Richardson Won’t Pursue Cabinet Post

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/politics/05richardson.html
WASHINGTON — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for commerce secretary, withdrew from consideration for that job on Sunday, saying a pending investigation into whether his administration gave lucrative contracts to a political donor would have “forced an untenable delay” in his confirmation.

The president-elect and the governor, close friends as well as political allies, announced the withdrawal in joint statements. Mr. Richardson, one of the nation’s best-known Latino politicians, promised to stay on as governor and said his administration had “acted properly in all matters.” But he said he had concluded that the inquiry could last weeks or even months, drawing out his confirmation hearings and distracting the new administration as it grappled with the economic crisis.

Mr. Obama said he accepted “with deep regret” Mr. Richardson’s decision to bow out. People familiar with discussions between the two men said that while the president-elect did not press Mr. Richardson to step aside, neither did Mr. Obama try to talk him out of it.

The announcement, just days before the Senate is to begin confirmation hearings for some of Mr. Obama’s cabinet selections, was a setback for the president-elect, who has assembled his cabinet in near-record time. It raises questions about the thoroughness of Mr. Richardson’s vetting, deprives the Obama administration of a prominent Hispanic — Mr. Obama has, however, named two other Latinos, Representative Hilda L. Solis of California and Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, to cabinet posts — and leaves a hole in the new White House economics team at a critical juncture.

Obama officials could not say on Sunday how quickly the president-elect would move to fill the job, or who may be on his short list. Mr. Obama is hoping to persuade Congress to pass an ambitious economic stimulus plan that he can sign quickly after taking office, and he is set to meet with his economic advisers on Monday. The commerce secretary would play an integral role in that process, as Mr. Richardson himself noted on Sunday.

“Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing,” the governor said, “I could not in good conscience ask the president-elect to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done.”

The investigation concerns CDR Financial Products Inc., a Beverly Hills, Calif., company that in 2004 was awarded two consulting contracts worth about $1.4 million to advise the State of New Mexico on a large bond issue for building infrastructure, one of Mr. Richardson’s initiatives. The company’s president, David Rubin, a major Democratic contributor, gave about $100,000 to two political action committees controlled by Mr. Richardson, as well as $10,000 to his re-election campaign in 2005, according to published reports.

The F.B.I. began examining the contracts last year; in August, the inquiry was reported in the New Mexico news media. But an Obama transition official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president-elect’s team, while aware that one of Mr. Richardson’s donors was being investigated, did not know that the inquiry extended to Mr. Richardson until after Mr. Obama announced the New Mexico governor as his commerce secretary choice in early December.

About two weeks after the announcement, newspapers reported that a federal grand jury was examining accusations that the Richardson administration had awarded the contracts because of the political contributions. Whether the Obama team learned of the grand jury inquiry through news reports, or perhaps from Mr. Richardson himself, was unclear on Sunday. Obama officials would not say.

But Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, defended the vetting process. “The totality of our cabinet picks, it’s impressive and I think our vetters have done a good job,” he said.

Sunday’s announcement comes as Mr. Obama was still dealing with the uproar over another inquiry, this one into whether Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois had tried to sell Mr. Obama’s Senate seat. But while the president-elect has distanced himself from the Illinois governor, he praised Mr. Richardson on Sunday as “an outstanding public servant” who would have brought “great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career” to the Obama administration.

“It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Richardson and Mr. Obama spoke Friday, officials familiar with the conversation said, and Mr. Richardson informed the president-elect that he intended to withdraw his name from consideration. The Obama transition team had grown concerned that Mr. Richardson’s confirmation could be delayed because of the federal investigation, which would have kept Mr. Obama’s full economic team from being in place as the new president tried to jump start the economy.

Associates of Mr. Richardson said the governor was convinced that the investigation would clear him, and that ultimately he would be confirmed. But they said the inquiry was taking longer than he thought, and that he decided to drop out on his own.

Mr. Obama did not ask Mr. Richardson to step aside, associates close to both men said. But when Mr. Richardson offered to withdraw, the officials said, Mr. Obama simply accepted, without trying to persuade Mr. Richardson otherwise.

Mr. Richardson, whose mother is Mexican, has long been a fixture of Democratic politics and has deep experience in public life. He is known for his easy sense of humor — during the 2004 Democratic convention, he distributed jars of salsa with his picture on them — and remains popular in his home state. Prior to becoming governor, he served in Congress and in the Clinton administration as energy secretary and ambassador to the United Nations. But after his own bid for the Democratic nomination for president failed last year, he made a public — and by his own account, painful — break with the Clintons to endorse Mr. Obama; in return, some speculated he might be selected for a top-tier cabinet position, like secretary of state.

Instead, Mr. Obama rewarded him with the commerce secretary’s job; at the press conference announcing the appointment, the president-elect dismissed the notion that the post was a “consolation prize,” adding, “I think the notion that somehow commerce secretary is not going to be central to everything we do is fundamentally mistaken.”

Jeff Zeleny and Adam Nagourney contributed reporting.