In catching up on the news, I came across this little gem in an AP article by Barry Massey (subscription):
A California firm that contributed to Gov. Bill Richardson’s political activities is under scrutiny by the FBI over a lucrative contract it won four years ago for the financing of a $1.6 billion state transportation program.
The FBI has requested documents from the New Mexico Finance Authority and interviewed former and current authority officials about the contract with the Beverly Hills-based firm, CDR Financial Products.
“They came in and asked me some questions, basically about procedures — how were the vendors chosen,” William Fulginiti, a member of the authority’s board, said Friday.
CDR was part of a team of banking, investment and financial advisers selected by the authority to put together a complex bond financing deal for a highway and transportation construction program that Richardson won legislative approval of in 2003.
Of course, I’m sure that the FBI isn’t going to find anything wrong. Usually these things are just a matter of doing due diligence. Oh sure, there was that Guy Riordan problem, but that was just a fluke. Then, of course, there was that weird exception regarding the $130,000 in contributions that was tied to “family business [being] granted direct access to a city thoroughfare for a shopping-center project.”
I could go on, but it is a holiday.