SANTA FE, N.M. – New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former high-ranking members of his administration won't be criminally charged in a yearlong federal investigation into pay-to-play allegations involving one of the Democratic governor's large political donors, someone familiar with the case said.
The decision not to pursue indictments was made by top Justice Department officials, according to a person familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified because federal officials had not disclosed results of the probe.
"It's over. There's nothing. It was killed in Washington," the person told The Associated Press.
A federal grand jury began an investigation in 2008 into a possible pay-to-play scheme in which lucrative work on state bond deals went to a Richardson donor. The federal probe derailed Richardson's appointment as commerce secretary in President Barack Obama's administration.
Richardson withdrew his nomination in January, saying the investigation would have delayed his confirmation although he said expected to be cleared.
Richardson and members of his staff traveled to Cuba this week for a trade mission. Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos didn't immediately respond to e-mail messages seeking confirmation that no charges were expected from the federal investigation.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in Albuquerque said he had no information about the Justice Department's decision and couldn't comment.
Federal investigators reviewed whether political contributions influenced the selection of California-based CDR Financial Products as an adviser on state transportation bond transactions, and whether Richardson's former chief of staff, David Contarino, played a role in the hiring of CDR.
Prosecutors also subpoenaed records of another former Richardson aide, David Harris, and one of the governor's close political advisers, Michael Stratton.
Harris served as Richardson's deputy chief of staff and then became executive director of the New Mexico Finance Authority, which selected CDR for the bond financing work. Stratton, a Denver-based political consultant, served as a senior adviser to Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign and was a consultant to CDR and another financial firm when the Finance Authority put together the bond deals in 2004.
The state work generated almost $1.5 million in fees for CDR in 2004-2005.
CDR Chief Executive David Rubin and his firm contributed $110,000 to Richardson political committees in 2003-2005. The largest of those contributions, $75,000, was made less than a week before CDR was selected in June 2004 by the Finance Authority to handle the reinvestment of idle bond proceeds. The firm earned $443,000 in fees for its reinvestment work.
CDR received more than $1 million in fees in May 2004 for serving as a financial adviser on interest rate swaps for the transportation bond issues and as the manager of bond proceeds held in escrow.
The bonds financed a $1.6 billion state transportation program that was called GRIP Gov. Richardson's Investment Partnership. The Legislature approved the transportation plan, which included the governor's commuter rail proposal, in the fall of 2003 during a special session.
The Finance Authority is a quasi-public agency that issues bonds and helps develop low-cost financing for state and local projects. The governor indirectly controls the authority because its 12-member board is made up mostly of executive branch department administrators and gubernatorial appointees.
August 2009
(Reuters) –
Time Warner Cable Inc has signed up at least seven large media companies for a test that will offer television programs on the Internet to paying subscribers, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Networks participating in the trial are expected to include General Electric Co's Syfy, Time Warner Inc's TNT, Cablevision Systems Corp's AMC and the British Broadcasting Corp's BBC America, the people told the paper.
Other companies that could be involved in the trial are CBS Corp, Discovery Communications Inc and Viacom Inc, the paper cited some of the people as saying.
The test involves TV shows being made available on the Web to a limited number of homes, the paper said.
In July, Comcast Corp signed up CBS along with 17 more cable networks to participate in the cable company's trial to make more television shows available to its subscribers on the Web.
Time Warner Cable could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.
(Reporting by S. John Tilak in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville coach Rick Pitino said Wednesday a sex scandal involving a woman accused of trying to extort millions from him has been "pure hell" for his family, fuming that newly released video of her police interview revived her "total fabrication."
Pitino spoke at a hastily called news conference hours after Louisville police released audio and video recordings of phone calls and an interview with Karen Cunagin Sypher, the woman at the heart of the scandal. Pitino has told police that he had sex with her six years ago.
Sypher claims in the interview that Pitino sexually assaulted her, an allegation she brought to police after she was accused of trying to extort millions from the coach. She has pleaded not guilty to federal charges of extortion and lying to the FBI.
The coach lashed out at the media for again reporting on her accusations by airing clips of the interviews Wednesday. Prosecutors did not pursue charges against the coach.
"Everything that's been printed, everything that's been reported, everything that's been breaking in the news on the day Ted Kennedy died is 100 percent a lie, a lie," Pitino said. "All of this has been a lie, a total fabrication of the truth."
The 56-year-old married father of five, who's a Roman Catholic, said the scandal has taken a heavy toll on his wife and family.
"It has been pure hell for her and my family," he said.
"I admitted to you I made a mistake, and believe me I will suffer for that mistake," he added.
Pitino's remarks were his first public statements since a five-minute apology two weeks ago for an "indiscretion" with Sypher at a Louisville restaurant in 2003. Sypher later told Pitino she was pregnant, planned to have an abortion but did not have medical insurance. He told police he gave her $3,000, money his attorney Steve Pence said was for insurance, not an abortion.
Pitino had planned to stay mum and let the case go to trial when he says "the truth will come out." Pitino didn't discuss details of the case at the news conference and said his lawyer had advised him not to speak out at all.
Instead, he opted to come forward after local television aired portions of Sypher's interview.
"Enough's enough, everybody is tired of it," Pitino said. "We need to get on with the important things in life like the economy and really some crucial things in life like basketball."
Pitino has kept a low profile since his apology, focusing on preparing the Cardinals for the 2009-10 season. He was involved in individual workouts on Wednesday, and updates on the Twitter pages of several players indicated nothing except another series of grueling drills.
As his news conference was carried live on television in Louisville, at least one station split the screen with Pitino talking the left, and the police video of Sypher on the right.
The video released under the Kentucky Open Records Act shows Sypher sitting across a table from Louisville Police Sgt. Andy Abbott. A full transcript of the interview was released by police earlier this month.
Sypher wasn't accompanied by a lawyer at the time of the videotaped interview. An attorney who was later appointed to represent her, James Earhart, said before Pitino's remarks that the release of the police video has no bearing on the federal case.
Included in the release of audio and video by police were a series of telephone messages left for Sypher by Pitino. Most of the calls are brief, with him leaving his name and asking for a call back.
In one message, though, Pitino alludes to the "very unfortunate situation."
"It's not something I can decide on," he says on the message. "I think the best thing in all scenarios is to go through with it. But, that has to be your call because (inaudible) ... I'm a high profile person ... I can't really give you any advice on this..."
It's not clear from the recording, parts of which are inaudible, what decision he's referring to. Sgt. Robert Biven said the recordings were provided to police by Sypher.
In an interview with police that was not taped but was summarized in a police report, Pitino said the encounter with Sypher was consensual. Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley said Pitino's interview wasn't taped because his attorney accompanied him to the interview.
Federal prosecutors have asked U.S. District Judge Charles Simpson to order a psychological exam for Sypher, saying she may not be competent to understand the proceedings against her or assist in her own defense in the extortion case. Sypher's attorney had not responded to that request as of Wednesday.
Pitino said Louisville would continue to be a Top 10 program despite the scandal.
"It has not hurt recruiting one bit. We will still bring in Top 10 players," he said.
Pitino finished his eighth season with the Cardinals, leading them to a 31-6 record and the Big East regular-season and tournament titles. The Cardinals lost to Michigan State in the regional finals of the NCAA tournament.
_____
Associated Press Writer Brett Barrouquere in Louisville contributed to this report.
LOS ANGELES – Police are looking for three suspects in the burglary of Lindsay Lohan's home.
The Los Angeles Police Department has released surveillance camera footage of the Sunday break-in at the "Mean Girls" star's house. The footage shows three people, whose faces are covered with scarves, walking through a gate at Lohan's Hollywood Hills home and entering a courtyard at around 1:10 a.m.
LAPD detectives believe the suspects one male and two females, all 18 to 25 years old entered the house through an unlocked door, then ransacked it and took property.
Lohan's spokeswoman, Leslie Sloane-Zelnik, said the break-in happened Sunday while the actress and her younger sister were away. Sloane-Zelnik said many of Lohan's "personal belongings were taken without remorse."
Lohan posted on Twitter she didn't think it was a robbery because "things that a certain old friend knew meant a lot to me" were taken.
NEW YORK (Reuters) –
Robert McCann, former head of Merrill Lynch's wealth management unit, is in talks to settle a suit he filed August 24 against Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) seeking to lift a noncompete clause, allowing him to join a chief rival, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.
McCann, a three-decade Merrill Lynch veteran, has been linked to UBS AG (UBSN.VX), potentially becoming the Swiss financial giant's head of wealth management in the Americas.
The source declined to comment on the record because the talks are private and doesn't have permission to speak publicly about the matter.
A Bank of America spokesman and UBS spokeswoman declined to comment.
McCann's suit, filed August 24 in New York Supreme Court, alleges Bank of America failed to accept legitimate reasons for his January 5 resignation -- less than a week after Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America -- and instead terminated him in early February, leaving a more restrictive noncompete clause in place.
McCann alleges that his position as head of Merrill Lynch's wealth management unit was marginalized in the combined company.
His suit requests the court lift the noncompete agreement, and award additional relief it sees fit.
The case is McCann v. Bank of America Corp, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan), No. 602628/2009.
(Reporting by Joe Rauch; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
MOSCOW (Reuters) –
Russia's government has issued a tender for luxury furniture, including a gilded bed, triggering an outcry Wednesday in a country where the economy shrank 10.9 percent in the last quarter.
The interior ministry said it wanted a cherry wood bed and that the "the decorative elements of the head and footboards must be covered with a thin layer of 24 carat gold."
The total value of the furniture tender was 24.4 million roubles ($755,900), according to the procurement agency's site http://zakupki.gov.ru
"I cannot imagine the need to purchase expensive items during such a difficult financial situation for the country," wrote blogger http://www.vidal-palermo.livejournal.com shortly after the details became public.
The tender announcement said the bed should be sent to the ministry headquarters. Other items must be delivered to an address in an exclusive dacha district on Moscow's outskirts.
According to Russian newspaper Vedomosti, this is where several senior officials in the interior ministry reside in state-owned homes.
"Golden toilets would be more logical...and a negotiating table should be made of bulletproof and shock resistant material," wrote one comment on the Vedomosti website.
The publication of the tenders comes as part of Russian efforts to improve transparency and boost public confidence in efforts to cut corruption by holding public competitions for state purchases.
(Reporting by Conor Sweeney; Editing by Matthew Jones)
EDINBURGH/TRIPOLI (Reuters) –
A former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing arrived home on Thursday after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer.
Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, believed to have less than three months to live, was released on the order of Scotland's justice minister despite strong opposition from the United States, which had campaigned to keep him in prison.
"He is a dying man, he is terminally ill," Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill told reporters in explanation. "My decision is that he returns home to die."
Hundreds of young Libyans gathered at the airport in Tripoli to welcome him, and cheered and waved national flags as his car sped out of the airport -- even though victims' relatives said they had understood there would be no hero's welcome.
Pan Am flight 103 was carrying 189 Americans when it left London for New York on December 21, 1988. In all, 259 people on board and 11 on the ground were killed when a bomb tore apart the aircraft and wreckage fell on the town of Lockerbie.
In a statement issued by his lawyer after his departure, Megrahi said he was innocent of the bombing, but also thanked the people of Scotland for setting him free.
"To those victims' relatives who can bear to hear me say this: They continue to have my sincere sympathy for the unimaginable loss that they have suffered," he said. "Those who bear me ill will, I do not return that to you.
"This horrible ordeal is not ended by my return to Libya. It may never end for me until I die. Perhaps the only liberation for me will be death."
U.S. REGRETS
The United States regretted his release.
"As we have expressed repeatedly to officials of the government of the United Kingdom and to Scottish authorities, we continue to believe that Megrahi should serve out his sentence in Scotland," the White House said in a statement.
Megrahi, 57, is the only person convicted of the bombing. He lost an appeal in 2002, though a review board ruled in 2007 that there might have been a miscarriage of justice..
A second appeal was withdrawn this week, opening the way for his release on compassionate grounds.
Relatives of many of the American victims thought Megrahi should have served his full life sentence in prison after being convicted of Britain's deadliest terrorist attack.
Frank Duggan, president of the Victims of Pan Am 103, a group that represents the families of U.S. victims, said he understood the Libyan government had promised that Megrahi would not "go back to a hero's welcome."
"There is going to be no dancing in the end-zone, as the expression goes," he told Reuters.
But in Tripoli, despite the fact that state media had not announced his return, hundreds were on the tarmac to cheer him as he emerged from his plane and embraced his waiting sons.
Many carried banners with the name of Libya's National Youth Association, which is close to Saif al Islam, one of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's sons.
One read: "You promised and you fulfilled the promise and you returned Abdel Basset al-Megrahi to his family."
Reporters were kept well back from events.
Megrahi got into a car bound for Tripoli's landmark Green Square, where he was expected to appear before thousands of people gathered to mark Libyan Youth Day.
While the relatives of many American victims were convinced of Megrahi's guilt, the families of many of the Britons killed have questioned the quality of the evidence used to convict him, and some have campaigned for his release to die back in Libya.
"I am delighted. I don't think he had anything to do with it and I think he was effectively framed," Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing, told Reuters.
IMPLICATIONS
While Megrahi's departure from Britain draws a line under an eight-year saga, the implications of his release for British-Libyan relations may be seen for years to come.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi sees Megrahi's freedom as one of the rewards he has received from Western powers for giving up his nuclear ambitions in 2003, analysts say. The United States, Britain and other nations have normalized relations with Libya in recent years, and business with Libya has grown.
For Scotland, though, the Megrahi affair has been a millstone as it tried to balance American opposition to his release with the support of British companies looking for business deals with Tripoli.
Scotland has its own legal system and its government, led by the separatist Scottish National Party, has broad autonomy on justice matters.
The British oil company BP ended a 30-year absence from Libya in 2007 when it signed a bilateral deal for its biggest exploration commitment. Royal Dutch Shell also wants to tap Libya's reserves, the biggest in Africa.
Former British ambassador to Libya Oliver Miles played down the benefits to Britain and said the release was only one part of a long process of improving relations.
"It removes an irritant, but it wasn't a great irritant," he told Reuters. "I don't think it is going to give us lots of lovely new business."
(Additional reporting by Ali Shuaib and Salah Sarrar in Tripoli, Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Peter Griffiths and Luke Baker in London; editing by Kevin Liffey)
WASHINGTON – New research says the best way to protect society's most vulnerable from the flu: Vaccinate school-age children and their parents.
Kids already top the government's priority list for swine-flu shots this year because that new influenza strain targets the young. That's unusual, as flu usually is most dangerous to older adults.
But Thursday's study, in the journal Science, says vaccinating students should be a priority every year because schoolchildren are influenza's prime spreaders and their parents then are the virus' bridge to the rest of the community. The idea: Inoculating spreaders could create something of a cocoon around the people most at risk of flu-caused death.
Clemson University mathematical biologist Jan Medlock modeled what would happen if a virus like the ones that caused the 1918 and 1957 pandemics struck today. He tested multiple vaccination strategies against viruses of varying virulence to see which would give the best outcome for the least vaccine.
In typical winters, the U.S. has 85 million to 100 million doses of flu vaccine. If at least 40 million doses are available, then vaccinating children ages 5 to 19 and adults in their 30s their parents' average age gives society the most protection, Medlock and co-author Alison Galvani of Yale University reported.
In just one example, using a hypothetical flu strain as deadly as the notorious 1918 virus, the model predicted that deaths could be cut by more than half if just those ages are vaccinated, compared with vaccinating only the more usual targets people over 50 and under 5.
Flu specialists increasing are focusing on children.
The research is "very much in line with the evidence" that schoolkids in crowded classrooms act as flu factories, said epidemiologist John Brownstein, of Harvard and the Children's Hospital of Boston.
Brownstein has tracked Boston-area influenza cases and found that neighborhoods with the most kids are where flu strikes first and worst: Every 1 percent increase in the child population brings a 4 percent increase in adult emergency-room visits.
And just last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention started recommended routine flu vaccination for children of all ages. While shots had long been recommended for babies and preschoolers who are at higher risk for flu complications, healthy school-age children typically spend an achy, sneezy week and bounce back.
The change came as scientists began realizing flu vaccine doesn't work as well in people over 65 who account for most of the 36,000 flu-caused deaths each winter as it does in the young. While flu vaccine protects 75 percent to 90 percent of young healthy people, some research suggests the protection may plummet to 30 percent among their grandparents.
But excluding other ages from vaccination, like in Medlock's model, would be "obviously a very difficult decision" rather than vaccinating schoolchildren in addition to the usual high-risk groups, Brownstein said.
MEXICO CITY – Mexico has enacted a controversial law that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and heroin.
The law defines "personal use" amounts for those drugs, as well as LSD and methamphetamines.
It says people found with those amounts will not face criminal prosecution, but that if caught a third time they will be required to complete treatment programs, though no punishment is specified to enforce that.
The law enacted Thursday says anyone caught with personal-use quantities of drugs will be urged to seek treatment for dependency. It takes effect Friday.
In 2006, the U.S. government publicly criticized a similar bill. Then-President Vicente Fox sent that legislation back to Congress for reconsideration.
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department is investigating whether Guantanamo Bay detainees charged with roles in the Sept. 11 attacks were improperly given photos of CIA officers or contractors, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
The investigation, headed by the Justice Department's counterespionage chief, John Dion, is trying to determine if military lawyers defending the detainees divulged classified information or compromised covert CIA officers, according to the person, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke only on condition of anonymity.
It is a violation of federal law to identify CIA covert personnel, and it is a violation of military commission rules to disclose classified information, even if only to the defendants.
The person who spoke to The Associated Press said the photos at issue were provided by the John Adams Project, a combined effort of the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to assist in the defense of the detainees.
The investigation was first reported by The Washington Post on its Web site Thursday night. The ACLU told the Post the organization was confident no laws or regulations had been broken.
The lawyers defending terrorist suspects held at the Navy-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have sought to expose their clients' treatment at the hands of government interrogators, particularly those held in CIA "black sites" overseas, where harsh interrogation tactics were used. Critics of those tactics say they are torture.
Such treatment is likely to play a central role in expected trials for the detainees, either in federal criminal courts or at military commissions, and defense lawyers are expected to try to call CIA personnel and CIA contractors to testify.
