New Docs Show Effort to Oust U.S. Attorneys

WASHINGTON, Aug 11, 2009— -- Newly released emails from the Bush administration indicate that senior White House aides may have been directly involved in the firing of a U.S. attorney for apparently political reasons.

The documents released today by the House Judiciary Committee suggest that the White House was angry at then New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias because he was not aggressively pursuing the prosecution of a Democratic congressional candidate.

Iglesias was one of eight U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department during Bush's second term, when Alberto Gonzales was still attorney general. Fallout from the firings, seven of which came on one day, eventually led Gonzales and eight other top Justice Department officials to resign.

As early as 2005 it was clear the White House was very focused on removing Iglesias. In a June 28, 2005, email, Rove's deputy Scott Jennings told Rove aide Tim Griffin: "I would really like to move forward with getting rid of New Mexico U.S. Attorney. I was with codel [Congressional Delegation] this morning, and they are really angry over his lack of action on voter fraud stuff. Iglesias has done nothing. We are getting killed out there."

Griffin was later given the U.S. attorney spot in Arkansas, replacing Bud Cummings, who was another of the prosecutors fired.

In the fall of 2006, Jennings wrote an email to Rove indicating that the White House was looking to replace Iglesias at the request of Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

In an email dated, Oct. 10, 2006, Jennings wrote to Rove and Sara Taylor, the deputy political director at the White House: "I received a call from Steve Bell [Domenici's chief of staff] tonight and need to update you on the U.S. Attorney situation in New Mexico. Last week, Senator Domenici reached the Chief of Staff and asked that we remove the U.S. Attorney. Steve wanted to make sure we all understand that they couldn't be more serious about this request, which was first made to the Attorney General last year by Domenici. You are aware of the issues, I believe, of voter fraud in 2004 and more recently the mishandling of an individual trial."

In reference to Domenici's chief of staff Steve Bell, Jennings wrote to Rove about investigating Patricia Madrid, who was running against Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M.

Noting that the U.S. Attorney's office had been investigating then Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., Jennings wrote: "The US Attorney in PA has no trouble going ... after Weldon, so why should the US Attorney In New Mexico be shy about doing his job on Madrid."