Walk down the street and ask anyone passing by if they think that Attorney General Patricia Madrid handled the Treasurer’s corruption case well, and you’re bound to hear a resounding, “No Way!”
Unless the person passing by is Gary King, the Democratic Candidate for Attorney General. I kid you not. Just watch the video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpok7fu9b1Q]
Is Gary King for real? Can he actually be so out of touch with the situation that he thinks the way Patricia Madrid handled this debacle is okay? Or worse, is he already showing his lack of independence by demonstrating that helping the Party (and Patsy) save face is more important than speaking the truth?
Watch that video again, and you’ll have to agree that what Jim Bibb is saying is exactly what you and I and everyone we know is feeling. Patricia Madrid’s handling of this case from beginning to end (subscription) has been nothing less than “inexcusable.”
But Democrat Martinez had reason for doubt about Madrid’s commitment to root out corruption and about Vigil as early as August 1999. At that time he laid out the preliminary findings of an independent review of the State Auditor’s Office under Vigil.
Dennis Kennedy, an Albuquerque accountant, and Harroll Adams, a former Democratic state auditor, conducted the audit that noted at least 28 potential violations of state law.
Adams said Madrid was unreceptive to a report that indicated improprieties and possible corruption and rude to auditor Martinez. “I’ve never seen an elected official act the way she did,” he said.
When you get ready to cast your vote for Attorney General, I hope you’ll remember that Gary King thought the Madrid approach was just fine.