Wilson admits calling Iglesias, denies pressuring him

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., admitted tonight that she called former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in October to complain about the speed of public corruption scandals, but says she didn’t pressure Iglesias to issue indictments.

She joins Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., in admitting to the call and has a similar explanation for how it happened.

The statement was released to the Washington Post hours before Iglesias is set to testify about allegations that the two members of Congress tried to pressure him to speed indictments in a massive public corruption probe in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election.

The Post also reported that the Senate Ethics Committee has begun a “preliminary inquiry” into the allegations against Domenici.

Wilson, the Post reported, denied the allegations made by Iglesias. She appears to be walking a fine line: Iglesias says she pressured him to speed indictments, and she says she called to complain about the speed of investigations.

“I did not ask about the timing of any indictments and I did not tell Mr. Iglesias what course of action I thought he should take or pressure him in any way,” Wilson said in the statement to the Post. “The conversation was brief and professional.”

The Post reported that the phone calls to Iglesias “appear to put (Domenici and Wilson) in conflict with congressional ethics rules, which forbid such contacts to federal agency officials regarding ‘quasi-judiciary’ investigations.”

Wilson said in her statement to the Post that many constituents had complained about “the slow pace of federal prosecutions” in public corruption cases and was told by one constituent that “Iglesias was intentionally delaying corruption investigations.”

Wilson told the Post she is sorry that the purpose of her call may have been “misperceived” by Iglesias, but said she thought it was “important for Mr. Iglesias to receive this information and, if necessary, have the opportunity to clear his name.”

Domenici said Sunday he urged the Justice Department to fire Iglesias. Wilson told the Post his firing occurred “without input from me,” and Justice officials told the newspaper they aren’t aware of any contact from Wilson about Iglesias.

A prior version of this posting incorrectly reported that Wilson said she had input into the firing.