Dems Suspect Political Retribution, Will Hear From Fired U.S. Attorneys

March 5, 2007 — -- Honest inquiry or political pressure? Differing perceptions of a quick phone call in New Mexico before the midterm elections last November could put one senator in ethical hot water.

Former U.S. attorneys are set to testify before both the House and the Senate Tuesday about why they were fired in recent months to determine whether they are the victims of political retribution. Six attorney were fired with little explanation. They claim they were performing well in their jobs. The Justice Department claims some were dismissed because of poor performance.

Among the six former prosecutors who will testify is David Iglesias, who was until last week the U.S. attorney in New Mexico. He is expected to allege that Republican lawmakers, including New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, pressured him to speed up a corruption investigation involving New Mexico Democrats ahead of last November's midterm election .

An outside group has already filed an ethics complaint against Domenici, accusing him of breaking Senate rules by interfering with an ongoing criminal investigation.

Everyone agrees that Domenici picked up the phone last October and called Iglesias, though Iglesias did not name Domenici or another yet-to-be unidentified lawmaker who Iglesias said also tried to pressure him. Rep. Heather Wilson, who has not commented on the Iglesias matter, is the only other New Mexico Republican in Congress.

The topic of conversation between Iglesias and Domenici was a corruption investigation Iglesias was conducting into an alleged kickback scheme involving New Mexico Democrats.

But the substance of that call is up for debate. Domenici, who admits to placing the call, said he was just interested in the timeframe for any potential indictments stemming from the investigation.

"I asked Mr. Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what timeframe we were looking at," Domenici said in a written statement released Sunday.

Iglesias, however, has said he felt violated by the call and sensed pressure to bring indictments sooner than he wanted to --