SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - The New Mexico attorney general’s office stepped up pressure Thursday on staff at the state Legislature to turn over subpoenaed documents in a criminal corruption investigation of former Sen. Phil Griego.
Prosecutors say Griego used his role as a senator to arrange a $51,000 commission on the sale of a state-owned building in downtown Santa Fe. They are seeking documents from a legislative case file and a 2015 Senate investigation into Griego.
The Legislative Council Service has said it is duty-bound to protect certain privileged documents to preserve the integrity of the legislative process, It also says that withholding the 25 documents in question won’t interfere with the investigation anyway.
In a rebuttal issued Thursday, the attorney general’s office said the council service failed to provide any concrete examples of how releasing the subpoenaed documents would interfere with the legislative process. The attorney general added that “Griego possibly used Legislative Council Service to further his fraudulent scheme.”
“Any special protections for legislators exist to help them do their jobs, not to help them evade laws that apply equally to everyone,” prosecutors wrote.
Contacted Thursday, the Legislative Council Service had no comment.
The attorney general’s office also noted that 13 of the withheld documents are correspondence with parties outside the Legislature - including emails with the buyer, seller and title company in the transaction that earned Griego his commission - and cannot be shielded because they already were shared with parties outside the legislature.
Griego, a Democrat and former Santa Fe City councilor, resigned in March 2015 after acknowledging to a Senate investigative subcommittee that he violated the state Constitution. He was arraigned this week and released on his own recognizance, as attorneys prepare for a preliminary evidentiary hearing.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.