Embattled Obama Exec. Rattner gave $20K to guv
Man tied to NY pension scandal gave big to Richardson’s campaigns. Meanwhile, his company was doing business with the State Investment Council, which the governor heads.
Steven Rattner, the head of President Barack Obama’s auto-bailout program and a man who has been linked to a New York pension scandal that has tentacles in New Mexico, gave $5,000 to Gov. Bill Richardson’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and $15,000 to Richardson’s 2006 re-election bid.
That’s according to the money-in-politics Web site followthemoney.org.
Richardson heads the State Investment Council (SIC), which manages the state’s investments. In October 2005, the SIC voted to invest $20 million with Quadrangle Group LLC, according to minutes of the meeting. At the time of the 2002 and 2006 campaign contributions, Rattner was a managing principle in the company, which he left in February of this year to take the auto-bailout job.
Though he hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing, Rattner has been identified by national media outlets as the unnamed person in federal documents who allegedly arranged in late 2004 for Quadrangle to pay $1.1 million in exchange for business with the state of New York. Hank Morris is under indictment in the New York case, accused of using his position in that state’s comptroller’s office to shake down companies wanting to do business with the state’s pension fund, including Quadrangle.
Morris is accused of taking 95 percent of the money from Quadrangle as a kickback. He denies the allegations.
Morris, according to a document released today by the SIC, was the third-party marketer who helped secure the New Mexico investment contract for Quadrangle in 2005. The document discloses all of the “placement agents” that investment firms used to help win state contracts. The amount he was paid by Quadrangle for his work in New Mexico has not been disclosed.
Spokesmen for the governor’s office have not responded to a request for comment sent this afternoon via e-mail. A spokesman for the SIC declined to comment.
More allegations of pay to play
If it weren’t for the allegations against Morris in New York, this might be just another example of a Richardson donor who won a state contract. But the man in the middle is facing allegations that he took kickbacks in exchange for steering billions of dollars in New York retirement-fund investments to paying companies.
State government in New Mexico has been plagued by pay-to-play allegations in recent years. And Richardson is currently dogged by such allegations in his own administration — which, in the federal grand jury investigation and the separate lawsuit brought by Frank Foy, have to do with state investments. The first, a criminal probe, is what tanked Richardson’s nomination to be Obama’s commerce secretary.
It’s important to note that Rattner and Quadrangle have not been accused of wrongdoing in New York or New Mexico, and Morris has been accused of no wrongdoing in New Mexico. Quadrangle is reportedly cooperating with investigators in the New York case.
The SIC has taken two steps in response to the situation in New York. Last month, it requested from all investment firms that hold contracts with the SIC the disclosure of third-party marketers they used to help win state contracts. That information is contained in the document SIC released today.
In addition, on Friday the SIC suspended a contract with financial adviser Aldus Equity because of questions about its relationship with Morris in the New York case.
5 Comments
Leave a Response
You must be logged in to post a comment.
wedum, i would never ask eric griego to lead this state to progress…
while he was a city councilo he limited ballot access in albuquerque. Not really the “progressive” thing to do.
Run around the story to the other side. Since this is “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine,” only those people who don’t get what they want will blow a whistle. You will never get your story from them.
There is another way. Let’s establish the baseline for these actions. Look at everyone who was appointed or got a contract and see what percentage of those people gave money directly or indirectly to Bill Richardson. If that percentage is about 10 percent and 90 percent did not “pay to play,” then it exonerates the governor completely and we owe him a huge apology for messing up his appointment in the Obama administration.
However, if we find that nearly 100% of the people who successfully got what they wanted donated directly or indirectly to Bill Richardson, then you can opine that the next person wanting something has prima facie evidence of how to get what they want, they must “pay to play.” To be sure, “pay to play” was here before Bill Richardson and will be here long afterward.
Suspicion is not proof. Bill Richardson and his staff are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I hope their day in court comes soon.
The further time passes, the deeper the Governor is involved in shady dealings, along with OBama.
As the old saying goes, “birds of a feather, flock together”. The Governor has led the people of New Mexico down a rosy path with his promises and charisma.
What further things will come about in our little play of ‘the new Peyton Place’ drama. Watching politics in New Mexico is like watchin a soap opera. You can hardly wait for the next episode, to see what will unfold in the next scandalous program.
Remember that charisma is not always the best picture for leadership. History has proven that, with Napoleon, Hitler, Mussolini and many others. I wonder if we will wake up before it is too late?
Good Freinds – If you recall have been warning Heath followers that the plot will thicken and the sage will continue. We are seeing what happens when you have dominant control by one Party with no real checks and balances or any ethic reform (guidelines) for elected officials. Public funded elections will not solve the problem – oorrupt public officials. Men (and women) are so changed when in power. What the real answer is term limits, shorter campaigns and a media that exposes corruption at all levels. Remember that “the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.” Money in and of itself is not wrong…it is the handlers who change it from gold to rust.
Again, “now page 3…”
The golden rule in politics is, “Follow the gold.” All this shows how much we need publically financed elections. Contact Sen Eric Griego and encourage him to continue his work to get SB165, or a variant of it, passed.