Federal Grand Jury Subpoenaed More Documents about New Mexico Pay for Play

Separate but as always connected to the pension and muni-bond scandal, just another wonderful example of people Bill Richardson surrounded himself with. And who were these fine gentleman? David Contarino was Richardson' s deputy chief of staff . The other was Michael Stratton, who was a top adviser of Richardson and also received money from the Democrat Governors Association when Richardson ran it and did consulting work for J.P Morgan Chase and CDR financial products. This would be the same Contarino whose friends threw a "screw the media" party for.

A federal grand jury has subpoenaed documents related to the state’s pending shift from a contract with one behavioral health services company to another, the Albuquerque Journal is reporting.

The state’s Human Services Department has until next week to respond to the subpoena, which seeks “any and all documents, to include but not limited to specifications, score sheets, and cost proposals” related to the state’s awarding of the approximately $1 billion contract to OptumHealth New Mexico, a subsidiary of United HealthCare. The subpoena was sent in April.

The awarding of the contract is already being challenged in court by the company being replaced, ValueOptions New Mexico. But the involvement of a grand jury that’s investigating potential criminal matters raises the stakes significantly.

The Journal reported that both companies, in seeking the new contract last year, hired consultants who are close to Gov. Bill Richardson. ValueOptions hired Dave Contarino, the governor’s former chief of staff and campaign manager, while OptumHealth hired Denver political consultant Mike Stratton, another member of the governor’s inner circle.

Both men are among those who have been scrutinized in GRIPgate, the federal grand jury investigation of allegations of pay to play in the Richardson administration. Until now, the investigation has centered primarily on allegations that the Richardson administration traded a lucrative state bond contract for $110,000 in contributions to Richardson’s political committees and his 2006 gubernatorial campaign. As their clients battled for the behavioral health services contract, Contarino and Stratton, according to the Journal, were paid to advise the companies but did not lobby state officials

ValueOptions is alleging that the scoring system that was used to award the contract was changed to favor a competitor, not the first time the Richardson admin was accused of this. So who wins this fight, Contarino or Stratton or does someone turn evidence against the other.