It's no secret that Gov. Richardson wants to become Secretary of State. This GQ Magazine interview shows the reason why Gov. Richardson came out to support then Senator Obama for his presidential run, even though it was President Clinton who appointed him to the UN and then the Energy Department:
http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/gqeditors/2008/04/title.html
So if Barack Obama were to win the nomination and he offered you the vice presidency…
What would I do? Well, I wouldn't preclude anything. [laughs] You know, I love my job.
Okay, but—
Well, you can't, you know, you can't, uh, turn your back on something like that. But I didn't endorse him because of that.
Or secretary of state.
You can't turn your back on something like that.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Friday, December 14, 2007
I wish I had been stronger
Below is a partial transcript from a Democratic presidential debate on December 14, 2007:
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/14/i_wish_id_been_stronger_richardson
CAROLYN WASHBURN: Governor Richardson, you promote your experience as Energy Secretary among your credentials. During that time, though, there were serious questions about lax security at the country’s national labs, allegations that scientist Wen Ho Lee breached security at Los Alamos. You told Tim Russert in May, “We had some issues with the nuclear secrets issue and Wen Ho Lee, but I think, on the whole, I was a good Energy Secretary.” In this era when Americans are fearful about our national security, talk about that part of your resume.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, and I will add that in twenty-five years in public service, there are probably many more other mistakes that I’ve made, but I want to say to you that when it was with Wen Ho Lee, this was the issue of protecting our nuclear secrets. And he did plead guilty. I do feel that he was incarcerated in solitary confinement—this was wrong. I tried to change it, but I didn’t work hard enough. The point is that we do have in all of our lives—as a congressman, as a UN ambassador, as a candidate, I’ve made a lot of gaps, and I’m glad you didn’t raise them. But, you know, I’ll stand behind my record as Energy Secretary. I brought compensation to workers that had beryllium and other contamination. I brought forth a renewable portfolio standard, the first one that says electricity has to be renewable in this country. We made air-conditioning 30% more energy-efficient. And there are some cases in the Wen Ho Lee, where I wish I had been stronger, but I don’t apologize for trying to protect our nuclear secrets, and we should have done a lot more.
--------------------
AMY GOODMAN: Some of Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate. That clip ended with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson admitting he made some mistakes in the handling of the case of Wen Ho Lee, who was the nuclear scientist at Los Alamos of Chinese descent, falsely accused by the Clinton administration of spying for the Chinese government. As President Clinton’s Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson fired Wen Ho Lee, who was then arrested, indicted on fifty-nine counts, threatened with execution. He was held for 278 days in solitary confinement. Within a year, the government dropped fifty-eight of the fifty-nine charges. And a federal judge then ordered Wen Ho Lee’s release. In an unusual statement from the bench, he rebuked the government, apologized to Wen Ho Lee. Last year, the government agreed to pay him nearly $900,000 for violating his right to privacy by leaking information to the press.
When we interviewed Governor Richardson in September 2005 in Santa Fe, he was far less conciliatory about his handling of Wen Ho Lee’s case. I spoke with Governor Richardson at a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At that time, he said, quote, he stands by everything he said and did in the case.
AMY GOODMAN: Gov. Bill Richardson. That was September 2005.
http://www.democracynow.org/2007/12/14/i_wish_id_been_stronger_richardson
CAROLYN WASHBURN: Governor Richardson, you promote your experience as Energy Secretary among your credentials. During that time, though, there were serious questions about lax security at the country’s national labs, allegations that scientist Wen Ho Lee breached security at Los Alamos. You told Tim Russert in May, “We had some issues with the nuclear secrets issue and Wen Ho Lee, but I think, on the whole, I was a good Energy Secretary.” In this era when Americans are fearful about our national security, talk about that part of your resume.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, and I will add that in twenty-five years in public service, there are probably many more other mistakes that I’ve made, but I want to say to you that when it was with Wen Ho Lee, this was the issue of protecting our nuclear secrets. And he did plead guilty. I do feel that he was incarcerated in solitary confinement—this was wrong. I tried to change it, but I didn’t work hard enough. The point is that we do have in all of our lives—as a congressman, as a UN ambassador, as a candidate, I’ve made a lot of gaps, and I’m glad you didn’t raise them. But, you know, I’ll stand behind my record as Energy Secretary. I brought compensation to workers that had beryllium and other contamination. I brought forth a renewable portfolio standard, the first one that says electricity has to be renewable in this country. We made air-conditioning 30% more energy-efficient. And there are some cases in the Wen Ho Lee, where I wish I had been stronger, but I don’t apologize for trying to protect our nuclear secrets, and we should have done a lot more.
--------------------
AMY GOODMAN: Some of Thursday’s Democratic presidential debate. That clip ended with New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson admitting he made some mistakes in the handling of the case of Wen Ho Lee, who was the nuclear scientist at Los Alamos of Chinese descent, falsely accused by the Clinton administration of spying for the Chinese government. As President Clinton’s Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson fired Wen Ho Lee, who was then arrested, indicted on fifty-nine counts, threatened with execution. He was held for 278 days in solitary confinement. Within a year, the government dropped fifty-eight of the fifty-nine charges. And a federal judge then ordered Wen Ho Lee’s release. In an unusual statement from the bench, he rebuked the government, apologized to Wen Ho Lee. Last year, the government agreed to pay him nearly $900,000 for violating his right to privacy by leaking information to the press.
When we interviewed Governor Richardson in September 2005 in Santa Fe, he was far less conciliatory about his handling of Wen Ho Lee’s case. I spoke with Governor Richardson at a studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. At that time, he said, quote, he stands by everything he said and did in the case.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: This was a man that was convicted on several counts of tampering with classified information, so—
AMY GOODMAN: But the minorest of counts. I mean, what he was originally––
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, no, it was not minor. This is where you’re wrong. It was not minor. There were very sensitive nuclear secrets that possibly were compromised and were improperly taken from his computer. Now, the judgment of the judge, I believe, is speculative. But I stand behind the very strong actions that I took to protect our nuclear secrets.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you say the federal judge is wrong in saying that you are the probable source of the leaks?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Absolutely. He’s totally wrong.
AMY GOODMAN: I mean, in the case of Wen Ho Lee, though, originally they said he could be a reason for the possible—well, like President Bush used in the argument for the Iraq war, he could be the source of a nuclear explosion, a bombing of the United States. And ultimately, when the judge freed Wen Ho Lee, he said he had been egregiously misled by government officials about what Wen Ho Lee was responsible for. And he was irate. He was enraged, the judge, I mean.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON: Well, that’s his opinion. I believe that we acted properly in safeguarding our nuclear secrets. He was convicted on several counts. There were some mistakes in that case. It involved the entire federal government, and I stand behind everything that I did.
AMY GOODMAN: Gov. Bill Richardson. That was September 2005.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Albuquerque Tribune Interview
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/feb/06/bill-richardson-tribune-interview/
Tribune: Some legislators have criticized you for raising money during a session, citing a state law that bars it. Federal law obviously trumps that. But some are saying that ethics should trump legalities in this, and that the moral thing for you to do is not accept money. How do you respond to them?
Richardson: Well, that's a partisan comment. That's unilateral disarmament. I've got to start raising money.
It's very clear that the law says that if I'm the governor of New Mexico, I don't raise state funds. I've always abided by that, but this is a federal race. This is a race that is national. This involves mainly traveling around the country and raising money - although I am raising money in New Mexico.
Tribune: One of the weaknesses out there that might dog you in a national campaign is the Wen Ho Lee case and the speculation that you were the source of the leak in the case. Are you concerned about that at all?
Richardson: Well, it's not a plus, obviously. But I believe I acted appropriately with Wen Ho Lee.
There were security problems at Los Alamos that still continue. But I believe there was - he did plead guilty to unauthorized use of classified materials. Perhaps the Justice Department and his incarceration may have been a little harsh.
Tribune: Were you the source of the leak?
Richardson: No, I wasn't the source of the leak. The media has many sources, and I've said I wasn't the source of the leak. You know, there were reports in the Asian press way before anyone ever talked to anyone at the Department of Energy. No, I wasn't the source of the leak. That's over with.
Hopefully, voters will see I was trying to protect our national secrets. I was the secretary of energy. You know, we've got these hugely important nuclear secrets that we've got to protect. There was continuous problems at Los Alamos. I tried to get them fixed. We made a little bit of progress, but obviously, there's still problems.
Tribune: Some legislators have criticized you for raising money during a session, citing a state law that bars it. Federal law obviously trumps that. But some are saying that ethics should trump legalities in this, and that the moral thing for you to do is not accept money. How do you respond to them?
Richardson: Well, that's a partisan comment. That's unilateral disarmament. I've got to start raising money.
It's very clear that the law says that if I'm the governor of New Mexico, I don't raise state funds. I've always abided by that, but this is a federal race. This is a race that is national. This involves mainly traveling around the country and raising money - although I am raising money in New Mexico.
Tribune: One of the weaknesses out there that might dog you in a national campaign is the Wen Ho Lee case and the speculation that you were the source of the leak in the case. Are you concerned about that at all?
Richardson: Well, it's not a plus, obviously. But I believe I acted appropriately with Wen Ho Lee.
There were security problems at Los Alamos that still continue. But I believe there was - he did plead guilty to unauthorized use of classified materials. Perhaps the Justice Department and his incarceration may have been a little harsh.
Tribune: Were you the source of the leak?
Richardson: No, I wasn't the source of the leak. The media has many sources, and I've said I wasn't the source of the leak. You know, there were reports in the Asian press way before anyone ever talked to anyone at the Department of Energy. No, I wasn't the source of the leak. That's over with.
Hopefully, voters will see I was trying to protect our national secrets. I was the secretary of energy. You know, we've got these hugely important nuclear secrets that we've got to protect. There was continuous problems at Los Alamos. I tried to get them fixed. We made a little bit of progress, but obviously, there's still problems.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
NY Times 02/03/2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/23/us/politics/23richardson.html?pagewanted=2
Poor Judgment and Bad Management
Although not laid at Mr. Richardson’s door, corruption scandals have also tarnished the state —
“pay to play,” in the words of critics. Some of Mr. Richardson’s embarrassing appointees stepped down, including a former state police officer named to a magistrate judgeship who resigned after being caught ordering the release of a friend jailed on a drunken-driving charge.
“One bad judge out of 56,” Mr. Richardson said, acknowledging “our vetting procedures are not the most extensive.”
____________________
Sexual Harassment
In late 2005, Lt. Gov. Diane Denish told The Albuquerque Journal that Mr. Richardson
“pokes me” when they sit together, calling that more annoying and likely to be misconstrued than improper.
“He pinches my neck,” Ms. Denish said. “He touches my hip, my thigh, sort of the side of my leg.”
The governor waved that off, telling The Journal: “I tease Diane. I touch guys. It’s my way of lessening tension.”
Although not laid at Mr. Richardson’s door, corruption scandals have also tarnished the state —
“pay to play,” in the words of critics. Some of Mr. Richardson’s embarrassing appointees stepped down, including a former state police officer named to a magistrate judgeship who resigned after being caught ordering the release of a friend jailed on a drunken-driving charge.
“One bad judge out of 56,” Mr. Richardson said, acknowledging “our vetting procedures are not the most extensive.”
____________________
- Richardson opposed the 1st Gulf War but endorsed W's invasion of Iraq, "I think there is such intensive pressure on both sides that only one more deadline, only one more chance for Saddam Hussein is going to be allowable. So I think the administration is wise in pursuing this course that says OK, total disarmament in two weeks and that's it."
- He told a gay-rights forum, Logo, that homosexuality is a choice.
- He said Justice Bryon White who voted against Roe v Wade was his model Supreme Court justice. It appears that Justice White voted against Miranda rights and wrote the majority opinion on Bowers v Hardwick, banning homosexual sodomy, see comments section at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/4/27/113257/730
- He was reluctant to fire Alberto Gonzales because he is a fellow Hispanic.
- His stance on illegal immigration is troublesome to many--he doesn't want to build a wall on the Mexican border, he wants to legalized all illegal immigrants in this country. In http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/24/us/politics/24richardson.html,
- Richardson initially said he would support the immigration compromise announced earlier this week. But later on, he said that after reading it in detail, he had decided to oppose it, saying the measure placed too great a burden on immigrants — tearing apart families that wanted to settle in the United States, creating a permanent tier of second-class immigrant workers and financing a border fence that Mr. Richardson had long opposed.
- He said during the campaign, "Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary."
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Bill Richardson -- friend of Bill
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2007/01/016368.php
There were two factions in the Clinton administration: the opportunists (the Bill wing) that didn't care much about the merits of policy outcomes, and the true-believers (the Hillary wing) that cared passionately about increasing our government's power over the life its citizens and about decreasing its power in the world.
Bill Richardson, who is running for president, was a member of the Clinton administration. The good news is that he was not a member of the Hillary wing; the bad news is that this makes him a member of the Bill wing.
When he was in Congress, Richardson had been a strong environmentalist. As Clinton's Secretary of Energy, he skillfully used that reputation as a shield when he crossed the environmentalists. Someone who worked with Richardson at the Energy department describes him as a truly committed believer in situational ethics. In other words, a true Bill Clintonian
Richardson's accomplishments at Energy were so limited that he once said his proudest one was building a new gym for Department employees. His one truly important accomplishment was the opening of a repository for transuranic waste (plutonium based, as opposed to high level waste) whose radioactivity is more immediately toxic and derives from fission products. This project is far less important than Yucca Mountain, which is intended to deal with high level waste and spent fuel, but is significant nonetheless. Interestingly, Richardson opened the repository in Carslbad, New Mexico, which wanted it. I'm told that, as governor of New Mexico, he used his knowledge of the Energy Department to create crises with respect to its big assets there (Los Alamos and the new transuranic repository) and then solve them.
That's not the sort of problem-solver this country needs in the White House.
UPDATE: Over at the Forum WGPu writes:
For several years in the early '90s, I worked as an engineer at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP; the facility for deep geological disposal of transuranic watse near Carlsbad). At that time Bill Richardson was a U.S. Representative whose district was northern NM (Ab'q, Santa Fe). Though the WIPP was not in his district, he worked overtime to oppose opening the facility though it was fully constructed and represented a solution to a problem in his own district (TRU waste stored above ground at Los Alamos). This opposition suited his "enlightened" environmentalist constituency in Santa Fe, and helped his regular re-election.Later on in the '90s, after he became Bill Clinton's Secretary of Energy and, in order to achieve some success in that role, Richardson changed sides, and supported WIPP receiving its first shipment of plutonium-contaminated waste; which it did in March of '99.
Interestingly, in recent years, as governor of New Mexico, Richardson has supported expanding the WIPP facility's mission, along with siting other nuclear businesses in SE NM (e.g. uranium enrichment) since it economically benefits his now full-state, constituency. Bill Richardson is purely a political opportunist clearly in the Bill Clinton camp.
Thursday, November 24, 2005
Lying on his Resume
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/special/410505sports11-24-05.htm
Thursday, November 24, 2005
One-Time Prospect Acknowledges Draft Info Wrong
Journal Staff Writer
As a young man, Gov. Bill Richardson was an accomplished baseball pitcher. You can look it up.
What you won't find in the record books is a baseball distinction that's been attached to Richardson's name for almost 40 years: that he was drafted to play pro baseball by the Kansas City Athletics.
Publications ranging from The New York Times to the New Republic to the Albuquerque Journal have reported that as fact. So have USA Today, Time magazine and National Review.
In the just-published "2006 Almanac of American Politics," these words appear in a history of Richardson's career: " ... in 1967 was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."
In preparing a story earlier this year on Richardson's baseball past, the Journal was unable to confirm in any authoritative record that he had been drafted.
Richardson said he believed that he had been, based on conversations with scouts and other sources, and asked for additional time to find proof.
But in a written statement provided to the Journal last week, he said, "After being notified of the situation (by Toby Smith) and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's."
"However, as the Journal's reporting should reflect, I was actively scouted by several Major League teams ... "
While at odds with years of published reports, that statement is consistent with Richardson's new autobiography, "Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life."
He does not say in the book that he was drafted. In the book, which hit stores earlier this month, Richardson says he was a hot prospect who passed up a shot at the big leagues because his father wanted him to attend college.
He later developed arm trouble, removing any possibility of a baseball career.
Richardson was an outstanding prep pitcher. He also played in the amateur Cape Cod summer league and at Tufts University.
"During my time at Tufts, I was approached by scouts who offered to draft me, under the condition that I agree ahead of time to sign a contract, if drafted," Richardson said in his statement to the Journal.
"I could not agree to sign a contract, and therefore was not drafted by any of those interested teams."
Richardson said in an interview that scouts told him he "would or could" be drafted.
"In my mind," he said, "that meant I had been drafted."
Paul Reichler, now a Washington, D.C., attorney, in the 1960s was sports editor for the Tufts Weekly, the student newspaper. Reichler remains a Richardson friend.
"It wouldn't surprise me that Bill remembers being drafted," said Reichler, "because there was so much interest in him. But maybe his desire to be drafted was so strong that he convinced himself that it actually happened."
On the record
Major League Baseball's draft began in 1965. Over time, draft status became part of Richardson's political persona.
His official campaign biography in 1982, when he first ran for Congress in New Mexico's 3rd District, concludes: "In 1966, he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics ... "
When Richardson was about to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1997, the Clinton White House issued a news release that mentioned he had been drafted— along with his Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
A year later, when Richardson was named Secretary of Energy, CNN reported he had been drafted.
"Pitching Around Fidel," a 2002 book by Sports Illustrated senior writer S.L. Price, reconstructs a 1996 evening at a Havana ballpark where Fidel Castro chatted with Richardson, "once drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."
When asked where he had obtained that description of Richardson's past, Price said, "Richardson told me."
In early 1999, nearly 2,000 convention guests in San Antonio watched Richardson accept the highest individual honor the National Collegiate Athletic Association bestows.
The Theodore Roosevelt Award goes to a former college athlete who has distinguished himself in public service. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first winner of the "Teddy," as it's called, in 1967. Gerald Ford won it in 1975, George H.W. Bush in 1986 and Ronald Reagan in 1990.
Rocco J. Carzo, then Tufts director of athletics, nominated Richardson.
In his nomination letter, Carzo wrote this of Richardson's baseball prowess: "A right-hander, he was drafted by the Kansas City A's in 1966 before attending Tufts, but passed on turning pro. He was drafted again by Los Angeles in 1968, but knew his arm wouldn't hold up as a professional.'"
Carzo, now the Tufts Athletic Director Emeritus, said the information "might have come from him (Richardson)."
The lists
The Athletics, now the Oakland Athletics, is the team most often mentioned as having drafted Richardson.
But published Richardson "draft" references also mention the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles.
The Journal could find no record that any team drafted Richardson.
Major League Baseball's main office in New York City did a year-by-year draft search for Richardson and could find no listing for him.
"The Baseball Draft: The First 25 Years," Baseball America magazine's reference work, has no mention of Richardson being drafted.
Administrators of leading Web sites for the pro baseball draft— thebaseballcube.com and baseball-reference.com— said Richardson's name does not appear on any of their draft documents.
Although Richardson said he was wrong about being drafted by Kansas City, he described the draft process of the 1960s as "rudimentary" and said he believed names could have been omitted.
Last week, he insisted his name had appeared on "a draft list of some kind" created by both the Pirates and the Dodgers.
According to the governor, Dick Hanlon, a Dodgers' scout and George Owen a scout for the Pirates, both told him he would be placed on a list making him eligible for the draft. Hanlon and Owen are deceased.
Richardson said he has been unable to find those lists.
No embellishment
In his book, Richardson writes, "In my mind, I committed to a future playing ball. I was ready to sign on the dotted line right after graduation (from prep school)."
His father, he writes, was a demanding figure who insisted he should go to college.
Major League Baseball scouts say that if a prospect is unlikely to sign a contract, a team will not draft him.
Earlier this year, Richardson said he always assumed the A's had drafted him when he saw the information in a Cape Cod summer league baseball program.
Steve Vaughn, a teammate who was drafted, said he thought Richardson "clearly was a prospect" and "remembered hearing" his teammate had been offered a contract by Kansas City.
That was 38 summers ago, and Richardson was playing for the Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers, a team comprised of standout college players.
The Kettleers published a 25-cent handout they issued to fans.
Next to Richardson's name on the faded program are four brief lines, and the words "Drafted by K.C."
"When I saw that program in 1967," Richardson said, "I was convinced I was drafted. And it stayed with me all these years."
At Richardson's urging, the Journal talked to Arnold Mycock, who was the general manager of Richardson's Cape Cod League team in 1967.
Mycock, 82, and living in Cotuit, Mass., has a copy of that 1967 program. He said information on the bios came from the players or their college coaches.
Nick Furlong, a pitcher for the Kettleers in 1967, later drafted by three major league teams, said he filled in his Cotuit bio sheet himself and sent it to the club.
College athletes typically fill out a biographical form to help a school's athletic department disseminate information to a student's hometown media.
On the bio sheet Richardson completed for Tufts in his junior year, he penciled words "Drafted by Kansas City (1966), LA (1968)."
Richardson said he wrote those words because he believed them to be true.
"I never tried to embellish this," he said. "I never tried to mask it."
Thursday, November 24, 2005
One-Time Prospect Acknowledges Draft Info Wrong
Journal Staff Writer
As a young man, Gov. Bill Richardson was an accomplished baseball pitcher. You can look it up.
What you won't find in the record books is a baseball distinction that's been attached to Richardson's name for almost 40 years: that he was drafted to play pro baseball by the Kansas City Athletics.
Publications ranging from The New York Times to the New Republic to the Albuquerque Journal have reported that as fact. So have USA Today, Time magazine and National Review.
In the just-published "2006 Almanac of American Politics," these words appear in a history of Richardson's career: " ... in 1967 was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."
In preparing a story earlier this year on Richardson's baseball past, the Journal was unable to confirm in any authoritative record that he had been drafted.
Richardson said he believed that he had been, based on conversations with scouts and other sources, and asked for additional time to find proof.
But in a written statement provided to the Journal last week, he said, "After being notified of the situation (by Toby Smith) and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's."
"However, as the Journal's reporting should reflect, I was actively scouted by several Major League teams ... "
While at odds with years of published reports, that statement is consistent with Richardson's new autobiography, "Between Worlds: The Making of an American Life."
He does not say in the book that he was drafted. In the book, which hit stores earlier this month, Richardson says he was a hot prospect who passed up a shot at the big leagues because his father wanted him to attend college.
He later developed arm trouble, removing any possibility of a baseball career.
Richardson was an outstanding prep pitcher. He also played in the amateur Cape Cod summer league and at Tufts University.
"During my time at Tufts, I was approached by scouts who offered to draft me, under the condition that I agree ahead of time to sign a contract, if drafted," Richardson said in his statement to the Journal.
"I could not agree to sign a contract, and therefore was not drafted by any of those interested teams."
Richardson said in an interview that scouts told him he "would or could" be drafted.
"In my mind," he said, "that meant I had been drafted."
Paul Reichler, now a Washington, D.C., attorney, in the 1960s was sports editor for the Tufts Weekly, the student newspaper. Reichler remains a Richardson friend.
"It wouldn't surprise me that Bill remembers being drafted," said Reichler, "because there was so much interest in him. But maybe his desire to be drafted was so strong that he convinced himself that it actually happened."
On the record
Major League Baseball's draft began in 1965. Over time, draft status became part of Richardson's political persona.
His official campaign biography in 1982, when he first ran for Congress in New Mexico's 3rd District, concludes: "In 1966, he was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics ... "
When Richardson was about to be appointed U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 1997, the Clinton White House issued a news release that mentioned he had been drafted— along with his Nobel Peace Prize nominations.
A year later, when Richardson was named Secretary of Energy, CNN reported he had been drafted.
"Pitching Around Fidel," a 2002 book by Sports Illustrated senior writer S.L. Price, reconstructs a 1996 evening at a Havana ballpark where Fidel Castro chatted with Richardson, "once drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."
When asked where he had obtained that description of Richardson's past, Price said, "Richardson told me."
In early 1999, nearly 2,000 convention guests in San Antonio watched Richardson accept the highest individual honor the National Collegiate Athletic Association bestows.
The Theodore Roosevelt Award goes to a former college athlete who has distinguished himself in public service. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first winner of the "Teddy," as it's called, in 1967. Gerald Ford won it in 1975, George H.W. Bush in 1986 and Ronald Reagan in 1990.
Rocco J. Carzo, then Tufts director of athletics, nominated Richardson.
In his nomination letter, Carzo wrote this of Richardson's baseball prowess: "A right-hander, he was drafted by the Kansas City A's in 1966 before attending Tufts, but passed on turning pro. He was drafted again by Los Angeles in 1968, but knew his arm wouldn't hold up as a professional.'"
Carzo, now the Tufts Athletic Director Emeritus, said the information "might have come from him (Richardson)."
The lists
The Athletics, now the Oakland Athletics, is the team most often mentioned as having drafted Richardson.
But published Richardson "draft" references also mention the Pittsburgh Pirates, Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles.
The Journal could find no record that any team drafted Richardson.
Major League Baseball's main office in New York City did a year-by-year draft search for Richardson and could find no listing for him.
"The Baseball Draft: The First 25 Years," Baseball America magazine's reference work, has no mention of Richardson being drafted.
Administrators of leading Web sites for the pro baseball draft— thebaseballcube.com and baseball-reference.com— said Richardson's name does not appear on any of their draft documents.
Although Richardson said he was wrong about being drafted by Kansas City, he described the draft process of the 1960s as "rudimentary" and said he believed names could have been omitted.
Last week, he insisted his name had appeared on "a draft list of some kind" created by both the Pirates and the Dodgers.
According to the governor, Dick Hanlon, a Dodgers' scout and George Owen a scout for the Pirates, both told him he would be placed on a list making him eligible for the draft. Hanlon and Owen are deceased.
Richardson said he has been unable to find those lists.
No embellishment
In his book, Richardson writes, "In my mind, I committed to a future playing ball. I was ready to sign on the dotted line right after graduation (from prep school)."
His father, he writes, was a demanding figure who insisted he should go to college.
Major League Baseball scouts say that if a prospect is unlikely to sign a contract, a team will not draft him.
Earlier this year, Richardson said he always assumed the A's had drafted him when he saw the information in a Cape Cod summer league baseball program.
Steve Vaughn, a teammate who was drafted, said he thought Richardson "clearly was a prospect" and "remembered hearing" his teammate had been offered a contract by Kansas City.
That was 38 summers ago, and Richardson was playing for the Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers, a team comprised of standout college players.
The Kettleers published a 25-cent handout they issued to fans.
Next to Richardson's name on the faded program are four brief lines, and the words "Drafted by K.C."
"When I saw that program in 1967," Richardson said, "I was convinced I was drafted. And it stayed with me all these years."
At Richardson's urging, the Journal talked to Arnold Mycock, who was the general manager of Richardson's Cape Cod League team in 1967.
Mycock, 82, and living in Cotuit, Mass., has a copy of that 1967 program. He said information on the bios came from the players or their college coaches.
Nick Furlong, a pitcher for the Kettleers in 1967, later drafted by three major league teams, said he filled in his Cotuit bio sheet himself and sent it to the club.
College athletes typically fill out a biographical form to help a school's athletic department disseminate information to a student's hometown media.
On the bio sheet Richardson completed for Tufts in his junior year, he penciled words "Drafted by Kansas City (1966), LA (1968)."
Richardson said he wrote those words because he believed them to be true.
"I never tried to embellish this," he said. "I never tried to mask it."
Monday, September 5, 2005
Richardson stands by everything he said and did
Here is a transcript from an interview on Democracy Now on September 5, 2005.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/9/22/governor_richardson_says_he_stands_by
JUAN GONZALEZ: Governor Richardson, you were energy secretary during the period of the controversy over the Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee. As you know, he is now pursuing a lawsuit against the government, and is claiming that officials of the government leaked damaging information on him to several reporters. This is threatening to become another case of oppressed freedom, as the reporters have been ordered to reveal their sources by the courts, and—and your name has been linked at times, although you have said in sworn testimony, that you were not a source of the leak. I’d like to ask you what your sense of—if you can talk about the case at all, and also what your sense is of what’s happening to reporters in terms of the courts ordering them to reveal sources?
BILL RICHARDSON: Well, on that, Juan, because of the pending litigation, there’s hardly anything I can say. I would tell you if I did. But I stand behind everything that I said, and I did before in that case. But I strongly believe that reporters have the right TO have sources, and protect them. I believe what’s happened to Judy Miller of The Times and many other journalists have been jailed I believe is going to threaten not just first amendment issues, but the ability of the public to get information from the press on government officials.
So, I strongly believe that it’s important that we have protections for the press, protections of confidential sources. I suspect this is going to go all the way to the Supreme Court and my hope is that the Supreme Court continues to protect these first amendment freedoms.
AMY GOODMAN: But Governor Richardson, this is not only a case of freedom of the press and journalists protecting their sources, it is also a case of the destruction of the reputation of a man, Wen Ho Lee, who served almost a year in prison. Who, a federal judge has said you last month were the probable source of the leaks. What do you say to the federal judge. You say you stand behind everything that you did in this case. What do you stand by?
BILL RICHARDSON: I stand by that I wasn’t. Secondly, this was a man that was convicted on several counts of tampering with classified information, so—
AMY GOODMAN: But the minorest of counts. It was originally-–
BILL RICHARDSON: It was not minor. This is where you are wrong. It is not minor. There were very sensitive nuclear secrets that possibly were compromised, and were improperly taken from his computer. Now, the judgment of the judge, I believe, is speculative. But I stand behind the very strong actions that I took to protect our nuclear secrets.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you say that the federal judge is wrong in saying that you are the probable source of the leaks?
BILL RICHARDSON: Absolutely. He is totally wrong.
AMY GOODMAN: In the case of Wen Ho Lee, though, originally, they said he could be, a reason for the possible—well, like president Bush used in the argument for the Iraq war, he could be the source of a nuclear explosion, a bombing of the United States. And ultimately, when the judge freed Wen Ho Lee, he said he had been egregiously misled by government officials about what Wen Ho Lee was responsible for. He was irate. He was enraged, the judge, I mean.
BILL RICHARDSON: Well, that’s his opinion. I believe that we acted properly in safeguarding our nuclear secrets. He was convicted on several counts. There were some mistakes in that case. It involved the entire federal government, and I stand behind everything that I did.
http://www.democracynow.org/2005/9/22/governor_richardson_says_he_stands_by
JUAN GONZALEZ: Governor Richardson, you were energy secretary during the period of the controversy over the Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee. As you know, he is now pursuing a lawsuit against the government, and is claiming that officials of the government leaked damaging information on him to several reporters. This is threatening to become another case of oppressed freedom, as the reporters have been ordered to reveal their sources by the courts, and—and your name has been linked at times, although you have said in sworn testimony, that you were not a source of the leak. I’d like to ask you what your sense of—if you can talk about the case at all, and also what your sense is of what’s happening to reporters in terms of the courts ordering them to reveal sources?
BILL RICHARDSON: Well, on that, Juan, because of the pending litigation, there’s hardly anything I can say. I would tell you if I did. But I stand behind everything that I said, and I did before in that case. But I strongly believe that reporters have the right TO have sources, and protect them. I believe what’s happened to Judy Miller of The Times and many other journalists have been jailed I believe is going to threaten not just first amendment issues, but the ability of the public to get information from the press on government officials.
So, I strongly believe that it’s important that we have protections for the press, protections of confidential sources. I suspect this is going to go all the way to the Supreme Court and my hope is that the Supreme Court continues to protect these first amendment freedoms.
AMY GOODMAN: But Governor Richardson, this is not only a case of freedom of the press and journalists protecting their sources, it is also a case of the destruction of the reputation of a man, Wen Ho Lee, who served almost a year in prison. Who, a federal judge has said you last month were the probable source of the leaks. What do you say to the federal judge. You say you stand behind everything that you did in this case. What do you stand by?
BILL RICHARDSON: I stand by that I wasn’t. Secondly, this was a man that was convicted on several counts of tampering with classified information, so—
AMY GOODMAN: But the minorest of counts. It was originally-–
BILL RICHARDSON: It was not minor. This is where you are wrong. It is not minor. There were very sensitive nuclear secrets that possibly were compromised, and were improperly taken from his computer. Now, the judgment of the judge, I believe, is speculative. But I stand behind the very strong actions that I took to protect our nuclear secrets.
AMY GOODMAN: So, you say that the federal judge is wrong in saying that you are the probable source of the leaks?
BILL RICHARDSON: Absolutely. He is totally wrong.
AMY GOODMAN: In the case of Wen Ho Lee, though, originally, they said he could be, a reason for the possible—well, like president Bush used in the argument for the Iraq war, he could be the source of a nuclear explosion, a bombing of the United States. And ultimately, when the judge freed Wen Ho Lee, he said he had been egregiously misled by government officials about what Wen Ho Lee was responsible for. He was irate. He was enraged, the judge, I mean.
BILL RICHARDSON: Well, that’s his opinion. I believe that we acted properly in safeguarding our nuclear secrets. He was convicted on several counts. There were some mistakes in that case. It involved the entire federal government, and I stand behind everything that I did.
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