Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM)

CREW Responds to Rep. Pearce and Asks New Questions

Letter to Rep. Pearce from Ethics Committee

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM), is a third-term member of Congress representing the 2nd district of New Mexico.  Rep. Pearce’s ethics issues stem from his failure to properly report a transaction on his financial disclosure report and from trading legislative assistance for campaign contributions.  Rep. Pearce was included in CREW’s 2007 congressional corruption report.

Lea Fishing Tools, Inc.

Rep. Pearce was the president of  Lea Fishing Tools from which, in 2002, he drew a salary of $277,352 and held stock worth between $1 and $5 million.  In the fall of 2003, Rep. Pearce sold the company’s assets to Key Energy, in exchange for 542,477 shares of common stock.  The value of the stock at the time was $5.2 million.  During an October 29, 2003 conference call, however, the president of Key Energy said Lea Fishing Tools was purchased for $12 million.  Rep. Pearce failed to report the transaction on his 2003 financial disclosure report, and the $6.8 million discrepancy remains unresolved.  In the 2003 report, Rep. Pearce indicated only that he was the president of Trinity Industries, Inc. “F/K/A Lea Fishing Tools, Inc.” and that he held between $5 and $25 million of stock in the company.  Given that all of Lea Fishing Tools’ assets were transferred to Key Energy, it appears that Trinity Industries may be a holding company for the Key Energy stock, but this is unclear.
                   
After selling Lea Fishing Tools’ assets to Key Energy, Rep. Pearce was required to report the sale on his financial disclosure form as a transaction, but he failed to do so.  By failing to list the sale, Rep. Pearce appears to have violated the Ethics in Government Act.
    
Otero Mesa

Rep. Pearce has been a consistent and strong advocate of drilling in Otero Mesa, New Mexico despite environmentalists’ and the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) assertions that only a minuscule amount of oil and natural gas lie beneath the grasslands.  Rep. Pearce, however, has contended that drilling in the area would keep natural gas prices level and create jobs, thereby stimulating the state’s economy.  Initially, the BLM expressed concern about opening the area, arguing that drilling would both directly and indirectly destruct the habitat for wildlife.  Between 2000 and 2003, however, BLM weakened protections for the area and proposed a plan that would open nearly 1.4 million acres to drilling.  The change in policy coincided with the largest lease holder in the Otero Mesa, Yates Petroleum, donating over $230,000 to the GOP over three election cycles.  

Yates Petroleum has been the single largest donor to Rep. Pearce’s campaign committees since 2002, making $53,190 in donations through June 2008.  Individually, members of the Yates family have contributed $110,061.54 to Rep. Pearce since he first ran for office in 2002.

If Rep. Pearce advocated opening up Otero Mesa to drilling in exchange for campaign contributions, he may have violated the bribery statute or accepted illegal gratuities.

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