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WASHINGTON — If a member of Congress pressured a U.S. attorney to speed up an investigation for his or her own political purposes, the contact would likely be considered a violation of congressional ethics rules.

If that same member of Congress called a U.S. attorney on behalf of a constituent to ask how an investigation were going, it probably would not.

In the case of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, two congressional panels want to know which type of calls he says he received in mid-October, just weeks before the Nov. 7 election.

The hearings could determine whether Rep. Heather Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, both Albuquerque Republicans, escape with just political black eyes or face questions of House and Senate ethics rules violations.

Domenici and Wilson are the only members of the New Mexico delegation who have not denied calling Iglesias, and they continued to stonewall reporters Thursday.

Wilson told the Associated Press it was a "personnel" issue.

Domenici told The Tribune he would not talk about the case.

Iglesias contends he got calls that he considered political pressure, and on Tuesday in Washington he will name the two lawmakers he says asked those questions in October.

Iglesias will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee that morning and before a House Judiciary subcommittee in the afternoon.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, a California Democrat, raised the prospect of an ethics violation Thursday after the House Judiciary subcommittee she leads issued subpoenas for Iglesias and three other fired U.S. attorneys - John McKay of Seattle, H.E. Cummins of Little Rock, Ark., and Carol Lam of San Diego, whose office oversaw the bribery conviction of former Republican Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

Sanchez said all four attorneys were involved in high-profile public corruption cases and the subcommittee wants to find out if "these folks were fired as a result of doing their jobs too well."

Referring to the phone calls to Iglesias, Sanchez said it was a violation of House ethics rules to have "ex parte" communications - without the other side in a legal dispute present - "regarding ongoing investigations before a court."

The House Ethics Manual states that members may communicate with federal agencies "on behalf of constituents" to, among other things:

Request information or status reports.

Urge prompt consideration of a matter based on the merits of the case.

Express judgment on a matter (subject to ex parte communication rules).

Members of Congress routinely respond to constituents by asking agencies to report on the status of a case or speed up consideration. But they can't ask for favorable treatment or link their requests to political contributions.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would never call a prosecutor to suggest a course of action.

"They don't need a politician to tell them what to do," said Graham.

Rep. Tom Udall, a Santa Fe Democrat and a former assistant U.S. attorney, said the most a Congress member's office should ask a prosecutor about a case is, "What can I say publicly?"

"To contact a prosecutor with political purpose is completely inappropriate," said Udall.

Iglesias said Thursday in an interview on KRQE News 13 that the October calls were the first he had received from a congressional member in more than five years on the job. He said he was asked about an ongoing investigation and when the "corruption matters" were going to be made public and "when I was going to go forward on prosecutions."

"There was no direct order for me to take specific actions," Iglesias told the station, but based on the questions, "I felt leaned on. I felt pressure to take immediate action."

Iglesias has admitted he made a mistake in not following one rule regarding those phone calls: The Department of Justice manual states that any communication from a member of Congress is supposed to be reported to the department.

As for Iglesias' replacement, a new name has surfaced.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman, a Silver City Democrat, confirmed that the White House is considering nominating Jason Bowles, an Albuquerque attorney who defended former Treasurer Robert Vigil against federal corruption charges last year.

Bingaman said he would support Bowles if he is nominated.

Domenici would not comment on Bowles. He earlier submitted four names to the White House for the job: Charles Peifer, Jim Bibb, Pat Rogers and Glenn Ellington.

Meanwhile, Larry Gomez, who had been Iglesias' top assistant, has been appointed acting U.S. attorney for New Mexico.