An aide of President-elect Barack Obama says New Mexico Governor Bill
Richardson has withdrawn as Obama's nominee for commerce secretary.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 3, 2008) NBC-
In December last year, President-elect Barack Obama named New Mexico
Governor Bill Richardson, a former rival for the Democratic presidential
nomination, as commerce secretary.

Obama said Richardson was selected because he is the best person for that
job but on Sunday (January 4) an aide of the President-elect said the nominee
for commerce secretary had withdrawn from the post.

NBC news quoted a statement by Richardson as saying he withdrew due to a
pending investigation into a company that has done business with his state.

NBC said Richardson had said that he had done nothing wrong but the
ongoing investigation would have caused a long delay in the confirmation
process.

Richardson, 61, served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and
energy secretary during the Clinton administration. He was an early supporter
of Obama after dropping his own presidential ambitions.
He becomes the first of Obama's cabinet choices to withdraw. Obama is
scheduled to take office on Jan. 20.

"Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted
properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact.
But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an
untenable delay in the confirmation process," Richardson said in a
statement released by the Obama transition team.

"It is also because of that sense of urgency about the work of the
Commerce Department that I have asked the President-elect not to move forward
with my nomination at this time. I do so with great sorrow. But a pending
investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico state
government promises to extend for several weeks or, perhaps, even
months," Richardson added in the statement.

The allegations being investigated by a federal grand jury are whether
Richardson, as governor, steered state bond business to a firm whose founder
of CDR Financial Products made substantial contributions to Richardson's
political action committees.

CDR received almost $1.5 million in fees from the New Mexico Finance
Authority in 2004. During that time, CDR's founder, David Rubin, contributed
$100,000 to Richardson's political action committees, mostly for expenses and
staff at the 2004 Democratic convention.

Last week, the governor ignored reporters' questions about the
investigation.