Comments (32)

Anonymous wrote on March 5, 2007 12:44 PM:

The rules provide that all requests are to be routed not just through the Justice Dept, but through a special office in the Justice Dept, precisely to avoid the appearance of impropriety that Sen. Domenici's call created here.

Sen. Domenici is the Godfather of Republican politicians in New Mexico. He is in his sixth term as a US Senator. He knows the rules. He intentionally broke them.

No one beyond the sixth grade could believe that a few weeks before a hotly contested and close election that this Godfather made a follow-up call to Representative Wilson's just to get an update about a routine pending matter concerning which the USA was legally allowed to speak.

Vice President Cheney is obsessed with insisting that rules do not apply to him or his patronage network. Time for Congress to make clear to him, the president and to Sen. Domenici that they do.

Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 12:45 PM:

Is David Iglesias also in some legal peril? It seems to me that he had a duty to report this crime, unethical behavior, attempt to improperly influence an ongoing investigation, or whatever it is, promptly. Didn’t he?

Perm Dude wrote on March 5, 2007 12:47 PM:

It isn't a crime per se. It is a violation of Senate Ethics rules.

Anonymous wrote on March 5, 2007 12:59 PM:

you guys deal with the legal technicalities and niceities, but event like the market dip, drop, plunge and crash are convincing evidence a change is needed at the top now. We can't afford two more years of this ducking responsibility.
If any further proof of No Confidence in this administration is needed, what can it be?

Mauimom wrote on March 5, 2007 1:04 PM:

Perhaps a stupid question, but can these "firings" be "undone" if/because they're illegal? Just wondering.

mbbsdphil wrote on March 5, 2007 1:32 PM:

These firings are exceedingly rare, but perfectly legal. US Attorneys can be dismissed at the whim of the president. They are rarely fired except in between changes of administration because they are visible, plum appointments that lead to Great Things for the Good, and because it can wildly screw up the administration of justice.

They are senior appointments, however, and ordinarily require Senate approval. Hence, that devious midnight addition to the renewed USA Patriot [sic] Act, which effectively deleted the requirement to obtain such approval.

Had Mr. Cheney just had the president or Mr. Gonzales say that he was replacing several prosecutors to promote the prospects of other hardworking Republican lawyers, flares would have burned brightly, but would have dimmed quickly in the light of other catastrophes: Iraq, Walter Reed, etc.

Mr. Cheney, the gatekeeper in charge of administration appointments, either wanted this controversy to distract from others, or hoped that he could slip the changes in under the radar and not deal with his change to the Patriot [sic] Act.

He might still have gotten away with it had McNutty (sp) not claimed that the Replacements had been brought in because of the regular team's poor performance.

Even a Republican lawyer can't afford to take that lying down if he or she wants another top govt or private sector job. Remember, these are among the best and the brightest, all are potential federal judges, large firm partners, large corporation general counsels, etc. Perhaps secrecy and the need to avoid being responsible got in the way of common sense or strategy.

Perm Dude wrote on March 5, 2007 1:35 PM:

The USA's serve at the prerogative of the President. There is nothing illegal about their firings.

The problem is that the act is unethical (ironic, coming from an administration which came to power vowing to be nothing like Clinton).

Beth wrote on March 5, 2007 1:41 PM:

Heather Wilson is toast. Dems need to find an opponent for her RIGHT NOW and begin the hammering. Get Patricia Madrid back on the case. And if Domenici is up for re-election in 08, I'd say to Richardson to scrap the presidential run and go after a Senate seat.

Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 1:50 PM:

“... but perfectly legal.”

I doubt you are right about that.

If the purpose of the firings was to obstruct justice in the prevention of certain criminal prosecutions, or to cause prosecutorial misconduct in the form of unwarranted prosecutions for political reasons, I suspect it is criminal. If the firings were simply to give some hacks an opportunity to enhance their resumes, then it was likely legal. So far, it looks like the former.

Harry wrote on March 5, 2007 1:51 PM:

You guys are killing me. They are "political appointments". That means that they can be replaced at ANY time for ANY reason. That is the nature of the position. When Clinton (and every other president) came into power, all U.S. Attorneys were made to submit their resignations and were replaced. As for Iglesias, any person who knows anything about the Federal system in NM knows that his office has done a poor job. So this IS about performance.

EasyRider wrote on March 5, 2007 1:55 PM:

Beth is 100% correct on all her points.

Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 2:01 PM:

"You guys are killing me. They are "political appointments". That means that they can be replaced at ANY time for ANY reason. ...."

You’re confused. There are many acts which are legal but can be preformed in an illegal way. It’s perfectly legal for me to fire a gun at a shooting range, but if I fired the same gun into my estranged lover’s head, I’d have problems with the law.

Similarly, I can legally start a fire in my fire place, but if I use evidence of my recent embezzlement from my employer as kindling, it’s an additional crime.

It’s perfectly legal to fire a US Attorney, unless you do it to commit a crime, like obstruction of justice.

aflounder wrote on March 5, 2007 2:03 PM:

If the Senate investigates and Domenici is found to have violated Senate Rule 43 political gain, then what. Crew recommends "the Ethics Committee should take swift and harsh action." What are the possibilities, censure? Expulsion?

nicole wrote on March 5, 2007 2:03 PM:

Give me a break! Iglesias is a big boy, a commander in the navy jag corp, a movie about his career in a few good men, former us attorney, former general counsel for NM and he didn't report the "calls"...he felt "violated"... PARTY SWITCH time for Iglesias and he will run for GOV in NM when the current GOV is the VP of the US.

EH wrote on March 5, 2007 2:04 PM:

I agree. Wilson hasn't been heard from and Domenici is using his seniority as a firewall. I think criminal charges are highly unlikely but there are certainly fireworks to be had in the near future.

ModNewt wrote on March 5, 2007 2:07 PM:

Harry,

you assert that Iglesias' office has done a poor job with such authority that I doubt anyone unfamiliar with the situation would challenge you. However you provide no evidence of poor performance. Merely saying "any person who knows anything" is atrocious logic.

The facts I'm aware of came from an interview I heard with Iglesias; the very question was asked, could it have been for performance reasons that you were fired? He said it could have been, but in each of his yearly reviews he got HIGH marks. Moreover there have been implications that he missed work too much (his absentee rate was higher than average). He explained this by the fact that he is a Navy Reserve officer and trains at least 36 days a year. If you take out the days he served, he was about average in the number of days missed.

I would think as a republican, Harry, you would support the troops more.

Also, I think you probably objected to the Clinton Travel Office firings which were purely for political reasons, yet you support purely political firings of Federal Prosectors? If so you are a hypocrite. Of course if the firings were to get a appoint a prosecutor who would file the ethics charges, then this analogy doesn't work. Dominici's behavior is even worse in that case though.

ohiomeister wrote on March 5, 2007 2:09 PM:

Interesting post to attract the freepers.

Can you post the relevant Senate Ethics rules?

aflounder wrote on March 5, 2007 2:16 PM:

Answering my own question from earlier, "if the Senate investigates and Domenici is found to have violated Senate Rule 43 political gain, then what" At daily kos (link below) a post which references this post has within it a link to an AP article which states that "Punishment for such violations range from a warning and reprimand to expulsion from office."

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/3/5/13181/67396

cminmd wrote on March 5, 2007 2:28 PM:

Quote- "purpose of the firings was to obstruct justice in the prevention of certain criminal prosecutions, or to cause prosecutorial misconduct in the form of unwarranted prosecutions for political reasons."

Are their any lawyers in the house?

I am one of the 27 people in DC who is not a lawyer, so I'm not sure about this, but I don't think the government can be accused of obstruction of justice. "justice" how can the government obstruct itself?
Some rules apply to only one side. Take discovery for example. Only the government needs to fully disclose all relevant information- a defendant can't be charge with failure to disclose because they are under no obligation to supply the government with information. Only the target or witnesses of an investigation can be charged with obstruction.

Hizzoner2 wrote on March 5, 2007 2:36 PM:

Harry,
if it is about performance, as you so emphatically asserted, then what is wrong with BushCo that they appointed EIGHT USAs that are not performing?

Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 2:41 PM:

One charge is that a US Attorney was fired for her aggressive pursuit of Duke Cunningham. If it turns out to be true that the firing was punitive, meaning that its purpose was prevent or stop aggressive prosecution of corrupt Republicans, an a solid argument could be made that the firing was obstruction of justice. The problem is, who would prosecute the crime? Certainly not Gonzales. It would also help if there was an investigation of Republican corruption currently underway which was abandoned by the new AG, but I don’t think it would be necessary.

Another thought re Iglesias, if he was fired because he would not succumb to political pressure and abuse his prosecutorial authority, that has to be a crime, but I don’t know what the charge would be.

It would be interesting to hear a legal opinions about these possibilities.

vidstudent wrote on March 5, 2007 2:51 PM:

I'd say this calls for an investigation by a special prosecutor. As with Mr. Libby, this sounds like a situation where senior members of the United States Government may be obstructing their own government. Since the political alignments involved preclude prosecution by the Attorney General, someone set temporarily outside of the office is called for.

Node of Evil wrote on March 5, 2007 2:55 PM:

Random comment, I suppose, but I found it rather odd -- Pete Dominici just happens to be on the Indian Affairs Committee. That's at least a loose connection with Abramoff. And at least one of his staffers traveled to the Marinas in the last two years:

CNMI: 2 U.S. Senators Send Staffers To Area
By Gemma Q. Casas Variety News Staff
(Marianas Variety, 1/16/2006)

Two U.S. senators sent their senior staff members to Saipan last week to attend the inauguration of Gov. Benigno R. Fitial and the 15th Legislature, Variety learned. The two staffers were Josh Johnson, who works for Sen. Pete V. Dominici, R-N.M., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Resources Committee; and Allen Stayman, former insular affairs director who is now with Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the ranking member of the same committee. While here, Johnson and Stayman toured several work sites where foreign workers are employed. Office of Insular Affairs field representative Jeff Schorr said the two staffers visited the sites along with U.S. Interior Department Deputy Assistant Secretary David Cohen and federal labor ombudsman Jim Benedetto. The staffers also met with officials of the new administration to discuss issues concerning the Northern Marianas. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has jurisdiction over the insular areas. Stayman’s boss, Bingaman is also a member of the Senate Finance Committee which deals with tax policy, Social Security and federal healthcare programs.

From what I can tell Dominici wasn't involved with the Abramoff stuff, but he does seem to have picked up a few of Abramoff's tactics. Anyways, an interesting conneciton.

David Jacobs wrote on March 5, 2007 3:00 PM:

I have little doubt Mr Iglesias played the good soldier and took one for the team, UNTIL his professional abilities were publicly impugned. However, this story is now about two NM Congressional delegates who MAY have violated the rules of their respective bodies. Rep Wilson is playing it fairly close to the vest. Senator Domenici, when asked by an AP reporter about this matter, was quoted as saying, "I have no idea what he's talking about." A copyrighted story in yesterday's Albuquerque Journal included a letter from Senator Domenici that seems to bring that statement into question. The esteemed Senator now admits to making a phone call to Iglesias. My question for the Senator is: Were you lying when you answered the AP reporters questions, or did you lie in the letter published yesterday when you admitted to making the phone call?

Arkansan wrote on March 5, 2007 3:00 PM:

James Comey appointed Fitzgerald after Ashcroft recused himself due to a conflict of interest (Ashcroft was as crazy as a loon, but he did have a speck personal ethics). It is impossible that Gonzales would be driven to make the proper ethical decision and appoint a special prosecutor, it would just never happen, never.

I don’t think there is currently another way to appoint an independent counsel, but I could very well be wrong. Does anyone know?

NeverVoteRepubliCONagain wrote on March 5, 2007 4:03 PM:

Folks, let's all send the Senator a letter on how we feel about him and his unethical conduct. I did and it feels better. Be sure to use zip 87501, otherwise they will reject your letter. Congress now seems to only want to hear from people in their district or state. I say the hell with that, my tax dollars pays this crooked Senator salary.

domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

CRIMINAL REPUBLICONS NEED TO BE IMPEACHED.

psyopswatcher wrote on March 6, 2007 9:56 AM:

What was the case in NM that made Domenici and Wilson take a personal interest in?

Ok, I've been skimming, the news is coming so hot and heavy, but I still haven't seen any details on this specific corruption case in NM, who there is being investigated and for what.

What were Dominici and Wilson were so interested in. The indictments were due in Dec, right? Should be public record by now?

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