Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (Photo courtesy of University of Texas, Brownsville)
I read with great amusement Allen Weh’s recent comments about me and his role in my forced resignation. After the initial bemusement wore off, I became alarmed that this gubernatorial candidate may not be in touch with reality or may not even be literate.
Weh took credit for my forced resignation but nonsensically still claims it was due to poor performance. This position is completely without any basis in fact and has been proven demonstrably false by the Justice Department’s 358-page investigation into the firing of the U.S. attorneys, the 71-page Justice Department’s 2006 official evaluation of my office, the House Judiciary Committee’s 2.5-year investigative report, the letter from the director of the Executive Office of United States Attorneys (EOUSA) to me, and the March 29, 2007 sworn testimony of the former chief of staff to the attorney general, Kyle Sampson.
This “performance-based” allegation is no longer on the table for debate; the above official findings have completely vindicated me and my prior office. It was illegal politics, not performance, that drove the U.S. attorney scandal. Weh, in a world-class display of chutzpah, tries to argue the point in his campaign rhetoric.
What are the facts? First, my 2006 office evaluation was conducted by a team of career, nonpartisan attorneys and staff members. Their official finding about my leadership concluded I was “…respected by the judiciary, agencies, and staff.” Second, Mike Battle, the former Director of EOUSA, wrote to me in January 2006, stating that I had “exemplary leadership.”
Third, Kyle Sampson, when he testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, said if he were to do it again, he would not place me on the list to be fired. Fourth, the Justice Department’s official investigation, conducted by a career inspector general and another watchdog office, confirmed the DOJ office evaluation’s findings on my leadership and discredited the alleged performance-based reasons of my firings as “after-the-fact rationalizations” and said my removal was the “…most troubling.”
Finally, Chairman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee released a report last month that concluded a 2.5-year investigation into the scandal. The committee’s report stated, “Under the Bush regime, honest and well-performing U.S. attorneys were fired for petty patronage, political horsetrading and, in the most egregious case of political abuse of the U.S. attorney corps — that of U.S. Attorney Iglesias — because he refused to use his office to help Republicans win elections. When Mr. Iglesias said his firing was a ‘political fragging,’ he was right.”
This constitutes proof beyond any doubt. Despite this mountain of evidence, Weh clings to a delusional talking point.
Weh worked with the entrenched status quo
In another age, Weh would have continued to argue the world is flat despite all evidence to the contrary. Further, Weh is of the same ilk as AIG corporate heads who insisted on performance bonuses after bankrupting their company.
How can Weh, despite his ruinous leadership, seek the governor’s office after he flew the New Mexico Republican party into a cliff? Under his disastrous watch, the party went from having three of five members in its congressional delegation to zero members. The party became even more splintered under his jackbooted leadership.
Given Weh’s background, he should know you can delegate power, but you cannot delegate responsibility. He is responsible for the catastrophic losses within the New Mexico GOP. And now he wants a promotion.
Weh claims that his active role in my firing is somehow evidence of his willingness to take on his own party. Just the contrary is true, as he joined the entrenched status quo when he supported former Senator Pete Domenici, former Congresswoman Heather Wilson and political hit men like Karl Rove and Pat Rogers in attempting to illegally politicize the Justice Department.
These efforts failed in New Mexico as they did in other states as a new Congress exercised its constitutionally mandated role in providing oversight over a deeply damaged Justice Department.
Weh may be beyond political redemption
Does Weh really value taking on one’s own party? If so, he will publicly praise the actions of the seven U.S. attorneys who testified before Congress about the improper politicization of the Justice Department. Their testimony challenged the actions of several Republican members of Congress and the Bush-appointed attorney general and deputy.
If Weh is truly proud of his actions in helping ignite the greatest Justice Department scandal since Watergate, then he may be beyond political redemption.
I know that Weh knows what the term “Semper Fidelis” means. He needs to learn another motto and practice it if he seeks to lead, not bludgeon, the New Mexican voter: “Semper Veritas” — always truthful.
Iglesias was the United States attorney for the District of New Mexico from 2001-2007. These are his personal views and are not the official position of any agency within the U.S. government.