Politics

‘She’s Kind Of … Inebriated’: Governor’s Slurry Appeal To Officer Caught On Tape

Alex Pappas Political Reporter
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A recording released by police shows an officer and security guard speculating that New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez was drunk after hotel guests complained of loud noises and thrown bottles emanating from her Santa Fe room earlier this month.

 The Albuquerque Journal obtained audio from Santa Fe police Sgt. Anthony Tapia’s belt recorder during a 1:30 a.m. encounter with the Republican governor Dec. 13 at the Eldorado Hotel and Spa.

At one point, a hotel security guard is talking with the police officer about Martinez and says: “I really don’t know what to do in this situation because, like, I can tell that she’s, that she’s kind of …”

“Inebriated,” Tapia replied.

“Yes,” the guard said.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that Martinez’s office is denying she was drunk, saying she only had about one cocktail that night at a Christmas party for her staff. Her office also denies that bottles were thrown from the hotel balcony, claiming it was just snowballs.

Martinez is briefly heard on the tape, where she speaks slowly and appears to slur her words. “There are no bottles being thrown over,” she tells the police officer.

Martinez, a former district attorney, was elected governor in 2010. The first elected Latina governor in the country, her name has been mentioned as a potential running mate for the Republican presidential nominee in 2016.

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