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Iglesias: Allies betrayed me
Testimony puts Domenici, Wilson on the defensive
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What they said
Former U.S. Attorney Carol Lam of San Diego speaking on behalf of Iglesias and four other fired U.S. attorneys: "In most of our cases, we were given little or no information about the reason for the request for our resignations. This hearing is not a forum to engage in speculation, and we decline to speculate about the reasons."
David Iglesias, former U.S. attorney for New Mexico: "Loyalty is a two-way street. I think they (Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson) were behind me being asked to resign."
Sen. Patrick Leahy, Vermont Democrat: "Not since the `Saturday Night Massacre,' when I was a young lawyer and President Nixon forced the firing of the Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, have we witnessed anything of this magnitude."
William Moschella, principal associate U.S. deputy attorney general: "The Department (of Justice) has not asked anyone to resign to influence a public corruption case."
Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington: "Reprehensibly, Rep. (Heather) Wilson attempted to influence the criminal justice process for partisan political gain and then tried to hide her misconduct from public scrutiny."
Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Democrat: "Federal prosecutors are supposed to be heroic soldiers in the fight against crime and corruption, not hapless casualties of political warfare."
Rep. Lamar Smith, Texas Republican: "The Department of Justice had understandable reasons for dismissing each of these attorneys, none of which had to do with political retribution."
Rep. Chris Cannon, Utah Republican, to Iglesias: "I know Sen. (Pete) Domenici. He's smart. He's tough. I just don't believe your characterization."
Rep. William Delahunt, Massachusetts Democrat, to the fired U.S. attorneys: "You've been disrespected. And I think it is a very sad commentary on the operations of the Department of Justice. The longer I listen, the more outraged I become."
David Bogden, former U.S. attorney for Nevada, after hearing that Justice Department officials wanted "new blood" to bring more energy to the office: "My only question and concern is what happened to the old blood?"
H.E. "Bud" Cummins III, ousted U.S. attorney from Little Rock, Ark.: "A manager can take the pitcher off the mound anytime he wants. It's kind of nice to get a pat on the rump."
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WASHINGTON — Once they were friends and allies, three members of the small clan of Albuquerque Republicans - the political powerhouse and mentor and his two prot‚g‚s who each owed their jobs to him.
On Tuesday, the nation saw the breakdown of the friendship between former U.S. Attorney for New Mexico David Iglesias and his mentor Sen. Pete Domenici and friend and political ally Rep. Heather Wilson during two congressional hearings and the trading of he-saids and she-saids.
Iglesias is already out of a job. His testimony could make it difficult for Domenici and Wilson to keep theirs when they face New Mexico voters next year.
Iglesias and three other fired U.S. attorneys testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning. Two more colleagues joined them before a House Judiciary subcommittee in the afternoon. Some were mystified about why they were asked to resign in December; some were resigned to their fate.
But none of the others displayed a personal sense of betrayal as did Iglesias.
Domenici was his "mentor," the man who got him the U.S. attorney's appointment, Iglesias testified. Wilson was an ally in 1998, when she won her first race for Congress but he lost his bid to be state attorney general.
So when Wilson called Oct. 16 and asked him whether there were "sealed indictments" in an ongoing investigation involving kickbacks in courthouse construction in Albuquerque, Iglesias was "conflicted," he said, and did not report the conversation to the Justice Department as required by department guidelines.
Similarly, when Domenici called Iglesias at home about two weeks later and asked whether anything in the corruption cases would be filed "before November," then hung up after hearing a negative response, Iglesias still did not call justice, even though he "felt sick" after the call.
Iglesias said he felt "leaned on" to get the investigation moving, and Wilson and Domenici were trying to involve him in her re-election campaign against then-state Attorney General Patricia Madrid.
"I wanted to stay out of politics," Iglesias said.
It was only after Iglesias was ordered on Dec. 7 - Pearl Harbor day, he told the committee - to resign, and only after "ruminating" in January as he heard replacements being discussed, that he put the dots together and concluded Domenici and Wilson were behind his firing.
One skeptical Republican, Rep. Chris Cannon of Utah, noted Iglesias himself publicly talked about the courthouse investigation at his last news conference. Iglesias responded that he never discussed indictments, only that something would be made public soon.
Iglesias' pride was evident throughout the hearing.
After Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, mangled the pronunciation of his name, saying "Eng-lis" instead of "Ee-glace-e-as", Iglesias thanked another senator for getting it right, drawing an icy stare from Specter.
On the House side, he corrected another Republican who pronounced the former state treasurer's name as "Vigil", like a deathwatch, instead of "Ve-hill."
When asked to address the assertion by a Justice Department official that he was fired for dumping the management of the office on his first assistant, Iglesias rattled off statistics about the increase in prosecutions during his tenure.
Later he told The Tribune he assigned routine duties to top aides but reserved the major decisions for himself.
Now Iglesias says he's doing "absolutely nothing"; it's hard to find "good legal jobs" in Albuquerque he told the House subcommittee.
