Richardson withdraws as Commerce nominee

The AP reported on 4 Jan 09 that Bill Richardson has withdrawn as nominee for head of the Department of Commerce, the position above that of USPTO Director.

Specific text from the AP story:

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday [Jan. 4] announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract.

Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case.

The AP story also noted: As governor, he has kept up an international profile with a specialty in dealing with rouge nations. Obama also considered him to be secretary of state. IPBiz query: is a "rouge" nation a rogue nation?

IPBiz had earlier mentioned the investigation into Richardson's past dealings:


Does LaHood choice offer insights into future USPTO director?