KOAT TV-7 is reporting that a group of lawmakers are moving to impeach New Mexico Secretary of State Diana Duran who won a second term in the office just last November.
“While we hope that Secretary Duran will choose to leave office, we in the House must be prepared to proceed in the event she does not,” House Minority Leader Brian Egolf said in a statement.
The lawmakers are proposing the impeachment after Attorney General Hector Balderas had his office file a 64 page brief in a Santa Fe state district court. The allegations, according to the complaint, are that the Secretary of State transferred large amounts of cash from personal and campaign accounts that far exceeded her income.
The complaint filed by the AG cited eight casinos that were used to make the withdraws, $150,000 in 2013 and twice that amount in 2014.
There is no word on when the lawmakers would file impeachment articles but the governor would need to hold a special session if they wanted to move on it before the new year and the process must begin in the house which is currently controlled by Republicans.
If a majority of elected members of the 70-member House vote for impeachment, it’s then up to the Senate to hold a formal trial on the charges and impeachment. In New Mexico state history, impeachment is a very rare occurrence, but embezzlement if proved would move even the more partisan lawmakers to act.
Check back for more.
https://www.koat.com/news/group-pushes-to-impeach-diana-duran/35019608
https://nmpoliticalreport.com/12360/house-dems-if-duran-doesnt-resign-well-look-to-impeach/
