Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns

[babylonsister]

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-newmex8mar08,0,1684804.story?page=1&coll=la-home-nation

Fired U.S. attorney's testimony raises broader concerns

New Mexico Republicans Wilson and Domenici deny that they called David Iglesias before the 2006 election for political reasons.

By Janet Hook, Richard A. Serrano and Mark Z. Barabak, Times Staff Writers
March 8, 2007


WASHINGTON — It was just three weeks before election day 2006, and Rep. Heather A. Wilson was on the ropes. Opinion polls showed the New Mexico Republican trailing her Democratic opponent in a tough campaign.

Even with the support of Wilson's influential mentor, Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.), many Republicans feared she would lose her seat and cost the party control of the House.

One person in a good position to help Wilson was U.S. Atty. David C. Iglesias, who was investigating Democratic corruption in her home state. A late-breaking indictment of Democratic officials could help Wilson distance herself from sex and lobbying scandals plaguing the GOP in Washington.

That's why eyebrows raised when it was recently disclosed that, in the heat of her fight for political survival, Wilson called Iglesias to ask about possible indictments. So did Domenici.

Both lawmakers have denied that they called Iglesias for political purposes or pressured him. But questions about their actions have turned what might have been a narrow investigation of the Justice Department's late-2006 decision to fire Iglesias and seven other U.S. attorneys into a broader controversy about the ethical limits of lawmakers' influence on prosecutors.

The Republicans saw an opportunity in ethics scandals that were roiling state government, including Iglesias' prosecution of two Democrats — a state treasurer and former state treasurer — just a few weeks before the election. Against that backdrop, Iglesias feared that Wilson and Domenici were trying to draw him into the election fray, with plans to use him and his office in political attack ads against Madrid, he said in testimony this week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.


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[JNelson6563]

1. K&R!

Good stuff!

:toast:

[spooky3]

2. New Mexicans should send them both packing!

Thanks, babylonsister.