in...

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.

HAVANA (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is trying to make positive changes in the United States, but is being fought at every turn by right-wingers who hate him because he is black, former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said on Tuesday. In an unusually conciliatory column in the state-run media, Castro said Obama had inherited many problems from his predecessor, George W. Bush, and was trying to resolve them. But the "powerful extreme right won't be happy with anything that diminishes their prerogatives in the slightest way." Obama does not want to change the U.S. political and economic system, but "in...