The extremely progressive governor of New Mexico can’t seem to stay out of trouble. What is the latest smarmy and taxpayer-funded adventure bubbling to the surface in the Land of Enchantment? That would be the retaliation campaign Michelle Lujan Grisham has reportedly launched against a whistleblower. The steaming, sordid tale drifting across the high desert involves a billionaire, bribery, threats of retribution, and the space race. Michelle is nobody’s belle.
Zach DeGregorio, the former Chief Financial Officer of Spaceport America, filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that he was forced to resign after reporting financial misconduct. The complaint alleges criminal wrongdoing by a team of political appointees, corporate cutthroats, and the good governor herself. Imagine that. DeGregorio was nothing if not thorough in corralling New Mexico’s political power. The suit states:
“[Degregorio] was treated as a problem that needed to be silenced and removed. Government officials at the highest levels including the Governor, the Cabinet Secretary of Economic Development, the NM State Auditor, the NM Attorney General, and others conspired together.”
Cast Of Characters
Michelle Grisham (Photo by Toya Sarno Jordan/Getty Images)
Alicia Keyes, appointed by Grisham to lead the Economic Development Department (EDD) Cabinet, Miss Keyes is named in the suit. DeGregoria states he was strong-armed to falsify an economic impact study. He declined. The man has a sordid tale to tell – one that gets a person in trouble: he was going to go public with communications reflecting “over $200 million of securities fraud they were about to commit.” The “they” are the top elected officials in the state and corporate space racers vying for the first billionaire to launch.
Enter, stage far left, billionaire Richard Branson: CEO of Virgin Galactic and Spaceport America’s chief client. DeGregorio accuses Branson of successfully bribing Grisham to give Virgin Galactic “essential business” status during COVID-19 shutdowns. Nothing to see here, folks. Just because the governor met with Branson and company right before she “made changes to the NM Spaceport Authority board,” oh and, near-immediately before she “made staffing changes at the NM Spaceport Authority,” is a simple coincidence of political moves already in motion. But the real kicker is that her revamps seem to have benefited only one business; Branson’s ego-boosting, rocket-launching-to-space business. Will Grisham’s gross weight of mistakes be her undoing in 2022? Probably not since the New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, also named in the suit, is the guy investigating the complaint.
Wrack ‘Em and Stack ‘Em
Grisham has managed to wriggle out of a few scrapes and scratches here and there. But the tide may be turning, and this latest voyage might be her white whale. She is on an epic losing streak: Her campaign settled a sexual harassment suit for $62,500, and the NM Supreme Court recently ruled against Grisham, saying she did not have the authority to dole out more than $1 billion in COVID-19 relief funds. Perhaps the worm is turning.
But whether violating her own tyrannical pandemic edicts to purchase pricey glittery bangles and baubles or being busted using an app with staffers that immediately wipes any evidence of plotting and scheming, Michelle is still holding court at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe. Heck, on top of a ghastly, burgeoning list of egregious blunders, being accused of groping a male employee is not the worst of this politician’s problems.
~ Read more from Sarah Cowgill.
