{"id":1352,"date":"2007-03-05T16:25:00","date_gmt":"2007-03-05T22:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/u-s-attorney-scandal-continues-to-spread-as-watchdog-group-files-complaint-against-domenici\/"},"modified":"2007-03-05T16:25:00","modified_gmt":"2007-03-05T22:25:00","slug":"u-s-attorney-scandal-continues-to-spread-as-watchdog-group-files-complaint-against-domenici","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/03\/u-s-attorney-scandal-continues-to-spread-as-watchdog-group-files-complaint-against-domenici\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. attorney scandal continues to spread as watchdog group files complaint against Domenici"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>A day after Sen. Pete Domenici<\/a> apologized for calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias last fall to inquire about an ongoing investigation, the scandal continues to spread, both for the senator and the Bush Administration. <\/p>\n

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

A watchdog group is urging a Senate committee to investigate whether Domenici violated Congressional ethics. The Bush Administration is trying to explain the resignation of the director of the office of U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys in the Justice Department. And two House members leading the investigation in that chamber of Congress have stepped up their rhetoric and issued new subpoenas.<\/p>\n

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

Meanwhile, the Justice Department confirmed today at least some of what Domenici said on Sunday<\/a>: that the senator called four times in 2005 and 2006 to complain about Iglesias. One of those calls, the department said, was made in the first week of October 2006 to deputy attorney general Paul McNulty, the Associated Press<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>The Justice Department said Domenici never mentioned the investigation into an alleged kickback scheme related to the construction of government buildings in Bernalillo<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>. Iglesias alleges that Domenici and another member of Congress, who he has not named but most believe to be U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson<\/a>, R-N.M., called in October to pressure him to issue indictments in time to sway voters in the November 2006 election, and says his refusal to do so is why he was fired.<\/p>\n

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

That investigation, which is ongoing, could lead to indictments of high-ranking New Mexico Democrats.<\/p>\n

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

\"\"<\/a>Domenici\u2019s admission prompted the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington<\/a> to file a complaint<\/a> and ask the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether Domenici violated ethics rules.<\/p>\n

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

Senate rules indicate that members \u201care not to communicate with an agency regarding ongoing enforcement or investigative matters,\u201d the release states, adding that Domenici may also have violated \u201cthe prohibition on contacting agencies based on political considerations.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cNo member of Congress can be permitted to manipulate our system of justice for political gain,\u201d the group\u2019s executive director, Melanie Sloan, said in the release.<\/p>\n

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

House subcommittee subpoenas more attorneys<\/span><\/p>\n

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

The apology from Domenici and the confirmation of his statements by the Justice Department also weren\u2019t enough to allay the concerns of the chair of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law, who announced today that the subcommittee will subpoena two additional fired U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys to testify at Tuesday\u2019s hearing. Iglesias and five others will be quizzed under oath about their firings during the hearing, which begins at noon<\/st1:placename> Mountain<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> Standard Time.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cEven months after the firings, we still haven\u2019t gotten straight answers from the Department of Justice, which changed its own story this weekend and admitted the firings weren\u2019t based on performance,\u201d Rep. Linda Sanchez<\/a>, D-Calif. and the committee\u2019s chair, said in a news release.<\/p>\n

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

She was referring to the Justice Department\u2019s announcement over the weekend that seven of the eight attorneys, including Iglesias, were fired because they weren\u2019t doing enough to carry out President Bush\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

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

The department had previously asserted that the firings had nothing to do with the White House and were based on performance-related issues.<\/p>\n

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

In the case of the eighth fired U.S.<\/st1:country-region> attorney, from Arkansas<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>, the Justice Department admits that he was ousted to make room for a former adviser to Bush political adviser Karl Rove.<\/p>\n

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

Another resignation raises eyebrows<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Sanchez also expressed concern, along with Rep. John Conyers<\/a>, D-Mich. and the House Judiciary Committee chairman, about the news today that Michael A. Battle has resigned as director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys.<\/p>\n

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

Battle<\/st1:city> is the man who informed the U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys they were being fired, but was not involved in the decision to oust them, the Justice Department said in announcing today that he would leave his job on March 16. According to the Associated Press, the Justice Department said he submitted his resignation in January to pursue other opportunities.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cMichael Battle\u2019s resignation raises even more questions about the growing fallout from the firing of the U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys,\u201d Conyers said in a release. \u201cRest assured, we will do everything within our power to unearth the facts surrounding this matter, which calls into question the integrity of our system of law enforcement.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Sanchez agreed.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThe wheels seem to be coming off the Bush Administration\u2019s increasingly hollow defense of its decision to fire eight U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys,\u201d she said. \u201cThe administration\u2019s explanation of Mr. Battle\u2019s apparent resignation is as murky as everything else they have told us about this case.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

One of the most blaring contradictions came in the Justice Department\u2019s assertion to the Washington Post<\/a> that former Deputy U.S. Attorney General James B. Comey was consulted about who to fire before the decisions were made. After it was pointed out that Comey had previously told the newspaper Iglesias \u201cwas one of our finest and someone I had a lot of confidence in,\u201d officials said they were mistaken in claming he was consulted.<\/p>\n

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

Sen. Charles Schumer<\/a>, D-N.Y., and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is also holding a hearing Tuesday, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying the timing of Battle\u2019s resignation raises questions as to whether he is \u201canother casualty of the U.S. attorney\u2019s imbroglio.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The Senate Judiciary Committee will meet Tuesday at 8 a.m.<\/st1:placename> Mountain<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place> Standard Time to look into the firings. It has asked the fired U.S.<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> attorneys to attend but not issued subpoenas, so it\u2019s unclear if anyone will show.<\/p>\n

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

The six who are under subpoena will show for the House subcommittee hearing. I\u2019m still trying to find out whether either hearing will be televised on C-SPAN<\/a>, but you\u2019ll at least be able to listen to the Senate hearing on the Internet by clicking here<\/a> and then on the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226 link.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A day after Sen. Pete Domenici apologized for calling former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias last fall to inquire about an ongoing investigation, the scandal continues to spread, both for the senator and the Bush Administration. A watchdog group is urging a Senate committee to investigate whether Domenici violated Congressional ethics. The Bush Administration is trying […]<\/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-1352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352","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=1352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1352\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}