But in a phone interview last night from Washington where Gonzales was preparing for a meeting today with the President and Attorney General Barr, he called Heinrich’s claim "outlandish" and added,  "I have no idea where he got that from."

Heinrich did not cite a source for his assertion. In a statement he said:

. . . Instead of collaborating with the Albuquerque Police Department, the Sheriff is inviting the President’s stormtroopers into Albuquerque. If we can learn anything from Portland, it’s that we don’t need this kind of 'help' from the White House. The President is currently using federal law enforcement agents like a domestic paramilitary force. That’s precisely how fascism begins and none of us should ever encourage or accept it.  I believe that it is time for Sheriff Gonzales to step aside and make room for someone who will make maintaining the peace and promoting the safety and protection of Bernalillo County residents our law enforcement’s top priority.

Gonzales said from DC:

I am having a follow-up meeting on crime in our cities with the President and Attorney General. We have a had a surge in crime across many American cities and we will discuss solutions. This has nothing to do with Portland or troops. We met last year when Operation Relentless Pursuit was established and that is what the meeting is about. Nothing else. This is an opportunity to reach across the aisle in the fight against crime. 

Gonzales’ White House meeting comes on the heels of a TV ad buy from the Trump campaign in New Mexico that concentrated on the violent crime issue. Trump is making a long shot play for the state in the November election. 

CBS News reported that Albuquerque is one of the cities mentioned for possible federal troop placement in a Department of Homeland Security memo.

Sheriff Gonzales

Gonzales said of Heinrich:

Regrettably, Senator Heinrich couldn’t be more political and out of touch with the local social problems and the great work being done by our deputies and the other first responders.  BCSO continues to combat the Albuquerque crime crisis in partnership with federal agencies. . .Along with our federal partners, we pledge to hold accountable the trigger-pullers, firearm traffickers, violent criminals and those who supply them the guns to terrorize our communities. 

The rhetoric of Heinrich and his fellow Dems, including ABQ Congresswoman Haaland, who also called for Gonzales' resignation, has been red hot as they label troops from Homeland Security “stormtroopers.” That’s a controversial term sure to fire up the left of the Democratic Party but that still leaves part of the field for Gonzales to play in.

And the play he's seriously considering is a run for ABQ mayor against Tim Keller next year. Gonzales appears to be looking at resurrecting the old ABQ coalition that repeatedly elected conservative/moderate Democratic Mayor Marty Chavez. That would be westside Democrats, NE Heights Republicans and some downtown areas. Crime would be the unifying message as it was for Chavez.

But does that coalition still exist? The NE Heights and much of the rest of the city have grown increasingly Blue. Gonzales may have to do better with Democrats than he thinks if Manny wants to be the new Marty.

As for Keller, he did not pile on Manny, leaving that to Heinrich, but he did get this dig in:

There’s no place for Trump’s secret police in our city. If this was more than a stunt, these politicians would support constitutional crime fighting efforts that work for our community, not turning Albuquerque into a federal police state. 

NO FLAT TIRES

MLG Director of Communications Tripp Stelnicki writes to take issue with much of Tuesday's blog (which was posted later than usual and is below). The sentences in italics are from the blog and the bold faced copy is from Stelnicki:

The administration Monday failed to respond to a lawsuit brought by the NM Restaurant Association and others accusing MLG of targeting restaurants in her recent public health order that again closed in-door dining. Carlsbad District Court Judge Raymond Romero approved a temporary restraining order allowing in-door dining for the next 10 days--until the current health order expires. 

I know (MLG General Counsel Matt) Garcia talked to you. We did not fail to respond. The judge knew our response was coming within hours and issued his order anyway. Most courtrooms will give both sides a chance to respond. This one did not and in his order simply invented an arbitrary deadline he said had passed. Folks looking for an angle can run​ with the "missed deadline" BS but that doesn't make it true.

It was MLG's first legal defeat since the onset of the virus. True, hours later the Dem majority NM Supreme Court issued a stay of the lower court ruling, forcing the dining rooms to stay closed, but the public legal maneuvering jarred thousands whose jobs are at stake and confused the public. 

Whose fault is that? Why would you blame the governor for a bad ruling by a judge causing chaos for business-owners and employees? If he'd waited for our brief that he knew was coming he would've saved a lot of people a lot of whiplash. Alas.

The PR mess over the dining room closures comes on the heels of an investigative TV report that had MLG’s Deputy Chief of Staff trying to explain--with difficulty--how he had signed off on an apparently bogus $8 million state contract for PPE. And then there was the news about MLG's pandemic jewelry buying that have a sticktoitiveness to them. 

(KRQE-TV) is fair but did not include the fact that the state did not pay for anything that was defective. That would've derailed the "state was bamboozled" thrust of his story but it's true nonetheless. We detected potential fraud and acted quickly on the taxpayers' behalf -- and acted as quickly to buy necessary supplies to keep New Mexican front-line health care workers and more safe and alive.

Part of this is due to the Governor's singular focus on the pandemic with little emphasis on the economic disaster that many in the state face. Witness the inactivity of her Economic Recovery Council. 

So marshaling support for the hundreds of millions in business and local government relief in the special session is "little emphasis"?  How about the $1 billion in pandemic assistance unemployment the state has provided to New Mexicans? Take a look at other states where the lines to talk to anyone about unemployment stretch for miles. We're one of the few that has executed all of the unemployment programs and dollars available to us. That's "inactivity"? 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2020