State GOP blasts governor over jewelry purchase

Lujan Grisham’s office says no state guidelines were broken, transaction was ‘entirely contactless and remote’

State Republicans criticized Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Wednesday after a television news report said she ordered jewelry from a local store while the state’s stay-at-home order was in effect.

KRQE-TV reported late Tuesday that the governor in early April ordered jewelry over the phone from Lilly Barrack in Albuquerque, adding that an employee went to the store and placed the products outside the door for someone who knew the governor to pick up.

The station said this happened in spite of the state’s public health restrictions, which ordered nonessential businesses, including the jewelry store, to close because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Governor’s Office said Wednesday that no state guidelines were broken and the transaction was “entirely contactless and remote.”

“The store was never ‘opened,’ and a good safe process was followed,” said spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett.

The state Republican Party jumped on the report Wednesday, accusing the governor of breaking the state order and calling the transaction “hypocritical” because other businesses were not allowed to operate at the time.

“It’s shocking that the governor would go behind peoples’ back and break her own order just to benefit herself,” state party Chairman Steve Pearce said in a statement.

KRQE reported other jewelry companies in Albuquerque, such as Gertrude Zachary, did not allow anyone inside their stores while the public health orders were in effect.

The Governor’s Office said the jewelry was placed outside the store employee’s home, rather than outside the store, as KRQE had reported. A friend of the governor’s then went to pick up the merchandise, Sackett said.

“The governor has of course in both her personal and professional lives adhered to all of the public health measures the state has enacted for the duration of this pandemic,” she said.