The gloves are off: Domenici attacked by colleagues

There was a sense of solemnity on Tuesday when members of the Senate Judiciary Committee discussed allegations that a colleague, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., may have violated ethical rules by pressuring a prosecutor to speed a public corruption probe.

That mood appears to be gone.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. and the chair of Tuesday’s hearing, made reference at the meeting to the fact that some of the issues would be difficult to discuss because they involved Domenici. He and the others pushed David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, to fully disclose the details of his conversation with Domenici, but they did so delicately.

Today, however, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is chaired by Schumer, sent out a news release pointing to what could be interpreted as inconsistencies in Domenici’s statements about the matter and calling into question his honesty.

“It’s getting harder and harder to keep track of Pete Domenici’s denials, since he comes up with a different version every day,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said in the release. “By tomorrow Pete Domenici won’t remember having ever met David Iglesias or even knowing what the U.S. attorney does.”

At issue are three statements Domenici has made regarding the allegation that he called Iglesias less than two weeks before the November 2006 election and pressured him to speed indictments in a public corruption scandal that will likely implicate high-ranking Democrats.

At the time, Domenici’s heir-apparent, Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., was locked one of the tightest congressional contests in the nation, and was behind in the polls. Iglesias also alleges that Wilson called him days before Domenici did to pressure him on the indictments. The allegations have prompted investigations of both members of Congress.

Late last week, tracked down by an Associated Press reporter, Domenici at first said he had “no idea what (Iglesias) is talking about.” A couple of days later, he released a statement admitting that he made the call, asked “what was going on in that investigation” and sought “an idea of what timeframe we were looking at.” He denied pressuring or threatening Iglesias.

On Tuesday, Domenici released a third statement claiming he did not recall mentioning the November election in the call. That contradicts Iglesias’ testimony.

The first statement could be considered a complete contradiction of the next two. Then again, Domenici had been trying to avoid the press when the news service reporter tracked him down. His full comment was, “I don’t have any comment. I have no idea what he’s talking about.” It’s possible he was simply flustered.

And the second and third statements aren’t really contradictory, though the DSCC claims they are.

“GOP Senator Pete Domenici just can’t get his story straight,” the DSCC release states. “When news first broke that he called U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to pressure him about ongoing investigations, Domenici said he had no idea what Iglesias was talking about. Then when it became clear that Iglesias would testify before congressional committees, Domenici reversed course and admitted to the conversation. And now that Iglesias has testified that he felt ‘sick’ and ‘leaned on’ after Domenici’s call to ask whether indictments would be brought before last November’s election, Domenici says he simply cannot ‘recall my mentioning the November election to him.’”

“But Domenici’s denials have now been contradicted in sworn testimony,” the release states. “… Domenici is facing a Senate ethics investigation and possible obstruction of justice review – he needs to start coming clean about his exact role in this growing scandal.”

Such partisan attacks are common in the House, and there was much more political posturing and arguing at Tuesday’s House subcommittee hearing than at the Senate committee hearing. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a link on its home page to “Learn more about whether Rep. Heather Wilson used her own power to intimidate a federal prosecutor.”

But the newest move by the DSCC indicates that Domenici, like Wilson, is in for a rough time. Democratic and Republican members of both committees indicated Tuesday that they expect the investigations into the firing of eight former U.S. attorneys to be lengthy.

The political fallout in New Mexico has the potential to be vast.

Update, 3:10 p.m.

Domenici has hired an attorney who previously represented former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., who is serving time in prison for bribery and other felony crimes, the Washington Post is reporting.

Lee Blalack will defend Domenici against the allegations made by Iglesias, which could lead to sanctions or even a criminal investigation into possible obstruction of justice charges.

The news prompted a second release from the DSCC.

“Hiring Duke Cunningham’s attorney is just another sign that Pete Domenici is in serious trouble, with the Senate Ethics Committee already examining his conduct and a possible obstruction of justice investigation looming,” Miller said in the release. “Now that Domenici has hired one of the nation’s top criminal defense attorneys, maybe he will finally start to give a better explanation for why he pressured a sitting U.S. attorney just days before an election.”

Domenici’s office has not responded to a request for comment on the initial DSCC release.

Update, 4:40 p.m.

Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos had this to say: “The Democratic Senatorial Committee spokesman is simply incorrect asserting that Senator Domenici did anything to violate any rule of conduct. This is a blatant and cynical attempt by national Democratic operatives to try to turn a misunderstanding about a telephone call into a political smear campaign to advance their partisan ambitions.”

He also noted that Domenici hired Blalack last week, when Iglesias first made his allegations.