Video (6min 13sec) of US Atty Purge: Highlights - Domenici/Wilson-Gate. Dramatic testimony from former US Attorney David Iglesias - Jag Vet and inspiration for the Tom Cruise character in "A Few Good Men."Pete Domenici has served the people of New Mexico first as an Albuquerque City Commissioner beginning in 1966 and as a US Senator since 1972. Colleagues from both sides of the aisle have referred to Pete Domenici as a “true legislative craftsman,” a “consummate legislator” who always knows his subject matter very, very well.
Representative Heather Wilson has served the citizens of New Mexico's First Congressional District since 1998. David Iglesias is questioned during a Senate committee hearing by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Senator Arlen Spector (R-PA).
Domenici
Both politicians called Iglesias in late October asking about
pending corruption indictments long reported to involve at least one
influential Democrat. Some top Republicans here say they urged Domenici
and Wilson to act after years of complaints about Iglesias'
performance.
Iglesias says that he interpreted the calls from Domenici and
Wilson as improper political pressure and that his resistance
ultimately cost him his job. The Justice Department dismissed Iglesias
and seven other federal prosecutors in December in what congressional
critics call a political purge by the Bush administration.
Wilson
"It's given the public a look under the halo of St. Pete,"
said Randi McGinn, a Democratic lawyer with a client in the widely
discussed corruption investigation underlying the uproar over Iglesias.
Domenici has apologized, saying he was not seeking to
intimidate Iglesias. The senator did not respond to requests for an
interview.
Wilson, after first declining to confirm her own call to
Iglesias, conceded that she had made it but denied trying to pressure
the prosecutor. She also declined to be interviewed.
Iglesias, 49, whose good looks, evangelical upbringing and
Latino heritage once made him a rising star in New Mexico state
politics, has not gone quietly.
"I still feel loyalty to the Republican Party, but I feel a
greater sense of loyalty to the truth," Iglesias said in a telephone
interview.
Some of this text was exerpted from an article that appeared Sunday, March 11, 2007 on page A - 11 of the San Francisco Chronicle entitled "New Mexico GOP assesses damage" by Ralph Blumenthal, Dan Frosch, New York Times and posted on: sfgate.com
