Dem Senator Under Scrutiny for Past Partnership With Convicted Eco-Terrorist

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen.-elect Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.,speaks to supporters in Albuquerque, N.M. Credit: AP

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) finds himself at the center of years-old controversy after details emerged about his previous partnership with a convicted eco-terrorist who pleaded guilty to an eco-sabotage crime against a nuclear power plant in 1990.

Heinrich was scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama on Monday to recognized the Rio Grande del Norte as a national monument.

The Daily Caller first reported that Heinrich co-founded and chaired the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance. David Foreman, a convicted criminal and founder of the radical environmental group "Earth First!", sat on the board during the senator's time as chairman.

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Earth First! ran a campaign of environmentally motivated 'eco-tage' in the 1990s and 2000s. Among its initiatives was an unfulfilled plot to destroy power lines leading to a nuclear power plant.

Foreman, then Earth First!'s leader, pleaded guilty to conspiring in that plot. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance was founded six years later, in 1997.

By that time, Foreman's criminal charge had been reduced from felony conspiracy to the misdemeanor crime of vandalism to government property. That arrangement was dependent on five years of good behavior. He later paid a $250 fine.

Other Earth First! activists including Foreman's wife also served on the New Mexico group's board of directors while Heinrich was its chairman.

The Daily Caller also reported that Foreman's wife donated $1,750 to Heinrich's 2012 U.S. Senate campaign.

Learn more about Earth First!: