Recently, the Pearce campaign filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver asking a federal court to order her to refrain from prohibiting a transfer of federal campaign funds to a state account. Last Thursday, the New Mexico Secretary of State's office filed a motion to further delay responding to this lawsuit and meet its responsibility to provide an explanation for how the Secretary arrived at her politically charged decision to ignore legal precedent, existing law, and a ruling from her predecessor. In 2016, the previous Secretary of State confirmed that such a transfer would comply with the law.

On behalf of the Secretary of State, New Mexico's attorney general – who has endorsed the front-running Democrat candidate for governor – filed for a request for a delay, totaling 60 days, to avoid answering the complaint filed by the Pearce campaign in July.

"The actions by the Secretary of State smack of unfair maneuvering and party politics," said Pearce campaign spokesman Greg Blair. "She has clearly used her position to stack the deck in favor of her own party's presumptive nominee. Now, faced with a lawsuit, she's stalling so she can avoid justifying her politically-motivated decision. Campaign funds raised under federal disclosure laws are as clean as they come, with more stringent disclosure standards than New Mexico requires. After getting caught using her authority for her party's political gain, the Secretary of State has gone into hiding."

TIMELINE:

In April 2016, the Pearce campaign contacted the SOS office seeking input on the transfer of FECA (Federal Election Campaign Act) compliant funds to a New Mexico candidate's account.

On June 15, 2016, the Pearce campaign received an email from the SOS office providing an analysis concluding that the full FECA account could be transferred to a state account.

Following a June 17, 2017 exchange between the Pearce campaign and the SOS office, Deputy SOS John Blair emailed the Pearce campaign on June 19, 2017, to assert that the new SOS had reinterpreted the previous decision and would consider the transfer of FECA funds to be a "contribution."

The Pearce campaign made the first of many requests to meet with SOS staff to discuss the issue after the June 17, 2017 exchange. The SOS did not respond.

On June 20, 2017, the Pearce campaign sent a four page letter to the SOS providing the legal analysis underpinning a proposed transfer of FECA funds, asking that the SOS review and comment on the Pearce campaign analysis. The Pearce campaign once again offered to meet with her office to discuss the issue. The SOS did not respond.

On June 29, 2017, the SOS office told the Pearce campaign that their formal response remained in draft form and there was a 50 percent chance that it would be finalized by June 30 or no later than the following Monday, July 3, 2017. The Pearce campaign again asked for an in-person meeting to take place prior to the transmittal of a formal opinion letter. The SOS did not respond.

On July 6, 2017, the Pearce campaign again called the SOS office and was told that it hoped to have the formal response by July 8 or 9, 2017. The Pearce campaign again asked for an in-person meeting before the SOS issued an official opinion, but the SOS again refused.

On July 11, 2017, the Pearce campaign again to ask when it can expect to receive a response.

On July 17, 2017, with no response offered by the SOS, the Pearce campaign again contacted the SOS office, and this time the SOS office replied. The SOS office claimed it had not finished the opinion due to a heavy workload.

On July 17, 2017, the Santa Fe New Mexican ran a story indicating, "state law could lock away Pearce's $1 million war chest" and quoting a spokesperson for the SOS as indicating that her office was working on a formal response.

On July 19, 2017, the Pearce campaign received a formal response. Despite the Pearce campaign's numerous requests, no in-person meeting ever took place.

On July 20, 2017, the Pearce campaign files its lawsuit against the SOS. Under the normal rules of the Court, the Secretary is given 21 days to respond to the federal complaint filed by the campaign.

On August 7, 2017, the New Mexico Attorney General's office, acting as the lawyer for the Secretary in the lawsuit, contacts the Pearce campaign's lawyers asking for a two-week extension to respond to the complaint in the federal case. The Pearce campaign agrees to a week's extension, which the Secretary takes starting on August 11, 2017.

On August 17,2017, a day before the already extended deadline to respond to the lawsuit runs, the New Mexico Attorney General's Office and the Secretary of States file a motion with the court asking for a total of 60 days to answer the complaint.