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Domenici complaint was factor in Iglesias firing, McNulty says
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WASHINGTON — A top Justice Department official, who initially did not tell Congress about the role of Sen. Pete Domenici in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, is admitting that a phone call from the Albuquerque Republican was why he went along with the firing.
Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty told a House Judiciary subcommittee on June 21 that Domenici called him to complain about Iglesias on Oct. 4. McNulty was shown a list of U.S. attorneys being considered for dismissal on Nov. 7. He objected to one name, but not to Iglesias or six others.
"When I saw his name on that list and I had to make my own judgment as to whether or not I objected to it, the phone conversation that I had with Sen. Domenici on Oct. 4, which was a brief conversation in which he expressed his own dissatisfaction, that certainly was a factor in my mind when I saw the name on the list. And just as the attorney general said, it affected his judgment," said McNulty.
Last month, Monica Goodling, the former White House liaison at the Justice Department, testified that McNulty instructed her not to include anything about Domenici's involvement in the briefing materials they prepared for the Senate Judiciary Committee on the firings earlier this year.
"I don't specifically recall that, but that may be - that may be correct," McNulty said.
Rep. Mel Watt, a North Carolina Democrat, pressed McNulty on why Domenici's involvement wasn't disclosed.
"We were being as forthcoming as we could, because we were identifying the things that we understood to serve as these justifications, but we didn't always reference the source of that information," McNulty replied.
McNulty said he did not recomment any U.S. attorneys for firing, and like other Justice officials who have testified, he pointed the finger at someone else. He said he understood that Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, kept the list. Sampson has testified he was just the "aggregator" of the names.
Iglesias, who left the U.S. attorney's job at the end of February, told The Tribune there were few revelations for him in McNulty's testimony, but he was disappointed his former colleague went along with the firings of the seven U.S. attorneys.
"I thought he was a stand-up guy, but he certainly didn't protect us from political pressure," Iglesias said on June 21.
McNulty has announced he will leave the department this summer.
Domenici's Oct. 4 call to McNulty came a couple of weeks before he called Iglesias asking when indictments would be coming in an investigation of a courthouse construction kickback case involving former Democratic Sen. Manny Aragon, who was indicted this year.
The Senate Ethics Committee has a preliminary investigation under way into Domenici's phone call to Iglesias. Because of that, Domenici press spokesman Chris Gallegos said he could not comment on McNulty's testimony.
