New Mexico

Dem. NJ governor runs cover for MLG amid groping payoff, says she’s ‘doing a great job’

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On Thursday, it was reported that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is running cover for New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham after it was revealed that she paid off former staffer James Hallinan over $62,500 over claims she poured a bottle of water over Hallinan’s genitals and groped him. 

Despite the damning actions by Lujan Grisham to pay hush money to the alleged victim, Murphy said Lujan Grisham is doing a “great job” when asked about it by the New Jersey Globe. 

“I think Gov. Lujan Grisham is doing a great job running the DGA,” Murphy said. “I’m its finance chair, so I don’t make the jurisdictional decisions any longer as I did when I was chair, but I think she’s doing a great job, and New Mexico, I think, is doing a very good job in the pandemic more generally.”

According to the Globe, Murphy is the “immediate past-chairman of the Democratic Governors Association. He was succeeded by Lujan Grisham, a former congresswoman, and is running in one of only two gubernatorial races this year.”

Democrat politicians in New Mexico, including U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger de Fernandez and Sens. Martin Heinrich or Ben Ray Luján, have not uttered a word regarding the payments. The Democrat Party of New Mexico has also been radio silent while Democrat congressional nominee for the First District state Rep. Melanie Stansbury has not issued a comment. 

High-profile Republicans in the state, including possible gubernatorial contender Sandoval County Commissioner Jay Block, have called for Lujan Grisham’s resignation amid the revelations of a payoff for Hallinan’s silence. 

‘Miserable’: 20 APD officers quit Emergency Response Team after dozens leave force altogether

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On Wednesday, it was reported that 20 officers who serve on the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) Emergency Response Team (ERT) would be resigning from the team. However, they are not resigning from the force itself. 

The move comes after a far-left counter-protest to a nonexistent event supposedly being put on by the New Mexico chapter of the Proud Boys, although sources close to the organization claim there was no protest originally planned at all that day.

According to Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association president Shaun Willoughby, the resignations from the ERT are because of the protest that happened on Civic Plaza over the weekend. According to KOB, “During the protest, officers said an armed man was taunting demonstrators, so APD field officers detained him. At the time of his detainment, the man was not charged.” 

“APD officials later reversed that decision and put an officer on leave for the day to conduct an investigation. APD said there was a breakdown in the chain of command about whether charges would be pressed against the armed man.” 

Seventeen officers, one lieutenant, and two sergeants resigned from the team that handles protests, according to Willoughby. The officers feel over-scrutinized, so they decided to take a stand together.

Willoughby says, “This comes down to a lack of trust,” adding that “They’re damned if they do, and they’re damned if they don’t.” 

“They don’t feel supported here, and they don’t feel trust. They feel second-guessed, and they don’t feel that they can do their job, no matter how perfect they do their job, without getting in trouble,” Willoughby added.

However, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller’s APD spokesperson released the following statement: 

“Chief Medina made it clear that we cannot have a breakdown in communication during critical incidents. We have worked hard to earn back the public’s trust. We will lose that trust if we resist accountability and culture change.”

“I think Mayor Keller needs to make a serious decision of what this police department’s priority structure is,” Willoughby said. “I think that he needs to carry that sentiment down to the police chief, so that your police officers feel supported.”

According to Willoughby, over 20 APD officers have quit the force altogether within the last two months, following an all-out assault on law enforcement during the legislative session earlier this year and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller having social workers respond to some calls instead of officers. There have also been many proposals from the Albuquerque City Council to “defund” parts of APD.  

“We are seeing a dramatic increase of Albuquerque police officers applying to go to other departments,” Willoughby said. “Morale, let’s not even talk about it because it doesn’t exist. There is no morale. Your Albuquerque police officers are absolutely miserable at work— nobody’s happy.”

BIZARRE: Sen Heinrich asks FBI chief to reveal identity of ‘Q’ from ‘QAnon’ phenomenon

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During a Senate Intelligence Committee meant to be regarding national security and global threats, Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich, who purports to represent the state of New Mexico despite living in Maryland, continued a bizarre line of questioning regarding a theory called “QAnon” and who its founder may be. QAnon is most commonly attributed to being a phenomenon regarding pedophiles in the government controlling policies in the United States and abroad for nefarious purposes.

Heinrich asked Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) chief, Christopher Wray, about the theory. Wray said, “the effects of Covid anxiety, social isolation, financial hardship, etc., all exacerbate people’s vulnerability to those theories, and we are concerned about the potential that those things can lead to violence.” 

“The Constitution protects the advocacy of all kinds of beliefs and views, even those that philosophically embrace violent tactics. But the public deserves to know how the government assesses the threat to our country from those who would act violently on such beliefs,” said Heinrich. 

Then Heinrich asked Wray who is behind “Q” from the “QAnon” theory in an attempt to somehow connect QAnon to the incursion of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th.

He said, “You’re no doubt familiar with some of the public speculation that ‘Q’ is really Ron Watkins, the administrator of the internet imageboard 8kun formerly known as 8chan. Whether or not Watkins is ‘Q,’ he and his father clearly are responsible for hosting these sites and co-opting, furthering the QAnon conspiracy phenomenon.” 

“Given the prominent role that QAnon did play on the January 6th attack on the Capitol, what are the potential legal repercussions for those who might be primarily responsible for either propagating these sorts of dangerous and in some cases violent messages in these forums?”

Wray responded, “Well, I think your question starts to raise different legal theories. We obviously again have to be careful to be focused on violence, threats to violence, and things that violate federal criminal law. That doesn’t mean that rhetoric isn’t a societal problem that doesn’t need to be addressed, but from the FBI’s perspective–from a law enforcement perspective–we try to be very careful to focus on violence, threats of violence, and associated federal criminal activity.” 

After MLG’s $62K payoff to alleged groping victim, liberal paper fixates on GOP ‘pouncing’ on story

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On Tuesday, a report revealed that Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham paid off a former staffer James Hallinan over $62,500 in apparent hush-money payments following allegations that Lujan Grisham groped Hallinan at a party in 2018 after pouring water on his genitals.

The Governor’s spokeswoman’s response to the allegations was shocking. She said, “We’re a rambunctious bunch. I think they were playing around with water.”

But instead of covering the damning claims, which now have been given much more merit due to the tens of thousands of dollars shelled out by the Governor’s campaign to keep Hallinan quiet, New Mexico’s liberal media oh so desperately wants to shift the focus.

After the news hit the state with a bang after reports by the Albuquerque Journal followed by the Piñon Post, the Santa Fe New Mexican finally ran the story, however, they didn’t want to focus on Lujan Grisham allegedly groping a male ex-staffer. 

So instead, the New Mexican decided they would take the spotlight away from the Governor and point it on Republicans. In a tweet, the New Mexican shared their story, writing, “The Republican Governors Association pounced on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Tuesday following revelations of a settlement of at least $62,500 with a former campaign staffer who accused the first-term Democrat of grabbing his genitals.”

The spin from the extremely liberal paper resulted in ruthless responses from the public, bewildered that the paper of record for the Capitol City of New Mexico actually sought to spin a story about a man being sexually assaulted by his superior to focus on the Republicans’ response.

One commenter wrote, “The REAL question is, WHY isn’t everyone ‘pouncing’ on this? And, WHY is [The New Mexican] trying to provide cover?”

“Real journalists would realize the story is the Gov.’s actions, not the opposition’s reactions,” wrote another. 

One person responded, “A+ framing. The story is not the politician you like grabbing a staffer’s balls? The story is politicians you don’t like noticing the ball grabbing?” 

“Whoah.  Hold the f*** up.  How does the story become ‘Republicans pounce…?’ The story should be centered on a superior abusing their power in a humiliating way over a subordinate. This phrasing is gross and the headline writer should fix it,” another Twitter user commented. 

The Twitter aggregation news site Twitchy previously noted how the liberal media used the “Republicans pounced” narrative on Joe Biden’s border catastrophe, which has caused a massive influx of illegal immigration on the United States’ southern border with Mexico, resulting in a humanitarian crisis. Twitchy labeled the narrative shifting as work of “DNC spinsters.” 

National outlets such as Fox News, The Hill, and others have now picked up the story. The New Mexican’s spin from alleged groping to “Republicans pounced” likely will not help the disgraced governor who, like her colleague New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, faces extreme pressure to resign for misconduct.

Congresswoman Yvette Herrell reveals the truth about the border wall construction

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On Monday, Congresswoman Yvette Herrell shared a video of her at the United States’ southern border with Mexico and all the materials meant to construct the border wall left untouched by the Joe Biden administration after he stopped construction of the wall.

The failure by Biden to finish the wall and his pro-amnesty positions on immigration have led to a humanitarian crisis at the border, with hundreds of thousands of criminal aliens attempting to enter the United States illegally. 

Rep. Herrell spoke out against the wasteful lack of action on the materials left untouched by Biden. She said in a video posted on Twitter, “Not only are we looking at the gaps in the border barrier, but now we’re checking out all this material that’s sitting here on the ground. There’s a crusher on the ground that’s already crushed so much rock and they’re ready with the material. They have rebar, they have all these bollards stacked up.” 

“If we don’t finish the wall, if we don’t finish the gaps in the barrier, the American public will be paying to either destroy all this material or store it,” said Herrell, adding that “it will actually cost the American population more money to stop construction on the wall then to go and spend the dollars that have been adjudicated and passed by Congress.” 

“Again, if we’re not out here showing the American population what’s really happening on the southern border, you’ll never know because you won’t see this on TV. But all this material is sitting here waiting to be used and it will be at the expense of the American taxpayer.” 

Since Biden has been installed, 351,803 illegal border crossings have been recorded as of the end of March, per the Department of Homeland Security statistics. The Joe Biden regime has repeatedly denied the existence of a border crisis and has tapped Kamala Harris to manage the issue. She has yet to visit the border.

Gov, Michelle Lujan Grisham recently denied Congresswoman Herrell’s request for New Mexico National Guard troops to be stationed at the southern border to assist with the crisis despite Lujan Grisham sending troops to Washington D.C. in January to assist with security for inaugural festivities.  

Alleged groper Gov. MLG funnels over $62K in hush money to ex-staffer in settlement

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In 2019, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was accused by former campaign spokesman James Hallinan of sexual and physical abuse. Hallinan claimed then-U.S. Rep. Lujan Grisham “took a water bottle and dumped it on my crotch and then slapped and grabbed me in front of everybody.” 

He claims this assault happened during a senior staff meeting held at Representative Deborah Armstrong’s (D-Bernalillo) home in the summer of 2018. Armstrong was formerly Gov. Lujan Grisham’s business partner in “Delta Consulting,” a company that has allegedly grifted the people of New Mexico by upcharging the sick in the state’s high-risk insurance pool despite Obamacare effectively making the program obsolete.

Hallinan claimed he was talked out of reporting the incident by then-Lujan Grisham campaign manager Dominic Gabello, who is now a senior adviser in the Governor’s Office.

Now, according to an Albuquerque Journal report, the Governor’s campaign has shelled out “at least $62,500” According to the report, “The payments went to a law firm representing James Hallinan, a spokesman for Lujan Grisham during her 2018 general election campaign. The five monthly payments of $12,500 are outlined in a campaign finance report filed late Monday by Lujan Grisham’s campaign with the Secretary of State’s Office. They are listed as legal expenses, with one payment a month from November through March.” 

The Governor’s campaign spokesman Jared Leopold said the payments are part of a settlement resolving “numerous dubious and disputed potential claims made by Mr. Hallinan arising from his employment in 2018 with the campaign organization and his subsequent search for employment.”

Lujan Grisham, Gabello and the campaign organization itself “strenuously deny that there is any merit or truth to Mr. Hallinan’s claims, including his claims about difficulty finding or keeping work after the campaign,” Leopold said. “They reached a settlement in order to avoid the continuing distraction and significant expense of possible litigation and allow them to concentrate on working for the people of New Mexico during this pandemic.”

Rachel Berlin Benjamin, Hallinan’s attorney said the governor and Hallinan “have resolved any differences or issues to their satisfaction.”

If Hallninan’s claims were without merit, it is unclear why the Governor is now conceding to the former staffer via tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash now and possibly in the future to keep him silent. Could this scandal have contributed to the Governor turning down a cabinet position in the Joe Biden regime?

Hallinan has also accused lawmakers, including state Sen. Jacob Candelaria (D-Bernalillo), of sexual assault, writing on Twitter that Candelaria allegedly sexually abused him at the Bull Ring restaurant while Hallinan worked for state Reps. Brain Egolf (D-Santa Fe) and Moe Maestas (D-Bernalillo). 

Gov. MLG signs recreational marijuana bill despite concerns

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On Monday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed H.B. 2, which was rammed through the Legislature in a special session specifically called for recreational marijuana passage after the body failed to pass the bill in the regular session. 

The Governor called the bill, “a major, major step forward for our state. Legalized adult-use cannabis is going to change the way we think about New Mexico for the better – our workforce, our economy, our future.”

She added, “We are going to increase consumer safety by creating a bona fide industry. We’re going to start righting past wrongs of this country’s failed war on drugs. And we’re going to break new ground in an industry that may well transform New Mexico’s economic future for the better.”

The New Mexico Senate passed the Senate by a vote of 22-15, with two Democrat senators, Bobby Gonzales (D-Los Alamos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, and Taos) and Shannon Pinto (D-McKinley & San Juan), voting with Republicans against it.

However, the most such a bill would bring in to the state would be peanuts compared to the bloated state budget that currently sits at $7.4 billion. Proceeds from the sale of recreational marijuana would only contribute a maximum of 0.204% of the state’s needed budget or $15.1 million in the best year.

According to one report, “The state would levy a 12% excise tax on sales to start, and the tax would grow to 18% over time. Gross receipts taxes would also be added on, pushing the total tax rate to 20% to 26% overall.” 

Both chambers of the Legislature also adopted separate legislation to subsidize the Big Pot industry with $7 million in cash, despite the Governor claiming the industry would bring in money to the state. 

Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana), who was conveniently absent for the final vote on H.B. 2, said, “This bill is not ready, this policy is not ready, New Mexico is not ready,” showing his concern that legalization will do more harm than good in a state plagued by drug and alcohol addiction.

“We’re not really genuinely here to debate the bill or improve the bill,” said Sen. Cervantes, D-Las Cruces. “We’re here to pass the bill.”

The Senate Democrats decisively killed just every amendment to their radical bill proposed by Republicans. Thankfully for minors in New Mexico, the previous language in prior bills allowing parents to legally provide cannabis to children under 21 was removed from the currency legislation.

The bill, however, allows adults over 21 to grow their own pot plants for personal use up to six for personal use and twelve for household use, which will expose children and minors to marijuana.

New Mexico is the 16th state to legalize recreational dope, following New York and fourteen other states. Law enforcers and family-based groups have noted how the bill would lead to more people using narcotics in the state, while these drugs will be more readily accessible to youth. These concerns fell on deaf ears by the Democrats in the Legislature and Lujan Grisham.

READ NEXT: Deep-pocketed marijuana lobby banking on Legislature’s proposals to legalize weed

Planned Parenthood NM giving Gov. MLG award for signing abortion up-to-birth bill

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On Monday, it was announced by Planned Parenthood New Mexico that they will be giving Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham an award for her efforts to ram through extremist abortion up-to-birth and infanticide measures in the Legislature, specifically S.B. 10. The bill rips all conscience protections for health care workers, all health protections for women, leaving infants in the womb defenseless.

After the Governor signed the extreme abortion law, she said, she was “honored” to sign it, calling it “profound.” 

“Anyone who seeks to violate bodily integrity, or to criminalize womanhood, is in the business of dehumanization. New Mexico is not in that business – not any more,” she wrote.

Because of the Governor’s commitment to anti-life policies, Planned Parenthood is giving Lujan Grisham the “Changing Lives Award” at the “Breakfast of Champions” event, according to an email announcement. The award is meant to go “to a person who embodies the importance of Planned Parenthood in New Mexico’s (PPNM) work providing sexual and reproductive health care services, education, and advocacy.” 

She will receive the award on May 14 during a virtual event featuring Jamia Wilson, an “activist, feminist, storyteller, media maker, and natural-born thought leader” who has been chosen as the Executive Editor of Random House, a book publisher. She is also a former Planned Parenthood worker.

Tickets are being offered anywhere from $50 to $10,000 to support the anti-life abortion business with sponsorships including the “Bellow,” “Yell,” “Howl,” “Shout,” “Roar,” and “Platinum” levels.

Gov. Lujan Grisham also signed an extreme assisted suicide bill that will let patients take a medically unproven “cocktail” of lethal drugs if they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness, with only a 48-hour waiting period to obtain the poison. The Governor has been noted as one of the most anti-life governors in the United States.

GOP lawmakers tell MLG to follow the science with her COVID-19 reopening plan

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First, it was red, yellow, green, now it’s yellow, turquoise, green. And New Mexico is still pretty much locked down for the most part, with occupancy limits still in place and unemployment numbers creeping up. 

Despite counties being gradually pushed toward fewer restrictions, many New Mexicans are still without jobs and despite less cruel regulations being pushed upon the people of the state, businesses are barely making ends meet.

The crisis is being noticed by two state lawmakers who are demanding Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham quit the color-coded plan and just reopen the state, trusting citizens and businesses to do what is best for communities–not bureaucrats. 

State Sen. William Sharer (R-San Juan) and state Rep. Rod Montoya (R-San Juan) sent a scathing letter to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

In the letter, the two lawmakers wrote that the “Red to Green Framework” adopted by the Lujan Grisham administration is “outdated and erroneous,” noting how three counties, San Juan, Hidalgo, and Guadalupe, were downgraded to yellow status despite the three counties combined only having 12 cases of COVID-19 in the 14-day reporting period. 

“Needless to say, these downgrades will have a tremendous and hugely negative impact on our communities and the local small businesses still struggling to survive. Many of them managed to weather the uncertainties of the pandemic only to experience even more uncertainty in its wake. The latest update further underscores the flaws of the ‘Red to Green Framework,’ specifically the use of positive tests as a percentage of total tests,” wrote the two state lawmakers. 

Montoya and Sharer noted how even Dr. David Scrace, the Governor’s secretary of Health and Human Services raised questions about the efficacy of positivity rates playing into reopening status. 

In late March, according to the lawmakers, Scrase said, “We’ve been thinking about this test positivity rate over the last six weeks, and raising the question — Will we be able to continue relying on test positivity rate as a measure of the safety of a community or the measure of the disease activity now that we have vaccines on the scene?” 

“Instead of a positivity rate calculated as a percentage of tests, we should be looking at positive tests as a percentage of a county’s population,” proposed Montoya and Sharer. “Consider San Juan County, for instance. Today, the County had just six COVID hospitalizations and 17 total COVID cases. Those total cases represent just 0.00013 of the County’s total population.” 

“The reason for this low infection rate is clear. Over 70 percent of the people in San Juan County have been partially or fully vaccinated, and roughly 10 percent of the population contracted the virus and recovered. Based on these figures, San Juan County has likely reached ‘herd immunity.’ Why then would we continue to measure positive tests against total tests when over 70 percent of the population no longer need to test?” 

The lawmakers pled with the Governor to reconsider her reopening formula, saying, “Earlier this week, Dr. Scrase again spoke of correcting the framework and taking into account vaccination rates. The fact is, this should have been done weeks ago and we urge you to put an end to the delay. Too many hardworking New Mexicans and small businesses are hanging on by a thread. It is time to reopen our state.”

No response has yet been reported by the Governor’s office, however, if she does respond, it will be added to this story.

Law enforcers concerned over NM’s new recreational marijuana bill

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The New Mexico Legislature rammed through Democrats’ H.B. 2, the Cannabis Regulation Act, during a special session called by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham after lawmakers in the Democrat-dominated Legislature failed to pass it during the regular session. Traditionally, special sessions are only called for emergencies and urgent matters such as natural disasters or pandemics.

The newly passed recreational marijuana law, which is likely to be signed into law any day now by the Governor, has many in law enforcement wary of the law opening the door for even more corrosive illicit drugs such as methamphetamine and crack cocaine being fast-tracked to legalization. 

Lea County Sheriff Corey Helton told the Carlsbad Current-Argus that he “feared the passage of legislation to legalize the use of recreational cannabis in New Mexico could be the first step in decriminalizing other current illegal substances.” He said he would “expect more of this” in the future, leading the state down a slippery slope.

Former FBI agent and current Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh said narcotics legalization is a destructive road to go down. 

“People who have never dealt with a family of a meth user have no concept of how destructive that drug is. Same thing for heroin and that’s the problem. These people who have these rose-colored glasses concept, ‘well it’s only a problem because it’s illegal,’ no it’s illegal because they’re problems,” he said.

“The reality is there’s a huge drug problem here in New Mexico. I believe the drug problem really flows from behavioral health issues and this has done nothing to make it better. This is basically the state serving as an enabler to encourage those who are in bad shape having real issues to continue to wallow in a situation that will ultimately destroy them.”

In states such as Colorado, which have legalized recreational weed, it has seen a dramatic increase in violent crime, traffic fatalities, and marijuana hospitalizations. And usage by minors – sometimes fatal, from eating poorly regulated marijuana candies has increased. 

“The bottom line is it’s a scheduled one narcotic. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s still on the schedule one for federal. Which means there is no use for it whatsoever and that hasn’t changed and that’s not going to change for a while,” said Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage. 

He noted how New Mexico’s new law puts banks in jeopardy because on the federal level, financial institutions cannot do business with entities selling the illicit drug, per federal law. 

“Because they’re FDIC insured. So, they can’t do that. They’re not allowed to do that,” said Cage. “You want to legalize dope, smoke it, eat it. That’s great. The problem is it’s still illegal federally and it still has all these weird implications that we have to deal with.”

“Because our governor wanted this, and I have to wonder exactly why? Is it a money thing? It’s not definitely a money thing for our state economy, right? Is it a money thing for individuals? Or is it for votes? Maybe that’s what is. I don’t know. I’m astounded by it,” added Cage.

The new law is sure to add roadblocks for local law enforcers and leave financial institutions liable, something that Cage called the Governor putting “the cart before the horse.” It is unclear what the next step is for the Legislature in the legalization of narcotics, but if the recent legislative session proved anything, the Democrats have the votes to ram through just about anything they want. 

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