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  • Public Letter of Qualified Admonition from Senate (PDF)
  • Domenici's Response (PDF)

    Ethics Panel Rules on Domenici Call

    By Michael Coleman/
    Journal Washington Bureau
          WASHINGTON — The Senate Ethics Committee says Sen. Pete Domenici should never have picked up the phone, but it found "no substantial evidence" he tried to improperly influence an ongoing federal investigation when he called then-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in October 2006.
        The committee issued its finding Thursday night and billed it as a "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" to the longtime Republican senator.
        But the ethics committee also said Domenici should have known his call to Iglesias "created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate."
        Domenici, who plans to retire from the Senate after 36 years early next year, called the finding favorable but apologized in a written statement for the "distraction" his call created.
        "I am gratified the Senate Ethics Committee has concluded its inquiry favorably," Domenici said. "Nevertheless ... I regret the distraction this controversy has caused my colleagues, my staff, my family, and most importantly, my constituents."
        Iglesias, now working in the private sector in Albuquerque, described the committee's ruling as an official reprimand.
        The ethics committee looked into whether Domenici acted improperly when he made a late-night phone call to Iglesias before the 2006 elections to ask if federal indictments would be issued in a public corruption probe involving prominent Democrats.
        Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., a Domenici protege, was at the time locked in a tight general election contest with then-state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, a Democrat. Iglesias has accused Wilson of making a similar call to him about the same time. The House ethics panel has not ruled on the complaint against Wilson.
        Iglesias told Congress last year he "felt pressured" by the calls. Domenici and Wilson have both denied pressuring Iglesias to issue the indictments. Wilson's office did not return phone calls Thursday and Domenici's lawyer declined to comment publicly beyond the senator's written statement.
        Iglesias told the Journal on Thursday he viewed the ethics committee's action as an official reprimand of Domenici.
        "I am pleased that the Senate ethics committee has chosen to publicly admonish Sen. Domenici for his improper actions," Iglesias said. "I trust this will serve as a warning to other members of Congress that contacting United States attorneys in this manner is impermissible and unacceptable behavior.
        "This official reprimand to a senior senator who knew better has revived my confidence in the rule of law and the sanctity of a prosecutor's independence," said Iglesias.
        Pat Rogers, a Republican lawyer in Albuquerque who became involved in the Domenici controversy, criticized Iglesias' comments on the ethics committee letter.
        "A qualified admonition is the weakest form of action possible," Rogers said. "No rule was violated."


  • Public Letter of Qualified Admonition from Senate (PDF)
       
  • Domenici's Response (PDF)

    FROM THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL ARCHIVES

    Domenici Sought Iglesias Ouster (April 15, 2007, Copyright Albuquerque Journal story by Mike Gallagher)
    Iglesias Tells Congress Domenici, Wilson Leaned on Him (March 7, 2007, by Michael Coleman, Journal Washington Bureau)

    Recent News about David Iglesias


    David Iglesias
    ABQjournal blog latest results


    1. Heather Wilson Headed to Sudan, Talks 2010 Guv Race
    (Reporter's Notebook/Inside the Beltway)
    ... Wilson's right about Democratic vulnerability after the Richardson-era scandals, but if she runs I can assure you Democrats won't let her forget about her own dance with scandal a la the David Iglesias ...
    2. Is Domenici Facing Grand Jury Probe?
    (Reporter's Notebook/Inside the Beltway)
    A national investigative blog is reporting that Sen. Pete Domenici is under a federal grand jury investigation for his role in the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. The Talking Points Memo ...
    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico's former U.S. attorney, David Iglesias, has a new job prosecuting suspected terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Iglesias says he's been hired as a prosecutor in ...
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  • Albuquerque Journal newspaper stories

    1. ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

    ... will serve prison time to pay for his crime. Rogers has not accepted responsibility for his actions but rather chose to blame former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias for the election debacle because he would not prosecute Democrats before the election as Rogers and other high ranking GOP leaders had demanded ...
    full story

    2. ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

    ... will serve prison time to pay for his crime. Rogers has not accepted responsibility for his actions but rather chose to blame former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias for the election debacle because he would not prosecute Democrats before the election as Rogers and other high ranking GOP leaders had demanded ...
    full story

    3. ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: How an Accountant Helped Unravel Crime

    ... #39;s most high-profile architects.         Delay in prosecuting the case after the FBI had done its work was at least a factor in then-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias losing his job. His termination became part of a wider probe of alleged political firings of U.S. Attorneys by the Bush White House that ...
    full story

    4. ABQJOURNAL NEWS/STATE: Case 'an Enormous Amount of Work'

    ... in June with a hung jury when one juror refused to vote for conviction on any of the counts.         Knowing Gerson would retry Vigil, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias could have transferred the courthouse case to another prosecutor or assigned other prosecutors to work with Gerson to speed up the prosecution ...
    full story

    5. ABQJOURNAL OPINION/GUEST_COLUMNS: Politics Are Driving Richardson/CDR Investigation

    ... Frank Foy case.        Based on the October 2008 report by the inspector general for the U.S. Department of Justice on the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, we now know that the Republican Party in New Mexico attempted to use the prosecutorial power of the U.S. Attorney's Office to affect ...
    full story

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