David Iglesias

Iglesias: "I Feel One Hundred Percent Vindicated"

Zachary Roth | August 13, 2009, 10:05AM

David Iglesias has reacted with a combination of satisfaction and indignation to this week's release of documents on the U.S. attorney firings.

"I feel 100 percent vindicated," Iglesias, the former U.S. attorney for New Mexico, whose dismissal was the most controversial of the bunch, told TPMmuckraker in an interview.

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David Iglesias

Rove Aide Longed to Replace Iglesias With GOP Lawyer Who Helped Get Him Fired

Zachary Roth | August 12, 2009, 11:25AM

After firing David Iglesias as U.S. attorney for New Mexico, Karl Rove's top aide longed to replace him with a Republican party activist who had helped agitate for the firing in the first place, newly released documents reveal.

In early January 2007, several weeks after the firings had been carried out, the Albuquerque Journal reported, based on a press release from New Mexico senator Pete Domenici, that there were four leading candidates for the newly vacant post.

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David Iglesias

Docs Belie Rove's Claim That His Aide Was "Freelancing" In Pushing For Iglesias Firing

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 3:35PM

This won't come as a shock ... but the just released documents on the U.S. attorney firings make it clear that Karl Rove was far from straight with the House committee that interviewed him last month.

According to the transcript of the interview, Rove said that his top aide, Scott Jennings, was "freelancing" in trying to get David Iglesias fired in the summer of 2005. Rove told his interviewers that Jennings "had strong feelings about Iglesias" after having done political work in New Mexico.

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Karl Rove

Docs Show Rove Pushed For Iglesias Firing

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 3:20PM

Perhaps the key takeaway from the just released documents on the U.S. attorney firings is this:

Karl Rove claimed recently that he and his staff acted merely as a conduit for passing on concerns about David Iglesias. But it's now clear that Rove's office pushed from 2005 for Iglesias to be canned, and was intimately involved in the decision.

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Karl Rove

'Very Agitated' Rove Called Miers From New Mexico To Complain About Iglesias

Justin Elliott | August 11, 2009, 3:12PM

We're digging through the trove of documents released today by the House Judiciary Committee on the US attorney firings and the politicization of the Justice Department under George W. Bush.

In a June 15 interview with House investigators, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers detailed a remarkable 2006 contact with Karl Rove, then on the road in New Mexico, regarding US Attorney David Iglesias.

Rove, Miers recalled, was "very agitated" about Iglesias, who was later ousted in the Bush Administration's purge of US Attorneys. Rove was getting "barraged" with complains by "political people that were active in New Mexico."

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David Iglesias

Rove Aide: "I Would Really Like To Move Forward With Getting Rid Of" Iglesias

Zachary Roth | August 11, 2009, 2:58PM

Here are two quick juicy parts from the just-released documents on the U.S. attorney firings, about the decision to fire David Igleisas of New Mexico -- as flagged in a House Judiciary committee press release:

• 2005 White House "Decision" to fire David Iglesias - It has previously been known that New Mexico Republicans pressed for Iglesias to be removed because they did not like his decisions on vote fraud cases. New White House documents show that Rove and his office were involved in this effort no later than May 2005 (months earlier than previously known) - for example, in May and June 2005, Rove aide Scott Jennings sent emails to Tim Griffin (also in Rove's office) asking "what else I can do to move this process forward" and stressing that "I would really like to move forward with getting rid of NM US ATTY." In June 2005, Harriet Miers emailed that a "decision" had been made to replace Iglesias. At this time, DOJ gave Iglesias top rankings, so this decision was clearly not just the result of the White House following the Department's lead as Rove and Miers have maintained.

• Iglesias criticized by Rove aide for not "doing his job on" Democratic Congressional Candidate Patricia Madrid - An October 2006 email chain begun by Representative Heather Wilson criticized David Iglesias for not bringing politically useful public corruption prosecutions in the run up to the 2006 elections. Scott Jennings forwarded Wilson's email to Karl Rove and complained that Iglesias had been "shy about doing his job on Madrid," Wilson's opponent in the 2006 Congressional race. Just weeks after this email, Iglesias' name was placed on the final firing list.