Domenici admits call but says there was no pressure

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici has admitted calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias “late last year” to ask about the status of a pending public corruption probe, but said he did not pressure him to speed indictments.

Domenici released the statement after several days of refusing to comment on Iglesias’ allegations that two members of Congress called him shortly before the November 2006 election and tried to pressure him to speed indictments in order to sway voters. The case involves an alleged kickback scheme related to the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo County, and could implicate some high-level Democrats.

“My call had been preceded by months of extensive media reports about acknowledged investigations into courthouse construction, including public comments from the FBI that it had completed its work months earlier, and a growing number of inquiries from constituents,” Domenici said. “I asked Mr. Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what timeframe we were looking at. It was a very brief conversation, which concluded when I was told that the courthouse investigation would be continuing for a lengthy period.”

Domenici admits the call was a mistake.

“In retrospect, I regret making that call and I apologize,” he said. “However, at no time in that conversation or any other conversation with Mr. Iglesias did I ever tell him what course of action I thought he should take on any legal matter. I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way.”

Domenici also said he recommended that Iglesias be replaced several months before the phone call because of a backlog of cases that was growing even as he secured more money to help alleviate the situation.

You can read the senator’s entire statement by clicking here.

Iglesias has said he won’t name the members of Congress, except under oath, because he fears retaliation. He has been subpoenaed to testify before a House subcommittee on Tuesday. The other caller is believed to be U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., who has still refused to comment.

Iglesias is one of eight U.S. attorneys fired a month after the November election, and suspicion of political motives has prompted investigations by members of the House and Senate. The Justice Department previously said seven of the eight, including Iglesias, were fired over performance-related issues, but said Saturday for the first time that they were fired because they weren’t doing enough to carry out policies of the Bush Administration.

Complaints about a growing case backlog

Domenici, in his statement, said during Iglesias’ six-year tenure an “already heavy caseload” had been “swamped by unresolved new federal cases, especially in the areas of immigration and illegal drugs.” He said he was “repeatedly told that we needed more resources.”

Domenici pointed out that he has fought for more funding, and made reference to the new, $82 million federal courthouse that will be built in Las Cruces.

He said his conversations with Iglesias have been “almost exclusively” about such needs, but his frustration mounted as, even with the appropriation of more resources, “public accounts indicated an inability within the office to move quickly on cases.” He said in 2004 and 2005, his office expressed frustration with Iglesias to the Justice Department.

Domenici said that “ongoing dialogue and experience” led him, “several months before my call with Mr. Iglesias, to conclude and recommend to the Department of Justice that New Mexico needed a new United States attorney.”

The senator’s statement comes a day after the Washington Post reported that the White House approved the December firings of Iglesias and six others after the Justice Department said they “were not doing enough to carry out President Bush’s policies on immigration, firearms and other issues.”

The article, quoting “administration officials and Domenici’s office,” named Domenici as one who “specifically raised concerns within the Justice Department last fall.”

It was a slight change of story for the White House and Justice Department, who had previously contended the firings were over “performance-related” problems, not because of a failure to follow Bush policies.

The final decisions were supported by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty, the officials told the Post, but the newspaper pointed out that McNulty, who was new, said he consulted with his predecessor, James B. Comey, before approving the list.

Earlier this week, Comey told the Post that Iglesias “was one of our finest and someone I had a lot of confidence in.”

Update, 10:40 a.m.

The Post is now reporting that the Bush Administration is backing off its assertion that Comey was consulted with before the decisions were finalized, and say they were mistaken in telling the Post that.

The Post also reports that even Domenici’s version of the phone call could constitute a violation of Congressional ethics rules.