Senator Domenici called Iglesias at home, hung up on him when told no indictments before election

[DeepModem Mom]

CNN/AP: Ex-prosecutor says lawmaker tried to leverage him
March 6, 2007


Iglesias says he felt two lawmakers tried to pressure him into building cases against Democrats.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fired federal prosecutor told a Senate committee Tuesday that he felt "leaned on" and sickened as Republican Sen. Pete Domenici hung up on him in disgust last fall when told that indictments in a corruption case against Democrats would not be issued before the fall elections.

"He said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?' " former federal prosecutor David Iglesias, one of eight U.S. attorneys summarily fired in recent months, told the panel. "I said I didn't think so. And to which he replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead."...

***

Iglesias said he received the call from Domenici at home on October 26 or 27th and that it lasted two minutes, "tops."

"I felt leaned on. I felt pressured to get these matters moving," Iglesias testified.

Asked by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, whether such a call was unusual in Iglesias' experience, the former prosecutor answered, "Unprecedented."...

***

Iglesias told the panel he received a call from (Rep. Heather Wilson, R., NM) about two weeks earlier, in which she asked him about sealed indictments -- a topic prosecutors cannot discuss. Wilson's question "raised red flags in my head," Iglesias said.

"I was evasive and nonresponsive to her question," Iglesias told the panel, saying he talked generally about why some indictments are sealed. "She was not happy with that answer. And she said, 'Well I guess I'll have to take your word for it." The call ended almost immediately, Iglesias said.

Asked by Schumer if he felt pressured by that call, Iglesias replied: "Yes sir, I did."...

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/03/06/dismissed.prosecutors.ap/index.html

[babylonsister]

1. Have you seen this?

Posted when it was libby, all the time, but still...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=3148469&mesg_id=3148469

[DeepModem Mom]

3. Looks like a pattern! They really have no hesitation...

to toy with our system for political gain, no respect whatsoever for the integrity of the system.

[Rydz777]

2. Domenici

Domenici is 74 years old and will be 76 in 2008 when he faces re-election. If he decides to retire, his seat should be a pick-up for the Democrats.