Uh-oh....Richardson withdraws from Commerce appointment

January 4, 2:03 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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From MSNBC:

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 Bill Richardson, tapped in December by President-elect Barack Obama to serve as secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name for the position, citing a pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

Some background on that investigation...

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.

Now that the election is over, interest in reforming campaign finance law will no doubt wane.  But as long as private interests contribute to political campaigns, there will be conflicts of interest for those politicians.  It's inescapable.