In a new interview, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias comes close to contradicting testimony he gave before a Senate committee in March that has led to an ethics inquiry into the actions of Sen. Pete Domenici.
In an interview published today in the weekly Alibi in Albuquerque, Iglesias said he doubts Domenici intended to interfere in the federal investigation into construction of the Bernalillo Metro Courthouse, which has since resulted in the indictments of four, including former state Senate President Manny Aragon, and plea bargains for three others.
“Could his phone call to me (concerning the timing of charges in the courthouse corruption investigation) constitute a criminal offense? I’m not sure. I suspect ethics charges are more likely than criminal charges as I doubt he called me to interfere with the courthouse cases,” the Alibi quoted him as saying.
Saying Domenici didn’t intend to interfere in the investigation is quite a shift from what Iglesias has said previously. Though it doesn’t directly contradict what he told senators under oath on March 6, it’s different.
He said on that day that Domenici called to ask whether indictments would be issued in the courthouse probe before November – the implication being that he was concerned about the November election. When he said he doubted indictments would come before then, Iglesias said Domenici told him he was “very sorry to hear that” and hung up on him.
“I felt sick afterward,” Iglesias told senators. “… I felt leaned on. I felt pressured to get these matters moving.”
“… it’s true that he did not direct any specific action. But the fact that he would call and ask about an investigation, I felt, was a threatening phone call,” Iglesias said that day.
At the very least, Iglesias implied in his testimony that Domenici and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson called him in October of last year to ask about the investigation with the intent of speeding indictments in order to affect the outcome of the election.
“Public corruption was a huge battle being waged by Patricia Madrid and Heather Wilson, and I assiduously tried to stay out of that,” Iglesias said under oath, adding that Domenici’s inquiry, because of that, was inappropriate and threatening.
Iglesias also said in the Alibi interview that Domenici and Wilson “never pressured me to take action” on voter fraud allegations, saying that was done by other
Iglesias didn’t allege in his congressional testimony that the two pressured him to file voter-fraud charges.
In recent weeks, Iglesias has been honing and more carefully crafting his message about why he believes he was fired. Though he hasn’t directly contradicted himself, it’s fair to say that his statements have evolved. Defenders might say that’s because he has learned, along with congressional investigators, more about what happened. Others might say it’s because he’s telling fibs.