Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is being investigated by a federal grand jury regarding possible campaign finance violations that occurred during his 2008 presidential run. According to the Albuquerque Journal, a grand jury has been hearing secret testimony since 2010 regarding Richardson’s alleged use of campaign contributions to payoff of a woman who was going to sue the former governor over her claim of an extramarital affair with him.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that a former member of Richardson’s staff testified about a $250,000 payment to the woman to stop her from exposing the affair.
“Those familiar with the case say prosecutors are seeking to prove that the alleged payment to the woman was a de facto campaign contribution to Mr. Richardson, intended to further his bid for higher office,” Stephanie Simon, a writer for WSJ wrote Thursday.
“In that case, the alleged payment could have violated federal campaign-finance law if it was not reported and did not comply with limits on political donations,” added Simon.
Jennifer Poersch, Richardson’ s 2008 senior finance advisor stated that she was “not aware of any wrongdoing or any inappropriate fund raising.”
Thus far, the Albuquerque U.S. attorney’s office could not confirm or deny the grand jury investigation of Richardson.
Reportedly the woman was a New Mexico state employee who became romantically involved with Richardson in 2004. She planned to sue him in 2007 but was allegedly paid off by political contributors to Richardson to prevent her from exposing their affair.
The Richardson investigation is similar to the federal probe of former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, who also ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. Edwards pleaded not guilty to using campaign funds to support his mistress and keep their affair hidden and will face trial early next year.
After dropping out of the race in 2008 due to a lack of support in early primaries, Richardson was appointed to a cabinet position for President Barack Obama as his commerce secretary. The former New Mexico governor withdrew his nomination though once a federal probe began into alleged campaign contributions used for government contracts in his administration. That investigation ended without any indictments.
WSJ reported that Richardson was attending an environmental conference in Nigeria and could not be reached for comment.
