House Dems appear ready to continue special session

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It doesn’t appear that House Republicans have the votes they need to end the special session today, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. Minority Whip Dan Foley, R-Roswell, has made several attempts since the House convened more than 90 minutes ago to amend the feed bill for the special session – first to remove the funding for the Senate since it isn’t working, then to cut the funding for Legislative Council Services to shorten the session, then to remove the funding for the House. Each failed on a party-line vote, with all 36 Democrats who are present voting against the motions. For the first couple of votes, 24 Republicans were present, and there were later 25 present. The votes are likely indicators of how Democrats would vote on a motion to adjourn sine die. Continue Reading

Committee approves subpoenas for Rove, others

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A House subcommittee has authorized subpoenas for Karl Rove and others in its investigation into the firing of eight former U.S. attorneys, setting the stage for a showdown with the Bush Administration. Testimony would likely shed light on the decision late in the process to add former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico to the hit list – a move that was made shortly after Iglesias received calls from U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. about a pending investigation in October 2006. The House Judiciary Commercial and Administrative Law Subcommittee voted today to authorize the issuance of subpoenas for Rove, Harriet Miers and other White House and Justice Department staffers. The move follows what has been a continually shifting set of explanations for the dismissals provided by the White House and Justice Department, which has led to rampant speculation that the firings were politically motivated. President Bush has promised to fight the subpoenas, saying he doesn’t want his aides to be afraid to give him advice because they might be called to testify about it. Continue Reading

House Republicans will try to end session today

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House Republicans will try to end Gov. Bill Richardson’s special session this afternoon. The House is set to convene at 2 p.m. Minority Whip Dan Foley, R-Roswell, confirmed that there will be an attempt to adjourn sine die. “We’re going to try to sine die today,” he said. “I think we have the votes.” The Senate has already adjourned sine die, so the session is over if the House does the same. If the House does not, senators have to return by Saturday evening, but could vote to quit working again. Continue Reading

20 months before election, Democrats attack Wilson

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With almost 20 months before the November 2008 general election, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee began running radio advertisements in the Albuquerque market today attacking U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M. The 60-second radio spot focuses on Wilson’s call to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in October 2006, and is the first in the 2008 1st Congressional District race, for which the Democrats don’t yet have a candidate. “October 2006. A phone call is made. A scandal begins,” the ad starts. It goes on to include Iglesias’ testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, in which he claimed, under oath, that Wilson inquired about whether there were any sealed indictments in an ongoing investigation into kickbacks related to the awarding of contracts for the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo County. Continue Reading

Iglesias lashes out in New York Times op-ed

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In a biting column published today in the New York Times, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias lashed out at his critics and said he wants a written statement from the Justice Department that performance was not the reason for his ouster. Iglesias wrote that the release this week of more than 3,000 pages of Justice Department e-mails makes it clear “that politics played a role” in the ousters of him and seven others late last year. “Of course, as one of the eight, I’ve felt this way for some time,” Iglesias wrote. “But now that the record is out there in black and white for the rest of the country to see, the argument that we were fired for ‘performance related’ reasons (in the words of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty) is starting to look more than a little wobbly.” Iglesias wrote that U.S. attorneys should be insulated from politics, and recalled former Attorney General John Ashcroft telling him in 2001 “that political should play no role during my tenure.” “I took that message to heart,” he wrote. “Little did I know that I could be fired for not being political.” Iglesias defended his tenure, pointing out that he had “excellent” evaluations, “the biggest political corruption prosecutions in New Mexico history,” a record number of prosecutions and a 95 percent conviction rate. Continue Reading

Richardson calls lawmakers back, then leaves state; House members ponder possible end to session

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Many lawmakers are furious that Gov. Bill Richardson forced them to rearrange plans and return to Santa Fe for a special session while he spends much of the week campaigning in California. Richardson’s two trips this week to that state were a factor in the Senate’s decision to adjourn sine die on Tuesday. A number of sources indicated there will likely be a similar attempt in the House today, in part because of the news of Richardson’s travels. Most did not want to be named because they fear retaliation. It may not be a public attempt. Continue Reading

Senate adjourns in defiance of governor

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The New Mexico Senate has just voted to adjourn sine die, meaning its members plan to go home without considering any of the legislation Gov. Bill Richardson has called them back to Santa Fe to approve. Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, made the motion to adjourn, which passed on a voice vote, Kate Nash is reporting on her blog. There was a challenge, which was upheld. The final vote to adjourn sine die was 24-14. The move puts the House in the position of siding with the governor or the Senate. Continue Reading

Iglesias was once considered a top-tier prosecutor

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E-mails released Monday night by the Bush Administration and other sources continue to confirm that, until sometime mid-2006, former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was considered one of the brightest federal prosecutors in the nation by higher-ups in the Department of Justice. In April 2004, Kyle Sampson, former chief of staff for Attorney Alberto Gonzales, wrote that Iglesias was one of several who “might be enticed to leave their districts and come to Washington to run the (Executive Office of United States Attorneys), according to an e-mail found among thousands of pages by TPMMcukraker.com. In the e-mail, he described Iglesias as a “diverse up-and-comer; solid.” Despite that, Iglesias didn’t get the job. The Washington Post reported Monday that Iglesias was considered an expert in voter fraud issues by the Justice Department, which twice selected him to train colleagues in pursuing such allegations. The last time was in October, 2005, when he was invited to teach a seminar on voting integrity. Continue Reading

Thousands of pages of e-mails on U.S. attorney snafu

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The Bush Administration has released thousands of pages of communication relating to the U.S. attorney controversy. I’m already going through it all to see what I find, but I’m also trying to cover what’s going on in Santa Fe. You can find the documents online by clicking here. If you want to go through them and find anything good, e-mail me at heath@haussamen.com. If you pass along any tips, be sure to tell me which document and what page you’re referring to so I can find it. Continue Reading

Senate has quorum, Democrats holding secret caucus

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The New Mexico Senate had a quorum when it convened today for a special session called by Gov. Bill Richardson. Senate Democrats are meeting in a closed caucus meeting now to discuss the situation. The Senate convened shortly after noon, but Majority Leader Michael Sanchez, D-Belen, soon called for the recess. The House has a quorum and is currently meeting. The question now is whether Senate Democrats, when they emerge, will vote to end the session or will get to work. Continue Reading

Richardson returns from trip to Texas and Oklahoma

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Gov. Bill Richardson is back in New Mexico today after a trip to Oklahoma and Texas on Sunday and Monday. While in Oklahoma, he named Jim East, an experienced political operative, businessman and former journalist as his campaign’s statewide director. “I am supporting Bill Richardson for president because he has the proven record of balancing budgets, improving schools, and addressing our energy concerns here at home,” East said in a news release. “I am excited about joining the Richardson team and I look forward to working with the voters of Oklahoma to build support for Richardson across the state.” While in Texas, Richardson was honored in a resolution by the Texas Legislature for his years of public service. “Governor Richardson is commendable for his public service to his state and to the entire nation,” Texas Rep. Gonzalez Toureilles said in a news release. Continue Reading

Senate might derail Richardson’s special session

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There’s a chance that the New Mexico Senate will only convene today long enough to adjourn. The reasons for Gov. Bill Richardson’s call for a special session can be summed up easily: The Senate didn’t do what he wanted. A number of senators, however, say there’s good reason for that. What’s not clear is how many Senate Democrats will opt to try to derail the special session when it begins at noon today. “We’ll see what happens,” said Sen. Leonard Lee Rawson, R-Las Cruces and the minority whip. Continue Reading

Celebrating this site’s one-year anniversary

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This site made its debut on March 20, 2006, with an article about former state Rep. William “Ed” Boykin’s plan to drop out of the race before the November election. On that day, this site had 88 unique visitors (in general, the number of computers that visited) and 157 page views (number of pages on the site that were viewed). At the time, I was still a reporter at the Las Cruces Sun-News, but the site grew so rapidly that within seven weeks I quit my day job and became a full-time online journalist. Less than two weeks ago, on March 8, this site had its best day yet – 1,047 unique visitors and 1,997 page views. March 2007 is on track to be its best month yet, with about 12,000 unique visitors and 30,000 page views. Continue Reading

Informal poll: Domenici, Wilson acted unethically

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The majority of those who voted in last week’s non-scientific poll on this site said U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson acted unethically during phone calls to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias last year. Of 220 voters, 174, or 79 percent, said the two members of Congress acted unethically, while 40, or 18, percent, said they did not. Six voters, or 3 percent, said they don’t know. Don’t forget to vote in this week’s poll, located at the top of the right column on this page. Continue Reading

Richardson calls special session for ethics reform

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While proclaiming this the most successful legislative session in the state’s history, Gov. Bill Richardson announced less than an hour after its end that he will call lawmakers back to Santa Fe on Tuesday for a special session that will deal with a number of issues, including ethics reform. “I want to do what’s right, and we’re on a roll, so let’s continue,” Richardson said at a news conference that followed the end of the session. “The main reason I’m calling a special session is I want a complete ethics package.” The Legislature approved a gift ban and amendments to the Governmental Conduct Act, but on a vote of 21-20 the Senate killed a proposal to limit campaign contributions minutes before the end of the session. In addition to that proposal, Richardson said he wants approval of an ethics commission and a public financing system for judicial races. Richardson will also push for the approval of more than $200 million for road projects, the creation of a methamphetamine registry, approval of domestic partner benefits and a water infrastructure bill. Continue Reading