7/28/2019 Letter to FBI and AG Regarding Withholding of Documents relating to Louisiana Trip

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Independent Source PAC - Phone (505) 250-0244 - 11024 Montgomery Blvd. NE # 128 - Albuquerque, NM 87111

Independent Source PAC Protecting working families by investigating and exposing the actions, agendas, and hypocrisy of the political Right.

6/5/2012

Ms. Carole Lee Mr. Albert Lama, Chief Deputy

Special Agent In Charge FBI New Mexico Attorney GeneralBy Fax: (505) 889-1770 Via email: alama@nmag.gov

RE: Concerns over Possible Obstruction by the Martinez Administration Regarding PotentiallyIllegal Gifts During Prohibited Times to First Gentleman Chuck Franco Related toAwarding of Contract to Downs at Albuquerque.

Dear Ms. Lee and Mr. Lama:

Beginning on September 5, 2011 First Gentleman Chuck Franco traveled on a five day round trip to Louisianafor a hunting trip (apparently his first time there). The two majority owners of the Downs, John S. Turner, Jr.,

and William C. Windham live in Louisiana and have extensive business and personal holdings including land,hotels, marine properties etc. This trip occurred after the state received the bidders response to the RFP butbefore Charles Gara gave the Downs the improbable perfect score that led to the Downs securing the contract.

According to a Deputy Chief of the New Mexico State Police, two members of the governors security detailaccompanied Mr. Franco on what was purported to be a vacation.

Out of concern that an illegal gift (bribe) during the racino contract procurement process could take the form offree or discounted accommodations (hotel, casino, hunting lodge or personal residences), providing access toprivate hunting land or fishing locations, boats, guides etc., we issued an IPRA to the Governors office onApril 19, 2012 requesting:

All records pertaining to the Governors security detail for the Louisiana trip accompanying Chuck Franco

beginning on September 5, 2011. Records should include all accommodation records, motels, hotels, private

residences, hunting lodges, etc. Please identify the location and owners of all accommodations and who paid

for these accommodations. Please also include a complete itinerary, hunting and fishing locations, of the

security detail for the full duration of the time in Louisiana. (See attached request).

This request was also sent to the New Mexico State Police and to the Department of Finance Administration.Both the governors office and DFA said they had no records. NM DPS said it only had one record- an excelspreadsheet of gasoline purchases made by the security detail on a state credit card (they took a state vehiclewith them on the trip).

I then made a follow-up request to NMSP on May 18, 2011 for the following:

Any leave requests, vacation requests and time sheets covering the period for time off of September 1, 2011through September 12, 2011 for New Mexico State Police Government Security Detail officers Reuben Maynesand Chavez (first name unknown) as identified in the excel spreadsheet for the Louisiana hunting and fishing

trip. Thank you for your prompt attention to this request. I appreciate it! (See attached request).

7/28/2019 Letter to FBI and AG Regarding Withholding of Documents relating to Louisiana Trip

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Independent Source PAC - Phone (505) 250-0244 - 11024 Montgomery Blvd. NE # 128 - Albuquerque, NM 87111

The request for time sheets and/or leave requests is critical. The trip could not have occurred without one or theother. We have it on good information from an anonymous source that time sheets do exist and that they includeovertime billed to the taxpayers for the trip.

Yesterday, DPS responded with the attached letter denying our request. The reason, a refusal to release anyinformation from the trip nine months ago on the grounds that it puts the governor and her husband at risk.

(It should be noted that New Mexico law typically opposes blanket rejections, requiring release of records withredactions of sensitive information when some of the information is disclosable).

We believe that more likely the governors attorneys were involved in the decision and instructed the statepolice not to produce the records. One realistic possibility for the denial is that the first gentleman was thebeneficiary of the largesse from heavy dollar contributors during a prohibited time and that this may haveplayed a role in the awarding of the contract.

Further, this past February, the governor hired the wife of one of the two security officers as an executiveassistant. She was hired as an exempt employee into a $55,000 a year job without having to follow normalhiring procedures. She was hired a few weeks after we issued our first investigative report on the Downs deal.

One explanation for this hiring could be that in hiring the wife of the security officer to a high paying job that

the officer would be less likely to come clean about the trip should questions arise about it.

The administration likely believes that since they have denied access to the documents that they have effectivelyshut down any further investigation. Were that the case this would be equivalent to obstruction if in fact illegalconduct occurred. We felt this should be brought to your attention.

Sincerely,

Michael Corwin

Executive Director