Iglesias to talk to ethics committee about Wilson

The U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct may finally be getting around to considering a complaint filed against Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., over her role in the U.S. attorney controversy.

David Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, will be interviewed today by the staff of the committee, the Albuquerque Tribune is reporting. It’s the first sign that the committee might consider the request made in March by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for a probe of the situation.

House rules generally require a complaint from a House member before such an investigation can take place.

Today’s interview is apparently a preliminary discussion. Wilson’s spokesman told the Tribune that the representative has not been notified of a probe or hired an attorney, which indicates the committee has not appointed members to investigate.

Iglesias told the newspaper he’s being interviewed by the committee’s chairwoman and ranking Republican.

Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., called Iglesias in October 2006 to inquire about a public corruption investigation that was rumored at the time to involve high-ranking Democrats and, earlier this year, led to the indictment of former Senate President Manny Aragon.

At the time of the phone calls, Wilson was in a tough re-election battle, and Iglesias alleges that the two pressured him to speed indictments to affect the outcome of the election.

Iglesias claims Wilson inquired about whether there were any “sealed indictments” in the case. He says he refused the pressure and, two months later, was fired without being given reason.

Wilson admits making the call and inquiring about the investigation, saying she was responding to the concerns of a constituent, but says she never asked about indictments or did anything inappropriate. Domenici and other New Mexico Republicans had been complaining to the Bush Administration about Iglesias for years.

Many analysts say Congressional rules forbid direct contact with prosecutors about pending cases, even if no pressure is applied. The group that filed the ethics complaint against Wilson contends that the House forbids even a request for “background information” or a “status report” on a pending investigation because such requests “may in effect be an indirect or subtle effort to influence the substantive outcome of the proceedings.” In fact, Iglesias was required by Department of Justice rules to report the phone calls to supervisors but he did not, saying that, at the time, he considered Wilson and friend and Domenici a mentor.

Today’s interview won’t be public. It was first reported by the blog truthout.org.