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AG says guv’s radio ads might have violated law
Attorney General Gary King (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
The Attorney General’s Office says Gov. Susana Martinez’s radio ads that lobbied the Legislature using campaign funds might have violated state law, The Santa Fe New Mexican is reporting.
The letter from Deputy Attorney General Albert Lama urges Secretary of State Dianna Duran to reconsider her position that the campaign expenditure was legal, the newspaper reported.
From the newspaper:
“‘Although you did not seek our advice in this matter, we are concerned that your interpretation of the Campaign Reporting Act is unnecessarily broad and may open the door to use of campaign contributions contrary to the Legislature’s intent,’ Lama wrote.
“But Lama’s letter doesn’t suggest that the attorney general is going to take any further action.”
Duran ruled earlier this month that Martinez didn’t violate state law by using campaign funds to lobby the legislature, saying the ads “promote the governor’s issues and ideas, and that the promotion of such issues and ideas are a standard campaign activity.”
Duran’s ruling followed complaints from two nonprofits about the ads – Somos Un Pueblo Unido and Common Cause.
Duran was quoted by The New Mexican as saying her office had not received “any correspondence or communication from the Attorney General on this matter,” including the letter obtained by the newspaper.
“We find it surprising and unlikely that the Attorney General would decide to create some unsolicited legal advice for our office and immediately forward it to the media before sending it to us,” Duran said. “This would seem to be a violation of the ethical obligations of any attorney…”
She also noted that the letter “does not contain any reference to case law or legal precedent. It also contains no mention of the Supreme Court’s or 10th Circuit’s holdings on First Amendment issues. Accordingly, our office would have any number of questions concerning the opinions expressed in it.”
Update, 10:25 p.m.
Martinez spokesman Danny Diaz released this statement:
“Just like other groups and political parties that aired ads during the session, the governor has a First Amendment right to promote ideas and issues, including her desire to ban driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants. The secretary of state has ruled this was perfectly fine, which is consistent not only with common practice, but more importantly, with the opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
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Wow; that has to be some kind of record for self-contradiction. Of course, there’s also the matter of:
My only suggestion is to look in a mirror, Mr. Foley. You launch almost blanket personal attacks against any person with the temerity to put a “D” after their name, and then your only argument is that they are making personal attacks against you? It has become remarkably clear that to you, the only person who isn’t attacking you personally is one whom is in complete agreement with you, without caveats. All I did at the beginning of this discussion was point out a logical hole in your argument – without any snide commentary nor a personal attack – and your knee-jerk schoolyard response was to get petty, childish, and personal. As previously stated, this sort of myopic and hypocritical attitude is is one of the primary reasons that the voters of New Mexico removed you from office.
As for the rest of your commentary, you have alternately misrepresented and just plain fabricated my position to a point that makes it clear that you are so blinded by your unjustified self-righteousness that you are apparently no longer capable of so much as understanding any position that does not agree entirely with your own, much less debating it with maturity, consideration, and intelligence.
IcarusPhoenix you just don’t get it. The reality is you actually do get it you just want to argue for the sake of arguing.
Nobody has said any part of the government doesn’t belong to the people. The fact remains the AG represents the SOS and when you choose to put partisan politics ahead of your job you should be held accountable. I would never expect you to hold any Democrat accountable for anything since you make a living defending them but the facts are the facts.
Funny how your entire defense of the last election is anti-incumbency yet you fail to recognize there were many Republican incumbants up as well and they were re-elected……….. I guess the overwhelming victory for the Gov and SOS have nothing to do woth the “majority” of NM voters. Keep trying to explain away what is wrong with the Democratic party and Republicans will keep getting elected.
The fact is your party and the corruption issues along with individuals like you who are snide, pithy and just plain rude continue to elect Republicans across the state in the country. So once again thank you for speaking up as much as you do.
Mr. Foley:
First of all, both the Secretary and the Governor are a part of the government – which, I might add, that same constitution makes clear is the people’s government. Thus, the AG (also a part of the people’s government) represents both of them on behalf of the people.
Secondly, the people of New Mexico haven’t been voting Republican, which is quite obvious to anyone with even a basic understanding of polling models. What they are doing is voting anti-incumbent. You of all people should be familiar with this particular phenomenon.
IcarusPhoenix just because you say it does not make it a fact!
The truth is he is the “General Counsel” for State Government and that is according to the Constitition and his own WEB Site, check them both out it clearly will be a first.
Secondly the SOS is the person who makes decisions concerning the elections and the election code, not the AG by the way. His job is to represent state government and fight crime, the second one he is cleraly a failure at!
Your constant attacks and snide comments of anyone who disagrees with you only highlights your immaturity and confirms why New Mexicans are voting for Republicans in the state, keep up the good work.
Mr. Foley, someone should point out to you that neither the Secretary nor you (nor I, for that matter) are lawyers. Attorney General King is, and his client isn’t the Secretary, it’s the people. Your understanding of our system is, as ever, weak at best.
The SOS came to her conclusion as a result of her opinion of the election law, period. The problem, that you fail to recognize or acknowledge, is the AG’s client in this matter is the SOS and he should not be leaking information to the media without first consulting his client. Let me put it to you this way, lets say these groups choose to take the SOS to court who is charged with representing her in court?????????
The survey says……… The AG, now explain to me how you represent your client when your office acts like this?
I beleive this is exposing a fundamental flaw in the system, especialy with an AG as partisan as this AG and his staff. These actions by the AG’s office would probably get your average attorney in hot water if they did this in the private sector. Now is the time to see if the NM Bar Association will do the right thing or defend these actions by the AG?
I am not attacking anyone by the way, I am pointing out the factual flaw in what the AG did, period. It only adds to my point that you believe the SOS’s opinion on the issue is correct. It shows the AG had no intention of representing the SOS instead he wanted to draw a political blow to a newly elected REPUBLICAN official, the problem is once again the AG is putting partisan politics before doing his job as the AG of NM.
This is the kind of thing the average person in NM is sick and tired of, period. Gary King the election is over and Dianna Duran won, now start doing your job and act as her attorney and not a partisan hack for the party…….
Well, if Duran is right, does it follow that legislators can use their campaign funds to make robocalls attacking Martinez? Can they solicit funds for that purpose? Does “promote ideas and issues” include throwing a christmas party for some orphans, for example?
Mr. Foley:
One slight problem with your argument; the Secretary of State came to her conclusion a whole lot faster than the Attorney General’s office did. I still think that Secretary Duran’s conclusion is correct in this matter, but that doesn’t change the fact that your attack has a huge hole in it.
As for FSM, it seems we have another poster who has joined us lacking an ability to keep their conspiracy theories straight…
Let’s see the AG can quickly come to a conclusion and give it to the media prior to sending it to his client the SOS? Our AG can come to this conclusion in a matter of days without stating any facts or court cases yet he has been unable to get anyone convicted in any number of corruption cases that had to be taken over by the Feds?
Clearly this highlghts the partisan nature of the AG’s office and clearly their desire to give the press release to the media before consulting their own client is criminal. I hope the SOS will seek resolution from the NM Bar Association since they over see the ethical actions of the lawyers in NM.
But before we get carried away I am sure Gary King had nothing to do with this, he is never in NM
“We find it surprising and unlikely that the Attorney General would decide to create some unsolicited legal advice for our office and immediately forward it to the media before sending it to us,” Duran said. “This would seem to be a violation of the ethical obligations of any attorney…
Makes you wonder how much of the Democrat whining is Male Machismo against a woman Governor.
Do any of these RAZA and Socialist organizations have anyone with the intelligence to balance a checkbook?
Mexico has some great union rules. Maybe they ought to move there!
You could use the ‘Irony’ of their complaints now that they aren’t making all of the rules for themselves to build a large tower.