As part of the probe into the U.S. attorney scandal, it’s also interviewing today a former White House staffer who played a role in Iglesias’ firing
A federal grand jury has subpoenaed records from former Sen. Pete Domenici in its criminal investigation of the Bush administration’s U.S. attorney scandal, The Associated Press is reporting.
The subpoena was confirmed “by two private attorneys who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not representing the former senator,” the news service reported. The Washington Post was also reporting on the subpoena, citing “lawyers following the case.”
Domenici’s attorney, K. Lee Blalack, would not comment to the AP or Post.
The reports come almost a week after Talking Points Memo reported that the grand jury was investigating Domenici’s role in the scandal, with a focus on “whether Domenici and other political figures attempted to improperly press (former U.S. Attorney David) Iglesias to bring a criminal prosecution against New Mexico Democrats just prior to the 2006 congressional midterm elections.”
If they did, the article stated, their conduct might amount to obstruction of justice.
Here’s what the AP has to say about the investigation’s focus:
“Career federal prosecutor Nora R. Dannehy is looking into whether former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, other Bush administration officials or Republicans in Congress should face criminal charges in the (U.S. attorney) dismissals,” the article states. “… Dropping a subpoena on Domenici may have at least as much to do with the conduct of Justice Department officials as about Domenici, who retired from the Senate this year.”
The Albuquerque Journal has already quoted Domenici and Blalack as disputing the Talking Points Memo report and saying the investigation isn’t focused on Domenici.
Domenici and former U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson both called Iglesias in October 2006 to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation weeks before the November 2006 election, in which Wilson was facing a tough re-election battle that she ended up narrowly winning. Iglesias alleges that Domenici and Wilson pressured him to speed indictments to sway voters, a charge both deny. Weeks after the election, Iglesias was fired, along with several other U.S. attorneys from around the nation.
Domenici also made several calls in 2005 and 2006 to top Justice officials to complain about Iglesias’ performance.
White House staffer to talk to grand jury
According to the AP article, the grand jury is also preparing to interview Scott Jennings, former White House deputy director of political affairs, on Thursday. Jennings did play a role in Iglesias’ firing. From the AP article:
“He was on the receiving end of complaints from Republicans in New Mexico that Iglesias had failed to prosecute voter fraud in a state that President George W. Bush narrowly lost in the 2000 presidential election.
“In the earlier Justice Department inquiry, Jennings told investigators that shortly after joining the White House in early 2005, he heard criticism of Iglesias’ performance from Domenici’s chief of staff.
“Jennings said the chief of staff, Steve Bell, periodically told him that he was unhappy with Iglesias’ response to voter fraud complaints and other issues and that the White House should replace him. Jennings said he passed along that information to his immediate superiors, who, like Jennings, worked for (Karl) Rove.
“Jennings’ attorney, (Mark) Paoletta, said Wednesday that ‘in her efforts to gather all of the facts, the special prosecutor asked to interview Scott. Scott is happy to cooperate to the best of his ability, as he has done with all probes to date. It is my understanding that Scott is not a target in this investigation.”
If he’s not a target, but he has that level of knowledge of what led to Iglesias’ firing, it’s safe to assume that Jennings is going to be asked about Domenici.
The premise of the grand jury probe
Domenici, who retired at the end of 2008, was severely criticized in September in a long-awaited report from two Justice Department watchdog offices for refusing to cooperate with their investigation. Officials with those offices sought the criminal probe in part because Domenici, Bell and several White House officials would not cooperate with their probe.
The report from the watchdog agencies concluded that Iglesias was removed “because of complaints to the Department of Justice and the White House by New Mexico Republican members of Congress (Sen. Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson) and party activists about Iglesias’s handling of voter fraud and public corruption cases.”
While the watchdog agencies’ report states that those who sought Iglesias’ removal may have done so “simply because they believed he was not competently prosecuting worthwhile cases,” it also says that, if they “attempted to pressure Iglesias to accelerate his charging decision in the (Bernalillo Metropolitan Courthouse case) or to initiate voting fraud investigations to affect the outcome of the upcoming election, their conduct may have been criminal.”