U.S. attorney scandal continues to spread as watchdog group files complaint against Domenici

A day after Sen. Pete Domenici apologized for calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias last fall to inquire about an ongoing investigation, the scandal continues to spread, both for the senator and the Bush Administration.

A watchdog group is urging a Senate committee to investigate whether Domenici violated Congressional ethics. The Bush Administration is trying to explain the resignation of the director of the office of U.S. attorneys in the Justice Department. And two House members leading the investigation in that chamber of Congress have stepped up their rhetoric and issued new subpoenas.

Meanwhile, the Justice Department confirmed today at least some of what Domenici said on Sunday: that the senator called four times in 2005 and 2006 to complain about Iglesias. One of those calls, the department said, was made in the first week of October 2006 to deputy attorney general Paul McNulty, the Associated Press reported.

The Justice Department said Domenici never mentioned the investigation into an alleged kickback scheme related to the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo County. Iglesias alleges that Domenici and another member of Congress, who he has not named but most believe to be U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., called in October to pressure him to issue indictments in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election, and says his refusal to do so is why he was fired.

That investigation, which is ongoing, could lead to indictments of high-ranking New Mexico Democrats.

Domenici’s admission prompted the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington to file a complaint and ask the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether Domenici violated ethics rules.

Senate rules indicate that members “are not to communicate with an agency regarding ongoing enforcement or investigative matters,” the release states, adding that Domenici may also have violated “the prohibition on contacting agencies based on political considerations.”

“No member of Congress can be permitted to manipulate our system of justice for political gain,” the group’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, said in the release.

House subcommittee subpoenas more attorneys

The apology from Domenici and the confirmation of his statements by the Justice Department also weren’t enough to allay the concerns of the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, who announced today that the subcommittee will subpoena two additional fired U.S. attorneys to testify at Tuesday’s hearing. Iglesias and five others will be quizzed under oath about their firings during the hearing, which begins at noon Mountain Standard Time.

“Even months after the firings, we still haven’t gotten straight answers from the Department of Justice, which changed its own story this weekend and admitted the firings weren’t based on performance,” Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif. and the committee’s chair, said in a news release.

She was referring to the Justice Department’s announcement over the weekend that seven of the eight attorneys, including Iglesias, were fired because they weren’t doing enough to carry out President Bush’s policies.

The department had previously asserted that the firings had nothing to do with the White House and were based on performance-related issues.

In the case of the eighth fired U.S. attorney, from Arkansas, the Justice Department admits that he was ousted to make room for a former adviser to Bush political adviser Karl Rove.

Another resignation raises eyebrows

Sanchez also expressed concern, along with Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich. and the House Judiciary Committee chairman, about the news today that Michael A. Battle has resigned as director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.

Battle is the man who informed the U.S. attorneys they were being fired, but was not involved in the decision to oust them, the Justice Department said in announcing today that he would leave his job on March 16. According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department said he submitted his resignation in January to pursue other opportunities.

“Michael Battle’s resignation raises even more questions about the growing fallout from the firing of the U.S. attorneys,” Conyers said in a release. “Rest assured, we will do everything within our power to unearth the facts surrounding this matter, which calls into question the integrity of our system of law enforcement.”

Sanchez agreed.

“The wheels seem to be coming off the Bush Administration’s increasingly hollow defense of its decision to fire eight U.S. attorneys,” she said. “The administration’s explanation of Mr. Battle’s apparent resignation is as murky as everything else they have told us about this case.”

One of the most blaring contradictions came in the Justice Department’s assertion to the Washington Post that former Deputy U.S. Attorney General James B. Comey was consulted about who to fire before the decisions were made. After it was pointed out that Comey had previously told the newspaper Iglesias “was one of our finest and someone I had a lot of confidence in,” officials said they were mistaken in claming he was consulted.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is also holding a hearing Tuesday, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the timing of Battle’s resignation raises questions as to whether he is “another casualty of the U.S. attorney’s imbroglio.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday at 8 a.m. Mountain Standard Time to look into the firings. It has asked the fired U.S. attorneys to attend but not issued subpoenas, so it’s unclear if anyone will show.

The six who are under subpoena will show for the House subcommittee hearing. I’m still trying to find out whether either hearing will be televised on C-SPAN, but you’ll at least be able to listen to the Senate hearing on the Internet by clicking here and then on the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226 link.