Roswell Daily Record
AG Holder cited for contempt
Vol. 121, No. 148 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
INSIDE NEWS
CIGAR LOVERS TO FDA: A CIGAR ISN’T JUST A CIGAR RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Sometimes a cigar isn’t just a cigar. From large hand-rolled cigars and smaller machinemade cigars to little cigars that are similar in size to cigarettes, there are ... - PAGE A5
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Setting up a potential constitutional confrontation, a Republican-controlled House panel voted Wednesday to cite Attorney General Eric Holder for contempt of Congress, just hours after President Barack Obama invoked executive privilege — for the first time — to withhold documents demanded by the committee. The party-line vote was 23-17 following hours of caustic debate. The controversy goes next to the full House, where Republican Speaker John Boehner said there would be a vote next week unless there was some resolution in the meantime. Committee Chair man Darrell Issa of California said that “more than eight months after a subpoena” for the documents — which
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
June 21, 2012
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concern how the Justice Department learned there were problems with an Arizona probe of gun-running into Mexico — Obama’s “untimely assertion” of executive privilege was no reason to delay the contempt vote. No, it was just political, said Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the committee’s ranking Democrat. He called the vote “an extreme, virtually unprecedented action based on electionyear politics rather than fact.” The last Cabinet member to be cited by a congressional committee for contempt was Attorney General Janet Reno in President Bill Clinton’s administration. That was never brought to a follow-up vote in the full House. Technically, if the full House approves the Holder
AP Photo
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, led by Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., considers whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress, Wednesday.
contempt citation, there could be a federal criminal case against him, but history strongly suggests the matter won’t get that far. Whether Congress could force the Justice Department to turn over the documents is a basic question.
In the Watergate case, the Supreme Court ordered President Richard Nixon to turn over taped conversations to a criminal prosecutor. But in the Nixon case, the justices also found a constitutional basis for claims of executive privi-
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BELLEFONTE, Pa. (AP) — The defense in Jerry Sandusky’s child sex abuse trial rested on its third day Wednesday without calling the former Penn State assistant coach to refute charges that he molested boys at his home and on campus over more than a decade. Closing arguments were set for Thursday in the case that led to the dismissal of Hall of Fame football coach Joe Paterno ... - PAGE B1
Clovis teenager goes missing
Lt. Robert McDonald of New Mexico Department of
Public Safety is seeking assistance in locating Alexandria (Aly) N. Marques, 16. The NMDP is working in cooperation with the Clovis Police Department. Marques is considered a Missing Person Endangered Juvenile. Marques was last seen a few miles outside of Clovis. “She was walking southbound in the northbound lane and hitchhiking. We don’t know if she went south or if she was heading north,” said Sgt. Charlie Aguirre of the Clovis Police Department. Marques is 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs 160 pounds. She has brown
hair and blue eyes. The listing on the Missing and Endangered Website refers to her as disabled. “She goes to public schools, but I gather she had a slight learning disability,” Aguirre said. Marques left her home in Clovis on June 7. She was wearing a green Taco Box shirt with a white T -shirt and black shorts. “We want people to notify us if there are any sightings or if they have any information on her whereabouts,” Aguirre said. He urged people to contact Lt. Jim Schoeffel with the Clovis Police Department at 575-769-1921.
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — Five Albuquerque-area residents were named in a recently unsealed federal indictment connected to what authorities say is a multistate scam abusing New Mexico’s law that allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. Federal investigators say 30 people from five states were involved in a scheme using false documents to fraudulently obtain New Mexico driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants in other
states. New Mexico and Washington state are the only states that allow illegal immigrants to obtain the same driver’s license as a U.S. citizen, but proof of a local address is required. The indictment unsealed late Tuesday said the New Mexico residents would help people in South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia get the licenses. “It was part of the conspiracy that individuals
who were in the country illegally ... and not residents of New Mexico, would obtain driver’s licenses from New Mexico using false documents and through false representations,” the indictment said. About 92,000 foreign national licenses have been issued in New Mexico since 2003. Out of those, only 16,000 license holders filed a state income tax return this year, officials say. The indictment comes after authorities earlier
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INDEX
Mark Wilson Photo
A California king snake from the Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque is introduced to children and adults at the Roswell Public Library as part of the Zoo to You program, Wednesday. Zoo to You travels the state with a variety of exotic animals, educating along the way.
TODAY’S • Ruben Archuleta Sr. • Ruben Archuleta Jr. • Jeanne Patterson - PAGE A6
See HOLDER, Page A3
NOAH VERNAU RECORD STAFF WRITER
INSIDE
SANDUSKY DEFENSE RESTS
lege, leaving the door open for presidents to cite it in future clashes with Congress. In the administration’s claim of executive privilege, Deputy Attorney General
Alexandria “Aly” Marques
The Roswell Cosmic-Con and Sci-Fi Film Festival lifts off this week with a bundle of fun, otherworldly events. While most of the activities are held Friday through Sunday, you can get things started tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. with the Cosmic WINED-up Party at Pecos Flavors Winery, 305 N. Main St. Also tonight, Darth Vader and Chewbacca will toss opening pitches at the Roswell Invaders baseball game at 7 p.m. at Joe Bauman Stadium, where the first 50 costumed attendees will be admitted for free. On Friday, Spring River Park & Zoo will host the Famous Monsters Masquerade Ball from 4 to 9 p.m., followed by a showing of the movie Thor at sundown. A variety of sci-fi films will be shown throughout the day at Bassett Auditorium at the Roswell MuseSee SCI-FI, Page A3
New and improved
Mark Wilson Photo
Workers from Play Solutions out of Albuquerque install playground equipment at the new Missouri Avenue Elementary School, which is nearing completion, Friday.
Fed officials link immigrant license fraud ring to NM this month busted up a driver’s license fraud ring in the eastern New Mexico communities of Clovis and Portales. In the latest case, the homes and businesses of a Rio Rancho man and four Albuquerque residents were raided Tuesday by federal and state authorities in connection with a South Carolina-based scheme. Among those indicted were Albuquerque residents Ivon Baray-Luna, 31;
Alfred Padilla, 47; Victor Alvarez, 25; Elizabeth “La Guera” Lopez, 42; and Rio Rancho resident Alfredo Saenz, 39. It was unclear if any had attorneys. Demesia Padilla, secretary of the state Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees New Mexico’s Motor Vehicle Division, said her department was notified about the ring in November 2011 and began See LICENSE, Page A3