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GORENCE & OLIVEROS, P.C.

201 /2/ 11 Street NW
ALbuquerque, New iVlexico 87102
(505) 244-02 J4 Fcc" (505) 244-0888

ROBERT J. GORENCE
LaUREN OLIVEROS
MARJE LEGRAND

Via Facsimile to 505-827-5826

August 5, 2009

Gary K. King
Attorney General
P.O. Drawer 1508
Santa Fe, NM 87504-1508

RE: Target Letter to Joseph Kupfer, Elizabeth Daisy Kupfer, and Armando
Gutierrez, ancl Rebecca Vigil-Giron

Deal' Attorney General King:

By now, I am sure you have reviewed the August 4, 2009 letter submitted by Joseph Kupfer,
Elizabeth Daisy Kupfer, and Armando Gutierrez, signed respectively by all their lawyers, outlining
the obvious conflict of interest vour office has in pursuing: the above-referenced target letter.
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Although I, on behalf of Ms. Vigil-Giron, join the letter whole-heartedly and embrace its concepts,
I write separately because Ms. Vigil-Giron is not similarly situated to the three other target letter
recipients. Despite an allegation within the ta:'get letter that Ms. Vigil-Giron failed to pay gross
receipts tax, I have no doubt that your investigation has now revealed that Ms. Vigil-Giron never
received any financial beneflt as a result of the Help America Vote Act (1-LAVA) funds that were
distributed to the State of l\ie'vv Mexico for improvements in voter equipment, as well as vate:'
education. I am confident in making the representation that Ms. Vigil-Giron e!id not receive any
financial benefit from federal HA VA fL:nds because I have completely scoured all of Ms. Vigil­
Giron's financial statements, c.s well as the records of A. Gutierrez & Associates. Additionally, I
have been informed by M:·. Hanisee, Mr. Farrah, and Mr. Bowles that your prosecutors have
informed those law)ers in informal discussions that the prosecLltoria! theory of the case is that Ms.
Vigil-Giror; received a pOlitical benefit by utilizing herself as a "spokesperson" vvithin HAVA
advertisel:lents. The fact that Ms. Vigil-Giron neve:" received a fimmcia! benefit onty magnifies the
conflict of interest your office has in pursuing thlS matter as set forth in Mr. Sovvles' August 4. 2009
letter.
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Gary K. King
August 5, 2009
Page 2

The specific conflict of interest that your office has with respect to Ms. Vigil-Giron is that she relied
on legal advic e from officials of the Attorney General's Office with regard to HAVA bid
requirements, HA V A contract preparation, and HA V A contract amendments. In fact, the initial
Request for Proposals (RFPs) for the HAVA voter education contract was reviewed by members
of then Attorney General Madrid's staff at the request of Ms. Vigil-Giron. As such, Deputy Attorney
General Zachary Shandler and Deputy Attorney General Dave Thompson are both critical wi tnesses
with regard to the legal advice they provided toMs. Vigil-Giron in her steadfast zeal to comply with
all Federal ane! State HA V A requirements. As set forth in the August 4, 2009 letter, both Mr.
Shandler and Mr. Thompson are now in your employment. This fact alone mandates your recusal.

Finally, Ms. Vigil-Giron will seek to call you as the current Attorney Generai as a witness if this case
were to be indicted. Perhaps in light of the current HA VA guidelines that allow for public officials
to be a spokesperson for HAV A yater education advertisements, you, as Attorney General, do the
exact same thing with comparable public education advertisements. For instance, you have
authorized your office to engage in public service announcements that feature your name and image
prominently. lust this morning, I saw you on KOB TV with regard to work that your office does
related to mOl1gage foreclosures. Your website features your name prominently displayed with
regard to the work that your office does to eliminate "human trafficking." Far from being illegal,
the Governor does the very same thing with regard to 0\\11 adve11isements that are, in part, funded
with federal funds. Your predecessor, Attorney General Madrid, was particularly active as a
spokesperson with regard to healthcare and Medicare and Medicaid advertisements and as a
spokesperson for anti-drug initiatives. You will be called as a witness to establish that politicians
frequently and \-'lith all due justification appear in political advertisements that have a state and
public purpose. Ms. Vigil-Giron did nothing more when she elected to be the spokesperson for
HA VA-funded voter education ads.

Given the egrecious cor.f1icts of interest You:- office has. I urg:e VOll to reCl:se vom office frorn this
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investigation or I will join with my colieagues and seek a writ forcing yom recusal.

St:lcere[y,

RJG/ch