Chris Romer of J.P. Morgan Chase and The Federal Investigation Into Gripgate

This is an older story but Romer is a player who hasn't gotten as much attention. Romer is the J.P. Chase guy whether he played the role of now convicted Charles LeCroy remains to be seen.

By Gwyneth Doland 1/21/09 8:02 AM-

The GRIPgate grand jury has subpoenaed communications between two of Richardson’s top advisers and a representative of JPMorgan Chase in its effort to find out if Richardson’s office influenced the New Mexico Finance Authority’s decision to hire CDR Financial Products, Bloomberg News is reporting. CDR gave over $100,000 in donations to Richardson’s political action committees and presidential campaign.

From Bloomberg:

The Sept. 22 subpoena, obtained from the governor’s office under the state’s open records law, shows the grand jury’s interest in the roles that former Richardson chief of staff David Contarino, political adviser Michael Stratton, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Chris Romer may have played in the hiring of CDR Financial Products Inc. The probe’s existence was earlier reported by Bloomberg News.

…The subpoena sought correspondence between the governor’s office and those two committees regarding CDR, as well as similar communications with David Harris, who led the authority when CDR was hired. Authorities also requested correspondence with staff of the Democratic Governors Association, which Richardson chaired in 2005 and 2006.

For the full Pay For Play CDR and the Democrats including what Black Box deals are click here.