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Everyone with half a stake in New Mexico politics had been waiting months for U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to put his cards on the table.

Nobody expected Rep. Heather Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici to read 'em and weep.

But as Iglesias, who resigned this week, strode into the national spotlight this week amid allegations that the two Albuquerque Republicans played a role in his dismissal, it was Domenici and Wilson seemingly left looking for an exit.

"If I was Heather Wilson, I'd be thinking about taking a long trip to Baghdad, where the conditions are a little more subdued," said former Gov. Dave Cargo.

Cargo, a Republican, was only half-joking.

Claims that Wilson and Domenici pressured Iglesias to bring indictments in a politically charged corruption investigation of local Democrats ahead of last year's election - when Wilson was locked in a battle for her political life - are "terribly serious," Cargo said.

"This has the potential to really cripple the (state) Republican Party," he said. "And the way Heather and Pete are handling it, by essentially taking the Fifth (Amendment), isn't helping them."

Both Domenici, the longtime U.S. senator, and Wilson, the six-term representative seen by some as Domenici's heir-apparent, have rebuffed repeated questions about the allegations in recent days.

Domenici has said he "has no idea" what Iglesias is talking about, while Wilson referred to the allegations as an "internal personnel matter" within the U.S. Justice Department.

Iglesias, a Republican appointed by President Bush in 2001, was asked to resign. His last day at work was Wednesday. He hasn't confirmed Domenici and Wilson were the two members of Congress he says pressured him about the corruption case, which reportedly involves the construction of several big-ticket public buildings in Albuquerque.

But Iglesias, who has said he will name names when he testifies Tuesday before two congressional panels, has done nothing to cast doubt on a Thursday report that said it was first Wilson, then Domenici on the other end of the his phone line in October.

Among other things, that report by McClatchy Newspapers cited unnamed sources with knowledge of the conversations, who said Domenici hung up after Iglesias told him no indictments would come down before Election Day.

Iglesias has said he felt "violated" by the calls and that he believes his refusal to rush the case led to his firing.

He also has said he should have followed office policy and notified superiors after receiving phone calls from members of Congress.

Officials at the Department of Justice say Iglesias was fired for performance reasons, although he received a positive evaluation a year before his ouster.

With congressional Democrats focusing their new investigative powers on why Iglesias and seven other U.S. attorneys were fired, not all local Republicans questioned the wisdom of Domenici and Wilson's public silence.

"These are serious allegations, and I'm not surprised they're playing it close to their vests," said Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, arguably the state's highest-profile Republican aside from Domenici and Wilson.

"It's a circus enough as it is," White said. "I'm waiting to see what they say before I pass judgment."

White said he found it hard to believe that either politician would have tried to influence an ongoing investigation for political reasons.

"I've known Pete for a long time, and that's just not his style. If there was any contact, I can't believe it went the way it's been described."

Still, while White downplayed the potential magnitude of the allegations, he acknowledged that the spectacle of a former Republican U.S. attorney turning on the senator responsible for his appointment was "unusual."

Cargo deployed more colorful language.

"You had all these Democrats against the wall on corruption charges, and now here are the Republicans basically saying, `Ready, aim, form a circle and fire.' They're just killing each other," he said.

Cargo said Iglesias also faces a dangerous path as he prepares to testify.

By choosing to go public with his allegations in the national media rather than waiting to testify under a subpoena, he said, Iglesias made himself a high-profile political target.

"This thing could still cut a lot of ways, and I'd expect there's going to be a lot of scrutiny of his record," Cargo said.

"Still, here's this Hispanic prosecutor that you hauled all over the country and built up into a kind of poster child, and now here's your poster child and you're using him for target practice."

Cargo said Iglesias' political future, at least within the New Mexico GOP, was "through." The bigger questions, however, focused on the potential damage to Wilson and Domenici, both of whom are up for election in 2008.

While Domenici is seen by many as a senator-for-life, Cargo said the new claims, if they pan out, would constitute the senior senator's second troubling foray into state politics in a year.

The first, he said, was the decision he attributed to Domenici to remove gubernatorial candidate J.R. Damron from the ticket last year in favor of John Dendahl.

Dendahl wound up receiving little support from the state party and stumbled to a historic defeat, then left the state with a less-than-generous benediction.

"The Republican Party is mortally wounded," Cargo, who sits on the party's central committee, said. "But once Bill (Richardson) leaves and these indictments come down, there may not be much left of the Democratic Party either."

For now, at least, Democrats seemed happy to watch the unfolding battle in their opponent's camp. Matt Farrauto, the executive director of the New Mexico Democratic Party, said he had little to add to what had already been reported, but did his best.

Brutally parodying an episode last year in which Domenici was seen at his Capital Hill office wearing what were described as pajamas - Domenici said they were actually hunting pants - Farrauto said it was increasingly clear the venerable senator was vulnerable.

"Pajama Pete has lost his way," he said. "I'm not even sure he knows where New Mexico is anymore."