It appears as though the ethics inquiry into Sen. Pete Domenici’s involvement in the U.S. attorney scandal will end now that the senator has announced his coming retirement.
The Web site Truthout.org is reporting that the inquiry into Domenici’s October 2006 phone call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias won’t become the topic of a formal investigation. The reason? According to the Web site, a source who works closely with the Senate Ethics Committee said it’s Domenici’s “mental state.”
Domenici is retiring at the end of 2008 because he is suffering from frontotemporal lobar degeneration, which can lead to frontotemporal dementia. Though Domenici’s disease is in its early stages and only showed a slight progression for the first time at a September checkup, the disease can cause dysfunction of the parts of the brain that are important for organization, decision-making and control of mood and behavior.
Iglesias alleges that Domenici pressured him to speed indictments in a case involving high-ranking Democrats to sway voters in the November 2006 election. Iglesias was fired weeks later, he claims as a result of refusing the pressure.
Domenici admits the call but insists he didn’t pressure Iglesias.
The apparent decision to end the probe comes less than a month after the Ethics Committee stepped it up, conducting additional interviews with witnesses and apparently getting ready to begin a formal investigation. Two weeks later, Domenici announced that he would retire.