Susana Martinez Used to Prosecute Guys Like These. Now She Surrounds Herself with Them.
(addendum: August 9, 2012)

Documents show patterns of mistreating women, dishonesty, and contempt for the law by some of those she has selected to aid her agenda. First in a series of special reports by ISPAC.
August 10, 2012

Susana Martinez is a former prosecutor who has professed deep concern about violence against women. Yet her “top advisor” Jay McCleskey left an Albuquerque woman with bruises, according to a police report and criminal complaint, and a closer look at the governor’s inner circle reveals an alarming pattern of aligning herself with men who mistreat women.

Martinez, who is married to a career law-enforcement officer, has surrounded herself with the sorts of rogues she once prosecuted.
Martinez has said she opposes expunging criminal records, and for good reason. In her memorandum vetoing a bill calling for expunging these records, dated March 2, 2012, Martinez acknowledged employers should have the right to examine not just criminal convictions, but non-conviction records of those they employ.

Martinez recognized that because a person is not convicted of a crime does not mean they are innocent. She wrote, “however, there is a litany of other reasons why someone could be charged for a crime, but not convicted. For example, it is sadly not rare for someone arrested for domestic violence or another serious crime to find a way to pressure or intimidate a victim or other material witness into not testifying at the offenders’ trial, often allowing the offender to avoid a conviction of a crime he/she committed.”

(Read her Memorandum here)
That sensible stand is not a guiding principle of Martinez’s, unless she simply failed to vet the people she’s chosen to help run and enforce the actions of state government. Politics breeds hypocrisy, but that hypocrisy is more unseemly when it involves men using their power (whatever kind of power that is) to intimidate and threaten women.

Not all of those listed here fall into that category and not all of this conduct resulted in criminal charges. But the pattern is there and it calls into question Martinez’s commitment to protecting victims, especially of abusers.

Put simply, Martinez should be judged by the “bad boys” whose company she chooses to keep: Jason “Jay” McCleskey, Paul Pacheco, David C. Chavez, David Doyle, Jr., Bob Wooley, and Nate Gentry. If Martinez knows these men’s histories and conducts business with them anyway, then her law-and-order image is just that—image. And if she doesn’t know what they’ve done, then our governor does not do her homework.
Jason "Jay" McCleskey
Jay McCleskey, the most influential person in Martinez’s shadow government is presently embroiled in two scandals. McCleskey wields an almost Svengali- or Rasputin-like influence over the governor. He is at the center of both the Dirty Downs deal, a massive state contract manipulated from the outset to reward large financial contributions to Martinez and her political action committee run by McCleskey, and the possible misuse of Public Education Department employees and equipment for private political purpose.

This comes as no surprise.

McCleskey’s history includes lying to the police in an attempt to avoid responsibility for his conduct, ruthlessly attacking a woman much younger and smaller than he, and using his moneyed power and influence to abuse those without money or influence.

And Martinez has paid him well over $100,000 to run her Political Action Committee. She has called McCleskey her “top advisor”. (Continued).

(Read the documents here).
Paul Pacheco
Paul Pacheco, A Republican candidate for state representative, appeared in the “Police Stand for Susana” commercial featuring Darren White. Martinez, through her political action committee, has given Pacheco the maximum contribution of $5000.

Martinez endorsed Pacheco in March, "Paul Pacheco was a decorated police officer who will be a strong, honest voice in the state house. I am proud to endorse his candidacy."
-- Gov. Susana Martinez - 3/12/2012

But Pacheco, just like Jay McCleskey, has a history of mistreating women. He’s been accused of actions to “deceive and defraud”, filing a “bogus” police report, with “no evidence to sustain such a report” and of bouncing checks. Did Martinez know this when she said Pacheco was “honest”?

Court filings appear to indicate Pacheco schemed to get a more financially favorable divorce settlement for himself by pretending to reconcile with his unknowing wife. (Continued).

(Read the documents here).
David C. Chavez 
 David Chavez decided he was through with politics, but then decided he wasn’t. What changed?

Chavez is a candidate running for the New Mexico State Senate.

From NM Politics.net: Gov. Susana Martinez was instrumental in convincing Chavez to run, NMPolitics.net has learned. She’s been looking for a candidate to take on Sanchez, the Senate majority leader, a Democrat from Belen, and one of her most powerful foes in the Legislature.

Martinez, through Susana PAC, gave Chavez the maximum amount of contributions for senate candidates: $4600.

Chavez, like McCleskey and Pacheco, also has a history of mistreating a woman. In fact, in late 2010, his then-wife filed a Petition for Order of Protection from Domestic Abuse. (Bernalillo County District Court case DV 201002095). (Continued).

(Read the documents here).
David Doyle, Jr. 
 David Doyle is one of Susana Martinez’s favorite “henchmen” the other being Doyle’s close friend Nate Gentry. Martinez rewarded Doyle for his role by using her political committee to attack Doyle’s opponent in the upcoming senate race, John Sapien, in a mailer right after the end of the legislative session.

Doyle once took to the House floor to attack ISPAC because we issued a critical report on Martinez’s Education Secretary designate, Hanna Skandera. Nice to know just how much the administration fears us.

However, like the others, Doyle also has issues regarding the mistreatment of women.

According to an Albuquerque Police Department report (06-138592), on December 10, 2006, David Doyle got into a heated argument with his ex-wife over the telephone. (Continued).

(Read documents here).
Bob Wooley
On January 14, 2011, Governor Martinez announced that she had appointed Bob Wooley, of Roswell, to serve as Representative from House District 66. House District 66 was vacated by Keith Gardner when Gardner was selected by Martinez as her chief of staff.

Wooley had no government experience when selected by Martinez. The governor said she tapped Wooley to “get our state back on track and create a brighter future for New Mexico’s families and businesses.”
But again, Martinez ignored that Wooley also had been alleged to mistreat a woman. In 1995, Janna Wooley filed a petition for temporary restraining order and a complaint for domestic violence against Bob Wooley (Roswell District Court case DM-199501008). (Continued).

(Read the documents here).
Nathaniel "Nate" Gentry 
 Nate Gentry, who is running for re-election as a state representative, is one of Martinez’s favorite henchmen. His attacks at her request against Republican Charlotte Rode, a critic of the Downs contract, have been well documented. Gentry is currently doing Martinez and McCleskey’s bidding by investigating Sheryl Williams Stapleton, the House Majority Whip.

Gentry spent several years working for Senator Pete Domenici. His time working with Domenici coincided with some legal problems that he had. Perhaps coincidently, most of Gentry’s legal problems went away.

Gentry’ criminal history does not appear to include actions against women. But clearly he has no trouble targeting women when it benefitted Martinez.
Gentry admitted to some of his legal problems when he ran for office in 2010, he told the Journal, “Ten years ago, I was involved in an altercation in Washington, D.C. The case was dismissed. Eight years ago, I was charged with DWI and related traffic offenses in New Mexico. All charges were dismissed.”  Not exactly true. (Continued).

(Read documents here).