Thread: Vicente Fox chides legislators for investigating wife

www2.eluniversal.com.mx

Fox chides legislators for investigating wife
BY SERGIO JIMÉNEZ AND JORGE TEHER�N/EL UNIVERSAL
El Universal
Lunes 25 de julio de 2005
Nuestro mundo, página 1


President Vicente Fox on Sunday lashed out at legislators over what he said were unfair attacks on his wife, First Lady Marta Sahagún, and her family.
Fox singled out for criticism Congresswoman Martha LucÃÂ*a Micher, who is currently heading a legislative investigation into abuse of influence by the first lady's three sons.

Sahagún's sons, from a prior marriage, have been accused of amassing fortunes by taking advantage of government financing for construction projects.

The president also accused legislators Victoria Eugenia Méndez and Yolanda González of not doing their jobs and of spreading false information. The two congresswomen have accused Sahagún of vastly overspending public funds on her clothing budget.

Micher, Méndez and González, said the president, "were elected by the people to work for Mexico, not to waste time nor to try to deceive the public. To those three, I say that they should dedicate themselves to doing what they are supposed to do, and what they are paid to do."

Speaking to reporters at his ranch in San Cristóbal, Guanajuato, Fox said that the legislators had been elected "to solve problems like kidney transplants, water issues, economic development and employment. And that's what they should be doing."

Instead, he said, the women were "purely wasting time" with their investigations and allegations surrounding the first lady.

"I don't know why they were elected," he said. "But now that the public has seen them for what they are, they surely won't elect them again."

González, on a tour of San Luis Potosi state on Sunday, fired back at the president.

"(Fox) seems to forget that the public elected him as well," she said, "and they elected him and not his wife, to whom he delegates official duties."

She said that it was a "shame" that the president was attacking legislators for doing their job.

"These kind of declarations cannot continue," she said of Fox's Sunday attacks, and promised to "analyze" the president's posture with her fellow legislators when Congress reconvenes.

Sahagún's sons, from a prior marriage, have been accused of amassing fortunes by taking advantage of government financing for construction projects.

The president also accused legislators Victoria Eugenia Méndez and Yolanda González of not doing their jobs and of spreading false information. The two congresswomen have accused Sahagún of vastly overspending public funds on her clothing budget.

Government financing and public funds. This is what we get for sending billions of taxpayer funded "aide" to Mexico. Nepotism and Gucci?

Fox said:

"I don't know why they were elected," he said. "But now that the public has seen them for what they are, they surely won't elect them again."

To the contrary Foxy Fleecer, the public has seen YOU (and your wife) for what YOU are: A prolific TAKER who cares nothing about the poor citizens of Mexico! I predict landslide re-elections for these officals, and any others that have the backbone to expose your self serving hypocracy.

Fox said that the legislators had been elected "to solve problems like kidney transplants...

So this is a big problem in Mexico?

No wonder they're all coming here.

Quote:
Fox said that the legislators had been elected "to solve problems like kidney transplants...


So this is a big problem in Mexico?

With the overwhelming number of DWI's his illegal escapee's are racking up here, I am sure Fox meant to say LIVER transplants!

And so the bickering continues.

www.sciencedaily.com

Mexico: President lashes out at critics
MEXICO CITY, July 25 (UPI) -- Mexican President Vicente Fox berated a trio of legislators for verbally attacking his wife and family, El Universal reported Monday.

Fox said that congresswomen Martha Lucia Micher, Victoria Eugenia Mendez and Yolanda Gonzalez were wasting the public's time and that they "should dedicate themselves to doing what they are supposed to do, and what they are paid to do."

The three lawmakers have accused Mexican first lady Marta Sahagun of overspending taxpayer money on clothing and for using her influence over her husband to help her sons from a previous marriage amass substantial wealth.

The sons of Sahagun have been accused of profiting from government financing for construction projects.

Micher is leading a federal investigation in the influence abuse allegations.

Fox said: I don't know why they (the three lawmakers) were elected. But now that the public has seen them for what they are, they surely won't elect them again."




www.signonsandiego.com

Amid criticism, Mexican first lady says no unauthorized public funds spent on her wardrobe


ASSOCIATED PRESS

7:37 a.m. July 25, 2005

MEXICO CITY – Mexican first lady Marta Sahagun de Fox angrily defended her wardrobe budget on Monday, saying she hadn't used any public money to buy clothes since 2003.
Answering criticism by lawmakers, Sahagun released details of her clothing budget, saying that Congress had allocated 1,520,312 pesos ($143,000) for her wardrobe budget in 2004 and 2005. But she said she hasn't spent any of that money.

Of the 1,778,036 peso ($168,000) wardrobe budget she was allocated from 2001-2003, she only spent 17.8 percent, she said.

"There have been doubts, false declarations, accusations without evidence and great confusion," she said.

She pledged to donate part of her wardrobe to charities, including a Mexican association that helps children with cancer.

The first lady has come under intense criticism, with some lawmakers accusing her of using public money for her private charity. Lawmakers are also investigating reports that Sahagun's sons amassed fortunes by taking advantage of government financing and importing contraband goods from China.

The first lady and her family have denied any wrongdoing.

Sahagun's three sons are from a previous marriage. She and President Vicente Fox were married in 2001 and have no children together.

Some more scandal on Vicente's bride.

http://www.mexidata.info/id560.html

Monday, August 1, 2005

Mexican First Lady’s clothes come out of the closet

By Kenneth Emmond

She’s done it again!


Mexico’s First Lady, Marta Sahagun, has stepped in another puddle, this time over the money she allegedly spent to fortify her personal wardrobe.

Not since 20 years ago, when the poor people of the Philippines discovered that Imelda Marcos, wife of deposed President Ferdinand Marcos, owned hundreds of pairs of shoes has a First Lady’s wardrobe touched off such an uproar.

Here, the issue is so inflamed that a three-member congressional commission is investigating.

As often happens with controversies involving Sahagun, an opaque curtain of conflicting statements has descended.

The First Lady insists that she buys her clothes with money she gets from the First Man. She said she spends only a fraction of the public funds allocated to her for clothes and personal effects.

Well, let’s see. The Permanent Commission of the Congress of the Union â€â€

www.cnn.com

Mexico's Fox accuses journalists

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican President Vicente Fox said Monday some journalists are deliberately attacking him and members of his family in print and on the air, attempting to expose nonexistent corruption and incompetence ahead of presidential elections next summer.

A statement read by chief Fox spokesman Ruben Aguilar said "in the last few months, a series of publications have come out with the intention of attempting to defame the president or members of his family; trying to raise doubts about the honor and reliability of the president."

Meeting with reporters for his morning briefing, Aguilar refused to take questions and simply read the statement, which came in response to a news magazine's reports over the weekend raising questions about how Fox financed a remolding project at his family's ranch in the central state of Guanajuato.

"In the context of the dispute for power with all eyes on the election of 2006, these publications are part of a strategy that is trying to discredit people so as to debilitate institutions and denigrate politics," the statement said.

Mexican law prohibits Fox from running for a second term, but his center-right National Action Party already is wrestling with rival parties for the advantage in 2006.

Last week, first lady Marta Sahagun angrily defended her wardrobe budget in an attempt to defuse criticism by lawmakers, who said she used public money to buy clothes.

Sahagun said she would donate the clothes to charity and Fox later singled out by name opposition lawmakers who had criticized his wife, accusing them of personally trying to undermine the authority of the presidency.

Fox toppled the Institutional Revolutionary Party at the polls in 2000, ending its 71-year hold on Mexico's presidency. Top candidates to receive the National Action nomination are trailing badly in public opinion polls to replace him.

Fox's statement defended his administration as open and honest, saying "the first democratic government is more obligated than anyone to break with old practices of the past when transparency was impossible."

"The presidency will not make any comment about publications that lack the truth and are part of a political strategy trying to defame the president and his family."

:P Hey, leave them alone!!! They are "good friends" of George Bush!! :P

I've had a little time to think about this while running errands.

Sahagún's sons, from a prior marriage, have been accused of amassing fortunes by taking advantage of government financing for construction projects.

The president also accused legislators Victoria Eugenia Méndez and Yolanda González of not doing their jobs and of spreading false information. The two congresswomen have accused Sahagún of vastly overspending public funds on her clothing budget.

Micher, Méndez and González, said the president, "were elected by the people to work for Mexico, not to waste time nor to try to deceive the public. To those three, I say that they should dedicate themselves to doing what they are supposed to do, and what they are paid to do."


I bet every bit of this is true. Didn't we just give Fox a big check a couple of weeks ago, and another in the spring when Condi went down there? What's going on here. And needless to say how much money is given that we have no idea about! The American tax payers now have to foot the bill for the Fox family? They should be pouring their own money into
Mexico, not yours and mine. This is pathetic. And we are told "just good folks coming across to put food on the table", while Sahagun, Fox's wife needs to spend AT LEAST $10,000 per month on her clothes. WAKE UP AMERICA IT LOOKS LIKE MEXICO IS TRYING TO WAKE UP

Now where is the support for these three Mexican legislators who are trying to blow the whistle on some of the corruption down there?? Will they be demonized....or worse for this?? OR will they get the support they need to work on the corruption which goes on by some of you know who's friends!? (Ahem).

Next thing you know Vicente and his wife will be seen visiting their good friends in Crawford, USA, and the message from Jorge will be, "I support my goooood ferrrrends."

Darnit. How long until January 2009? I wish I could live in Canada for 3 years and come back when this was all over.
I think I'd take ANY previous president we've ever had over this.

This story just keeps going and going.

www.signonsandiego.com

Dressy affair, elegant flop
Mexico's first lady made bid to quell a controversy
By S. Lynne Walker
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
August 2, 2005


MEXICO CITY – A St. John suit. An Armani dress. An Oscar de la Renta cocktail gown.
The elegant clothes worn by Mexico's first lady went to auction Sunday to quell a political controversy, but in an embarrasing display of disinterest only a handful of people showed up to bid.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Mexico's first lady, who is known simply as "Marta."

Marta Sahagún hastily donated 36 outfits to a Mexico City-based cancer foundation last week in hopes of ending a barrage of criticism over the money she's spent on her wardrobe since she married Mexican President Vicente Fox four years ago.

Yesterday, the president's wife faced a new round of scrutiny when a book about corruption within the presidential family was released. The book raises questions about how Fox financed a remodeling project at the family ranch and about the sudden fortunes amassed by Sahagún's three sons from her first marriage.

The cover has vivid caricatures of Sahagún and Fox hugging huge bags of money.

Sahagún's problems stem from allegations that she used her influence to help her sons. The three sons are under congressional investigation for profiting from government financing for construction projects.

But the accusation that drew national attention focused on Sahagún's clothes.

Two women senators charged that Sahagún had lavished herself with designer clothes at taxpayers' expense. When Sahagún lashed out at her attackers, it looked like they had struck a nerve.

"I buy my clothes with my husband's money," retorted the outspoken first lady, who once considered running for the 2006 presidency.

Fox launched his own attack against the legislators, saying they were "purely wasting time" and insinuating that their statements about his wife's clothes smacked of a catfight.

"I say they should dedicate themselves to doing what they were supposed to do," he said. "I don't know why they were elected. But now that the public has seen them for what they are, they surely won't elect them again."

Fox also singled out Martha LucÃÂ*a Micher, a legislator from the leftist Democratic Revolution Party who represents his home state of Guanajuato, for criticism. Micher, who heads a congressional investigation into abuse of influence by the Sahagún's sons, was shocked by the president's harsh words.

"We are not going after his wife. None of us is opposed to the president's wife dressing in a proper fashion," Micher said in an interview yesterday. "What we're opposed to is buying her clothes with public funds. We want her clothes to be bought with the president's salary."

On paper, it appears that somebody in the Mexican White House is spending fistfuls of pesos on clothes.

In 2001, the president's office had a budget of $23,500 for appropriate attire for official visits and receptions. By 2004, the budget had soared to $132,000.

Last month, a commission of legislators that sits in lieu of Congress during recess recommended the lower Chamber of Deputies strike the word "spouse" from the budget that allocates money for the presidency's living expenses.

Sahagún said she spent only 17.8 percent of the total clothing budget allotted from 2001 to 2003. Since 2003, she said she has spent nothing.

The problem is that nobody knows exactly how much of the money Sahagún spent on her clothes and how much went to the president, who isn't known as a fashion trend-setter.

When Fox travels in the Mexican countryside, he wears the same type of clothes that he did during his presidential campaign – a light-blue shirt, dark slacks and a windbreaker. On formal occasions, he wears conservative suits and, sometimes, patent leather cowboy boots.

Sahagún, on the other hand, has an eye for elegance.

Oscar de la Renta, Escada and Guadalajara-born Macario Jiménez are among the designers whose garments fill her closets. Her shoe collection is legendary and she is fond of elaborate jewelry.

At Sunday's auction, the public was offered a first-hand look at the first lady's exquisite taste.

Models paraded down the runway holding garments in an array of dazzling colors and fine fabrics.

There was a deep purple, floor-length gown with a matching shawl that Sahagún wore on her first visit to Washington, D.C., in September 2001 shortly after marrying Fox. A fuschia-colored silk dress by Escada accented by a matching bolero-length jacket was among the outfits she took on her trip to Jamaica in May.

"You have to admit they are pretty," Guadalupe Alejandre, founder of the Mexican Association to Help Children with Cancer, told the audience of about 50 as smiling models waved the outfits in the air.

Alejandre learned only last week that her organization had been chosen to receive the first lady's clothes.

She was summoned to the Mexican White House for a 7:15 a.m. appointment, and when she arrived she was hustled by the president's Secret Service into a news conference. There she was surprised with the news that Sahagún was donating the clothes to the cancer organization.

Everything happened so fast that the clothes Sahagún sent were wrinkled and hadn't been dry-cleaned.

Only 10 of the 36 garments were sold Sunday, raising about $5,100. "Obviously, it is not what we expected," Alejandre said. "We expected to sell all the clothes."

Congresswoman Micher offered a reason for the auction's failure.

"Señora Marta isn't famous enough for people to want to wear one of her dresses."