Suitably Flip

Bill Richardson Will Spend More Time With His Family

Wow.  My money was on Rahm to be the one to bow out of the Obaministration before Inauguration Day.  Who had Richardson?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Still two weeks to go of course.  Plenty of time for Emanuel (or Holder or Clinton or Daschle) to reconsider their appetite for federal scrutiny.

Update: Drew at AoSHQ:

He's staying on as Governor of New Mexico, which is apparently a non-partisan position since the fact that Richardson is a Democrat isn't mentioned in the story.

Richardson is under investigation in a 'pay to play scheme' (sound familiar?) involving a company that received a state contract after making a contribution to Richardson's political action committee

A federal grand jury is investigating whether a financial firm improperly won more than $1.4 million in work for the state of New Mexico shortly after making contributions to political action committees of Gov. Bill Richardson (D).

The probe focuses on whether the governor's office urged a state agency to hire CDR Financial Products. ... In the New Mexico case, the FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating how CDR, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., won lucrative fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 soon after donating $100,000 to two Richardson organizations.

Update:  Inevitably, Team Obama insists this is not the Bill Richardson they thought they knew.

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Bill Richardson Will Spend More Time With His Family

Wow.  My money was on Rahm to be the one to bow out of the Obaministration before Inauguration Day.  Who had Richardson?

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday in a report by NBC News. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process."

Still two weeks to go of course.  Plenty of time for Emanuel (or Holder or Clinton or Daschle) to reconsider their appetite for federal scrutiny.

Update: Drew at AoSHQ:

He's staying on as Governor of New Mexico, which is apparently a non-partisan position since the fact that Richardson is a Democrat isn't mentioned in the story.

Richardson is under investigation in a 'pay to play scheme' (sound familiar?) involving a company that received a state contract after making a contribution to Richardson's political action committee

A federal grand jury is investigating whether a financial firm improperly won more than $1.4 million in work for the state of New Mexico shortly after making contributions to political action committees of Gov. Bill Richardson (D).

The probe focuses on whether the governor's office urged a state agency to hire CDR Financial Products. ... In the New Mexico case, the FBI and federal prosecutors are investigating how CDR, based in Beverly Hills, Calif., won lucrative fees from the New Mexico Finance Authority in 2004 soon after donating $100,000 to two Richardson organizations.

Update:  Inevitably, Team Obama insists this is not the Bill Richardson they thought they knew.