A federal grand jury has subpoenaed correspondence and political contribution records from Gov. Bill Richardson's office dating to 2002 as part of a pay-to-play investigation of state bond deals that generated hefty fees for one of the Democratic governor's political donors.

The subpoena, which was released to The Associated Press by the Governor's Office in response to a public records request, sheds light on the potential scope of the grand jury probe that prompted Richardson last month to withdraw his nomination as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary.

No one has been charged with any wrongdoing.

The grand jury sought records about Richardson staff, his political fundraising committees, political advisers and the Democratic Governors' Association, of which Richardson served as chairman in 2005-2006. The DGA raised money to help Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

The subpoena, however, did not seek any records directly involving Richardson. The subpoena was dated Sept. 22, and the records were to be produced by Oct. 7.

The AP and other news organizations have previously reported that federal investigators are looking at whether political contributions influenced the selection of a California firm, CDR Financial Products, as a financial adviser for transportation bond transactions in New Mexico and whether Richardson's former chief of staff, David Contarino, played a role in CDR being hired. Beverly Hills-based CDR received almost $1.5 million in fees in 2004-2005.

Richardson has said there was nothing improper in how the state awarded the work to CDR. Recently, the governor has declined to answer questions about the investigation. A spokesman for Richardson declined comment Saturday.

In withdrawing his nomination as commerce secretary, Richardson said the grand jury investigation could continue for weeks or months and would have delayed confirmation hearings, keeping him from quickly filling the position in Obama's administration.

CDR has said it "never practiced pay-for-play, on any playing field where we do business."

The grand jury subpoenaed records from the Governor's Office "regarding any and all contact" with several CDR officials, including its chief executive, David Rubin. The subpoena covered records from January 2002 through last September. Richardson was elected governor in November 2002 and took office in 2003.

Rubin and CDR contributed $110,000 to Richardson political committees in 2003-2005. The largest of those contributions, $75,000, was made less than a week before CDR was selected in June 2004 by the New Mexico Finance Authority to handle the reinvestment of idle bond proceeds.

The firm earned more than $400,000 in fees for the investment deal. It had earned more than $1 million in fees in May 2004 for serving as a financial adviser on interest rate swaps for the initial transportation bond issues and as the manager of bond proceeds held in escrow.

The subpoena specifically asked Richardson's office for records of any meetings and correspondence with CDR officials and:

u Contarino and David Harris, who served as Richardson's deputy chief of staff after the governor took office and then became executive director of the Finance Authority in April 2003. Harris ran the authority when it put together financing for Richardson administration highway construction and commuter rail projects and when CDR was selected after a competitive bid process for financial adviser services. CDR ranked second out of six firms that submitted proposals. Authority staff recommended CDR because of its experience in handling interest rate swaps.

u Staff or representatives of the Finance Authority, which is a quasi-public agency that issues bonds and provides other financing to state and local governments. The governor appoints members of the authority's board, and administration agency officials also serve on the governing board.

u Michael Stratton, a Denver-based Democratic political consultant who served as a senior adviser to Richardson's 2008 presidential campaign and was a paid consultant to DGA when Richardson was the group's chairman. Stratton served as a consultant to CDR and to J.P. Morgan when the Finance Authority put together the bond deals and in the fall of 2003, when the governor won legislative approval of a $1.6 billion transportation construction program, which was financed by the bonds.

u Chris Romer, a Democrat state senator from Colorado who was a lead executive for J.P. Morgan Securities on the New Mexico bond deals. Romer, who left his position with the investment bank last year, did not immediately return a telephone message Saturday seeking comment. He is the son of former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer. J.P. Morgan and three investment banking firms shared $5 million in fees as underwriters of the New Mexico bonds issued 2004. J.P. Morgan also was an interest rate swap provider for the state for part of the transportation bonds.

u Staff of the DGA and several Richardson political committees: Moving America Forward, a political action committee formed in 2003 to register voters and train Hispanics and American Indian grass-roots activists; and Si Se Puede! Boston 2004 Inc., which was established in early 2004 to help pay expenses related to the Democratic National Convention, of which Richardson served as chairman.

The subpoena also sought records of all political contributions by CDR and several of its executives to Richardson's political committees, including his gubernatorial campaign committee, as well as DGA.

Rubin contributed $25,000 to Moving America Forward in October 2003, when the Legislature was considering the transportation construction package proposed by Richardson. CDR gave $75,000 to Richardson's Boston convention committee in June 2004. Rubin contributed $10,000 to the DGA in March 2004, about a week after the Finance Authority selected the firm for work on the state bond deals. He contributed $10,000 to Richardson's re-election campaign in 2005, when CDR was still earning fees to manage investments of idle state bond proceeds.

The Governor's Office denied other portions of the AP's request under the Inspection of Public Records Act for documents and correspondence that mirrored much of the grand jury's request.

The Governor's Office said it was prohibited from releasing the records because of federal rules governing grand juries.

"There are countervailing public policy considerations that warrant denial of your request as well, including but not limited to this office's effort to cooperate and not unduly interfere with a federal grand jury investigation," Marcie Maestas, records custodian for the Governor's Office, wrote in a letter dated Thursday.




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