U.S. Attorneys in the Line of Fire (TIME)

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By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON

In a countdown to high-profile hearings in the House and Senate, Republicans and Democrats are preparing to do battle today over whether the firing of eight Republican U.S. attorneys last year by the Bush Administration was politically motivated. The Justice Department's number two official claimed last year that poor "performance" was behind the firings, a contention disputed by the dismissed officials. One of the group, David Iglesias of New Mexico, alleged over the weekend that he had been called by two members of Congress last year, and that both had pressured him to conduct a criminal investigation of Democrats before the 2006 election. The implicaton was clear: because Iglesias rebuffed the lawmakers' suggestion, he was fired. (Iglesias, a Navy Reserve member, was one of the models for the Tom Cruise character in the 1992 movie A Few Good Men.) Several of his fellow U.S. attorneys, who were also pushed out, had been investigating Republican lawmakers prior to their ouster.

In a statement Tuesday, Rep. Heather Wilson, a New Mexico Republican, denied pressuring Iglesias. She said she had called Iglesias because of an allegation received from a constituent that he was intentionally delaying corruption prosecutions. Wilson said Iglesias denied that allegation, explaining that he was understaffed and had limited personnel to manage corruption cases. She added that she had no input into the decision to fire Iglesias.

Also in response to Iglesias' report, Sen. Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, acknowledged on Monday that he had contacted Iglesias in October 2006 to ask about his investigation into an alleged Democratic kickback scheme. But Domenici also said that he never threatened or pressured Iglesias, though he had long sought his dismissal. The Justice Department confirmed this week that Domenici had called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his principal deputy four times to complain about Iglesias' behavior, inquiring whether he was "up to the job." As the furor has intensified, a Washington watchdog group this week called for a Senate investigation of whether Domenici violated congressional ethics rules, which forbid members from intervening in prosecutions and trials.

Adding to the furor, a report by McClatchy Newspapers — quickly denied by the Justice Department — alleged that a senior DOJ official informed one of the fired U.S. attorneys that if any of them continued to criticize the Administration, previously undisclosed details about the reasons for the firings could made public. McClatchy attributed the account to two of the ousted prosecutors, but did not name them, and also quoted the DOJ official as saying, "I had no conversation in which I discussed with any U.S. attorney what they should or should not say to the media regarding their removal."
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more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1596412,00.html?xid=site-cnn-partner

[caligirl]

1. anyone see similarity to cheney and Libby calling reporters

and then saying all reporters new it(Plame).

Rove or someone sets up a scheme where he gets Repugs to agree to place calls to'complain' about anything he thinks he can, then having made the calls to lthe attorneys, they then call Gonz to complain some more. its all trumped up and orchestrated to show 'complaints' that aren't really there at all. Like Cheney did in Plames outing, they used the same play again with these attorneys.