Busted:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
A former campaign manager for New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez faces a year in prison for sending private emails to her political rivals, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Tuesday.
Jamie Estrada, who worked as Martinez's campaign manager in 2009, pleaded guilty in federal court on Monday to unlawful interception of electronic communications and making false statements, said the spokeswoman, Elizabeth Martinez.
She said Estrada, 41, used a username and password to divert illegally hundreds of email messages sent to a campaign website for about 12 months beginning in June 2011. Some of the messages were meant for Martinez herself. - Huffington Post, 6/17/14
Here's a little more info:
http://www.rawstory.com/...
He said he had diverted personal emails, internal political communications and messages from private citizens to the governor and her staff. One was a confidential fundraising email from the Republican Governors Association, he said in his plea.
After information that appeared in the local press raised suspicions that the email accounts were compromised, the governor called for a federal investigation that led to the arrest of Estrada by FBI agents at his home in September 2012.
At that point, Estrada said in his plea, he “knowingly and willingly made false, fraudulent and material statements to the FBI” upon being questioned about the campaign website. - Raw Story, 6/17/14
More below the fold.
And a little more info:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Jamie Estrada joined the governor’s campaign in July 2009 and left that December, at which point then-candidate Martinez asked him to get rid of his access to susana2010.com, a domain used by her and campaign staff for, among other things, e-mail communication.
Even after her January 2011 inauguration, Martinez and members of her staff continued to use the associated e-mail addresses. When the domain name registration expired in July 2011, they tried to get Estrada’s help in renewing it, but he never responded, according to the Justice Department.
Estrada now admits to renewing the domain name registration with a prepaid gift card to avoid being tracked and redirecting all incoming e-mail to a personal account on July 29, 2011. Over the course of most of the year that followed, he continued to intercept hundreds of e-mails, including those intended for the governor or her staff. - Washington Post, 6/17/14
And here's Martinez's response:
http://www.usnews.com/...
In pretrial requests for information, Estrada's lawyers contended Martinez and her allies pressed for the federal prosecution of Estrada to deflect attention from possible corruption in the handling of a fairgrounds casino deal and to minimize any political fallout for the governor, a rising star in national GOP circles.
Under the plea agreement, Estrada faces up to one year in jail for intercepting email from Martinez's campaign account and for making false statements to federal investigators.
In a statement, Martinez said the guilty plea vindicates her belief that the personal and private emails were stolen.
"This is a case about a fired former employee who wasn't given a state job and then sought to get even by illegally intercepting personal emails from numerous individuals," the governor said, "including personal bank account statements and my personal undergarment orders, all of which were made public in a misguided effort to harm me and others in a revenge scheme." - U.S. News, 6/16/14
Martinez, who is being groomed as a potential GOP Presidential candidate, may look like a shoo-in in for re-election but polls show Attorney General Gary King (D. NM) could make this race competitive. By the way, King's also been helping out homeowners in New Mexico:
http://www.bizjournals.com/...
A $550 million joint state-federal settlement involving mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. could involve 243 New Mexicans whose loans were serviced by SunTrust and who lost their homes to foreclosure from January 1, 2008, through December 31, 2013.
“New Mexico borrowers who were victims of foreclosure and other past mortgage loan abuses by SunTrust may be eligible for payments under this settlement,” Attorney General Gary King said in a statement. “This settlement is about holding accountable a major mortgage loan servicer for taking unfair advantage of homeowners in our state and across the country.”
SunTrust Mortgage, an arm of SunTrust Banks Inc. and its flagship subsidiary SunTrust Bank, have been involved in a discrimination lawsuit with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. That New Mexico would likely be a part of a settlement was first announced last spring.
The three-year settlement with New Mexico and 48 other states, including Washington, D.C., would provide direct payments to New Mexico borrowers for foreclosure abuses. Relief includes loan modifications and other assistance for borrowers in need of help. Additionally, the agreement requires new mortgage-servicing standards and grants oversight authority to an independent monitor, the attorney general’s office said in a news release. - Albuquerque Business First, 6/17/14
And he's already been out campaigning:
http://www.santafenewmexican.com/...
New Mexico was one of only two states that lost jobs in the last year, a deficiency that challenger Gary King highlights in his new television advertisement disparaging Gov. Susana Martinez.
Democratic Attorney General King’s ad is a series of criticisms of Republican Martinez, all built around the theme that he will “clean up her mess.” King sees lack of jobs in New Mexico as Martinez’s jugular, and he uses a portion of the 30-second commercial to try to expose it.
A female narrator of King’s ad describes New Mexico’s job losses. This part of the commercial is correct and uncontested, even by Martinez. Her own state Department of Workforce Solutions last month reported a net loss of 4,400 jobs for the 12 months ending in April 2014.
New Mexico’s job losses received heavy news coverage when those figures became public. Bruce Krasnow of The New Mexican summed up the report, writing that New Mexico was “just one of two states to lose jobs while the rest of the United States was growing.” Virginia also had a net loss of jobs. - Santa Fe New Mexican, 6/10/14
Click here to donate and get involved with King's campaign:
http://www.garykingforgovernor.com/