MLG Deputy Campaign Manager Confirms MLG Received Questions and Used Them for Debate-Prep

Albuquerque, NM –  Several media outlets continue to cover the staggering Debate-Gate cheating scandal casting a dark shadow over Michelle Lujan Grisham's campaign in the final days of the election. The Governor has refused to deny whether or not her campaign cheated in that 2018 KOB-TV debate, or in this year's debates with Mark Ronchetti. 

KOB TV itself aired another story Friday night, clearly reporting that MLG's Communications Director and Deputy Campaign Manager, James Hallinan, received the questions from KOB and forwarded them directly to MLG. KOB also confirmed that Lujan Grisham used those questions to prepare for their debate.

KOB interviewed Hallinan, who read several more texts that had not been previously released: 

November 7, 2018 

Text from KOB Journalist: You're welcome. You're a great person and I'm here if you believe I'm qualified to contribute to a successful term for Michelle. 

The KOB journalist also sent Hallinan a screenshot of another journalist's notes and offers to send letters of recommendation for himself, hoping to get a job in the new Lujan Grisham Administration. KOB notes that the journalist did not end up with a job in her administration, but fails to note that he did get a job working for her ally and supporter, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller.

KOB's Matt Grubs then confirms that the leaked questions were used in the actual debate that aired live on the station two weeks later. 

Grubs: "Were they questions in the debate? Yes, they came from (New Mexicans) who participated in a series of state-wide panels in the weeks leading up to the debate." 

Grubs asks several questions of Hallinan, confirming that Michelle Lujan Grisham herself received the questions and used them to prepare for the debate: 

Grubs: "Did the Governor's campaign use those questions in their debate prep? 

Hallinan: "Yes, yes they did." 

Grubs: "Was it passed on directly to the Governor or did it get stopped at any point?" 

Hallinan: "Yes, yes, I sent it directly (to Michelle Lujan Grisham)" 

Grubs: "What does Governor Lujan Grisham say? The campaign did not address the accusations directly." 

Grubs then recaps the absolute non-response response from Michelle Lujan Grisham to his questions about the allegations. He says that the Lujan Grisham campaign has not addressed or responded directly to the allegations. As in all media stories by KOB TV, the Albuquerque Journal, and the Santa Fe New Mexican, the campaign never actually denies anything and there is no direct quote of denial referenced. 

For the 2nd night in a row, KOB managed to run another 3-minute story without ever getting the governor or her campaign to state on the record whether or not they received the questions.  There's obviously a big reason the campaign does not want to take that position on camera – they know it happened. Hallinan and KOB TV confirmed it in this story. 

The Santa Fe New Mexican also wrote an extensive story about Lujan Grisham's Debate-Gate: 

"James Hallinan… said Friday he was one of several campaign staffers who "absolutely" received texts from Joseph Lee Lynch, a cameraman who worked for KOB-TV at the time.

"He was sending [messages] and soliciting a lot of us on the campaign to get a job," Hallinan said of Lynch.

Yet again, Michelle Lujan Grisham's campaign failed to deny any accusations of cheating. 

See the latest KOB story here: 

Read the Santa Fe New Mexican story here: