US Attorney Alex Uballez

First his cellphone was turned off. Then the Trump administration turned the lights out on US Attorney Alex Uballez. Soon he will be replaced with a Republican. 

Uballez was forced to resign Monday. Happy Presidents Day, Alex.

That sacking is par for the course for any new President. Uballez was appointed by Biden in 2022 to replace a Republican but this time the switch is accompanied by weighty issues now hanging in limbo: 

--Will the new GOP USA lay down a marker and pledge to aggressively pursue to the end the APD DWI bribery scandal that Uballez has presided over? Any hesitation could inhibit others involved in the scheme from coming forward or worse, the investigation gets slow-walked. On the bright side, the ringleader of the scheme has spilled all the beans and taken a plea bargain so some of the forward motion resolving the scandal is unstoppable. 

--Will Trump appoint a Republican firebrand MAGA as the new USA? In his first term he chose John Anderson, a moderate R with solid legal credentials who did not engage in radical interpretations of criminal justice or target any specific groups. This time the outcome is less certain. 

--If Trump does go with a MAGA member will that mean ABQ's status as a sanctuary city is placed in the bullseye and the deportation of undocumented migrants escalated? 

--Will a Trump appointee make good news when it comes to slowing Cartel drug traffic into the state?

The next step is for an interim US attorney to be selected (usually from the current staff). Later a permanent appointee will be named who must win confirmation from the Republican-controlled US Senate. 

Senators Heinrich or Lujan could put a "hold" on any nomination they found offensive which would cause a delay in the vote but probably not for long. The function of the office with a full-fledged leader is desired by the public and eventually Trump would get his way. 

 MEDIA AND SCANDAL

Tom Clear (Sorber, Journal)

 When the news about Uballez broke we were working on this report about the ongoing DWI scandal. And off we go. . .

Where are the perp walks of the offenders? Courtroom sketches of the plea hearings? Defense attorneys on the steps of the courthouse doing their best to spin the sad outcome for their clients? Where is the in-the-courtroom reporting from the Federal Courthouse?

All of those are ordinary elements of a major scandal such as the federal APD "DWI Enterprise" investigation taking down wayward cops and the lawyer, Tom Clear, who now admits he started put them on the take back in 1995.

But this scandal has been different in public perception. The administration of justice for the lawbreakers is playing out in courtrooms bereft of media representation that is necessary to fulfill the public's right to know. No video of perp walks. No courtroom sketches from the hearings. No on-site access to the prosecutors and attorneys.

US Attorney Alex Uballez has carried the ball for the prosecution with some media interviews but the lack of coverage of the offenders before the arraignments and in the courtroom is glaring and could be viewed as unfair favoritism toward law enforcement.

Such was not the case in other epic scandals that rocked the state, including those involving former state Senator Manny Aragon, two state treasurers caught up in a scandal back in the day. And what about APD itself? They bent over backwards to march their major suspects before the media and public.

Media sources say they have not been informed of the times of the plea hearings of the convicted officers nor of those for defense attorney Tom Clear and his right hand man Rick Mendez where they admitted tier corruption. US Attorney Uballez, they say, told one media outlet that "he would look into it."

He should or else it appears the disgraced public servants are getting an intentional break from the shame they brought on themselves, the city and their honest colleagues. 

BIZARRE INTERVIEW

Sheriff Allen

What to make of that bizarre interview of Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen where he lashes out at the federal prosecutors for not "communicating" with him about the scandal as one of his deputies is implicated? Take a look:

Everyone always talks about relationships and they do it on the feds side. And I take their classes. Um, they might want to take a little taste of their own medicine. Communication is very key.

Shouldn't the chief law enforcement officer of the state's largest county be openly condemning the corruption and urging their federal partners onward instead of fretting about their hurt pride because they are not being kept in the loop? Why would the Feds tell Allen or APD anything when their agencies are the very agencies where the DWI corruption was apparently covered up for decades?

And Allen's disclosure that defense attorney Tom Clear's right arm in the corruption caper, Rick Mendez, gave Allen campaign contributions is a flag more red than the sweaters worn at UNM's homecoming.

Allen's disclosure prompts the need for a complete review of all campaign contributions (including fund-raisers) given by Clear and Mendez for law enforcement and judicial figures. 

Meanwhile, can we at least get Journal cartoonist Trevor into the courtroom for the cop arraignments?  This scandal with the tentacles of an octopus is at the point where some comic relief is in order. 

BACK TO THE FUTURE 

ABQ Federal Court

It was a stunning date drop from defense attorney Tom Clear that did not get much notice. The now convicted felon admitted in his plea bargain that he began the DWI bribery scheme in 1995. 

Stunning to the public at large but not to our blog readers. This January 2024 entry is from one of our Legal Beagles at the outset of the scandal:

Joe, Tom Clear has provided entertainment, food, and drink for ABQ police officers at his home in Tanoan for years. This entertainment was not, to my knowledge, on a strictly quid pro quo basis, but it does not seem to be a coincidence that in, primarily metro court cases, a coterie of officers would fail to show for interviews, trials, and pretrial proceedings when Mr. Clear was on a case. The idea that this is only a decade-long case of corruption is laughable. I first heard of Clear’s shenanigans almost 30 years ago. There are several now retired stars of the APD who were complicit at some level over the years. 

1995. That's when "Dumb and Dumber" was the #1 movie at the box office. How appropriate because that's how those who betrayed their public trust treated the city. They got away with it all these years. 

Until now.  

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