{"id":1114,"date":"2007-01-17T13:28:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-17T19:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/u-s-attorney-controversy-spreads-beyond-n-m\/"},"modified":"2007-01-17T13:28:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-17T19:28:00","slug":"u-s-attorney-controversy-spreads-beyond-n-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/u-s-attorney-controversy-spreads-beyond-n-m\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. attorney controversy spreads beyond N.M."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It turns out that outgoing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> was one of several across the nation forced to resign following the November election, and the process of replacing them is creating a controversy in the nation\u2019s capitol. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

When lawmakers reauthorized the Patriot Act last year, they also approved a little-known provision that changed the rules on appointing U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys. Previously, an interim attorney would be appointed by the U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> district court in the area, and would serve until a nominee of the president was confirmed by the Senate.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Republican-controlled Congress and White House changed that. Now, interim appointments are made by the U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorney general, and can serve until the end of the tenure of that administration. The Bush Administration apparently plans to use that to sidestep the Senate confirmation process, and made its first interim appointment in Arkansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> last week.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

That has caught the attention of the New York Times and others who are upset because, in the words of the newspaper\u2019s Jan. 15 editorial<\/a>, the new, interim U.S.<\/st1:country-region> attorney for Arkansas<\/st1:state><\/st1:place> is \u201can extreme political partisan\u201d who has \u201ca r\u00e9sum\u00e9 that includes working for Karl Rove and heading up opposition research for the Republican National Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is particularly dangerous to put United States<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys\u2019 offices in the hands of political operatives because federal prosecutors have extraordinary power to issue subpoenas and bring criminal charges,\u201d the Times wrote.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Three Democratic U.S. senators, including Dianne Feinstein of California<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, have introduced legislation aimed at restoring the law to the way it was before last year\u2019s change. In the meantime, the Bush Administration is apparently preparing to appoint 8-10 U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys using the interim process that sidesteps accountability.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a way, simply stated, of avoiding a Senate confirmation of a U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorney,\u201d Feinstein said earlier this week on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The search for new U.S.<\/st1:country-region> attorneys includes New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>\u2019s top federal cop. The once rising star Iglesias was asked to step down after a lukewarm prosecution of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil and delays in a public corruption case currently under investigation regarding the construction of government buildings in Albuquerque<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

There has been little revealed publicly about why the others from across the nation were asked to resign. That, combined with the timing of the forced resignations, has led to rampant rumors of conspiracy theories involving the targeting of Democrats by the Republican administration.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The Times said there may not be anything to such speculation, but that doesn\u2019t make the moves by the Bush Administration alright.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere might not be fire where the senators see smoke,\u201d the Times editorial states. \u201cBut Congress should not take any chances.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., recently recommended four for the New Mexico<\/st1:state> job \u2013 Jim Bibb of Santa Fe<\/st1:city>, who ran unsuccessfully against Gary King for attorney general last year; T. Glenn Ellington of Santa Fe<\/st1:city>; Charles Peifer of Albuquerque<\/st1:city>; and Pat Rogers of Albuquerque<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Bibb is a former assistant U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorney. Ellington is a former secretary of the state Taxation and Revenue Department and state judge. Peifer is a former chief assistant attorney general for the state. Rogers<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has done a lot of work for the state Republican Party and is heavily involved in the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Rogers<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> has already declined the job, leaving the other three. An announcement could come any day, or may not come for a few weeks.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s video of Feinstein\u2019s speech on the Senate floor:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/embed><\/p>\n

Update, 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Despite what has happened in Arkansas, New Mexico\u2019s new U.S. attorney may go through a Senate confirmation process, though there is now a way to avoid that.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Domenici fully expects President Bush to name a nominee for the U.S.<\/st1:country-region> attorney position in New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, and not in an interim capacity,\u201d Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos told me. \u201cHe has submitted the names of four New Mexicans for consideration. The senator expects the president\u2019s choice for New Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> to go through the regular Senate confirmation process.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see what happens next.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It turns out that outgoing U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico was one of several across the nation forced to resign following the November election, and the process of replacing them is creating a controversy in the nation\u2019s capitol. When lawmakers reauthorized the Patriot Act last year, they also approved a little-known provision that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1114"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1114\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}