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WASHINGTON — Fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias today welcomed the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as overdue, but he said the investigation into the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year needs to continue.

"Alberto Gonzales is not solely responsible for my illicit firing. People like (Sen.) Pete Domenici also were responsible," Iglesias told The Tribune.

Iglesias said he believes Karl Rove, former White House deputy chief of staff, "cooked up" the plan to fire the U.S. attorneys with the aid of people such as Domenici, the Albuquerque Republican who today hosted President Bush at a fund-raiser in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.

Domenici still faces a Senate ethics investigation over his phone call to Iglesias concerning a pending federal investigation a few weeks before the Nov. 7 election. The Office of Special Counsel and the Justice Department's inspector general also are investigating the circumstances of Iglesias' firing.

Iglesias said he believes documents exist that could detail the roles Domenici and U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson, also an Albuquerque Republican, played in his firing.

"I can't tell you exactly what their role was, but I believe the evidence is out there," Iglesias said, "and I'm going to be pressing for it."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who spearheaded the investigation into the firing of Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys, said on CNN today that the Justice Department had become "virtually nonfunctional" under Gonzales.

He reserved opinion on whether he would support Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff as a replacement. Chertoff has been cited as a potential successor as attorney general.

"What we Democrats have already said is we need somebody in this department who will put the rule of law first, the rule of law above any political consideration," said Schumer.

Iglesias said whoever Bush names has a tough task ahead in the last 16 months of the administration to restore morale in the Justice Department, which he said is as low as he's ever seen.

"He should have done this a long time ago," Iglesias said of Gonzales' resignation.

"He should have stayed as White House counsel, because the White House counsel's job is to protect the president and give him political advice. But the job of the U.S. attorney general is law enforcement," said Iglesias. "He never understood the core mission of his job as attorney general.

"Some things have happened that shows his lack of understanding. Sometimes his job is to tell the White House, `No, you can't do that,' and his natural default was to say `yes.' "

Wilson's office said today she had no comment on Gonzales' resignation, but Domenici in a statement said it had become inevitable.

"His situation was a distraction to the Department of Justice and its attempt to carry out its important duties. I look forward to reviewing the president's nominee for attorney general carefully and objectively," Domenici said.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, said in a statement today that he had not supported Gonzales' nomination to be attorney general "because I thought it would be difficult for him to provide the strong, independent voice an attorney general should, and unfortunately my concerns have been borne out.

"It is my greatest hope that whoever the president nominates to replace him will restore the American people's confidence in the ability of the office of the attorney general to provide impartial, nonpolitical administration of justice," Bingaman said.

Gov. Bill Richardson said from the Democratic presidential campaign trail that the resignation was "long overdue" and that Bush should nominate an attorney general "who is a lawyer for the American people, not a political arm of the White House."

Tribune reporter Michael Gisick contributed to this story.