A couple of hours after her "press conference" in which she walked away without taking any questions from the press, Herrera and her staff went to the Capitol Rotunda for a group photo shoot.
Encountering reporters afterward -- namely myself and Rob Nikolewski of Capitol Report New Mexico -- Herrera declined to elaborate on her statements about her staff being put on leave and the allegations of wrongdoing in her office.
I asked Herrera why she recently made a public information request for e-mails between Deputy Los Alamos County Clerk Sheryl Nichols — who has made critical statements about Herrera in news articles — and several people, including Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza and several members of Herrera's staff.
"I did that as a citizen," Herrera said, adding that just because she's an elected official doesn't mean she has to give up her rights as a citizen. "I made that (request) for me."
She said she used her own money in making the request. She declined to say why she wanted the e-mails or what information she found in them.
Rob took video of the brief exchange. Here's the part about the Inspection of Public Records request:
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Steve, I don't know what it is about the Secretary of State's office, but, for the last ten years or so, it had been seemingly been the most corrupt and disfunctional office in a state well-known for corrupt public offices. Keep up the good work. Smoke 'em out!
ReplyDeleteI presume that Herrera's Deputy Secretary of State using a private e-mail account to conduct 'official business' precludes the possibility for members of the public and/or press to use a similar public information request to obtain copies of these e-mails.
ReplyDelete...one can email The Honorable Don Francisco II at dft@newmex.com to ask
ReplyDeleteDon Francisco can also be reached by using LinkedIn see http://www.linkedin.com/pub/don-francisco-trujillo-ii/16/103/48a
ReplyDelete