I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
Talking Points Memo’s Muckraker reported that former Sen. Pete Domenici is the focus of a federal grand jury probe into the firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in 2006.
Muckraker reported that “according to legal sources familiar with the inquiry,” Domenici and former senior White House aides are being investigated. There could be some heavy hitters, outside of the formerly powerful senator, implicated in the scandal if the grand jury probe comes up with anything.
The federal grand jury is investigating whether Domenici and other political figures attempted to improperly press Iglesias to bring a criminal prosecution against New Mexico Democrats just prior to the 2006 congressional midterm elections, according to legal sources close to the investigation and private attorneys representing officials who prosecutors want to question. Investigators appear to be scrutinizing Iglesias’ firing in the context of whether he was fired in retaliation because Domenici and others believed that he would not manipulate the timing of prosecutions to help Republicans.
Investigative reporter Murray Waas reported that the assignment of a criminal prosecutor, Nora Dannehy, comes from the refusal of Domenici and top aides, including former Chief of Staff Steve Bell, to speak to the Justice Department’s inspector general and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). Domenici’s lawyer, Lee Blalack, did not tell TPM Muckraker whether or not Domenici was cooperating with the criminal investigation.
The attorney for Bell, Michael Madigan, did not respond to requests to speak to TPM Muckraker.
Domenici reportedly inappropriately made phone calls to Iglesias ahead of the 2006 elections. Former Republican Rep. Heather Wilson was in a close race with former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, a Democrat, to retain the 1st Congressional District seat. Domenici and other New Mexico Republicans felt that Iglesias, a Republican himself, was not pursuing voter fraud cases vigorously enough. They also felt he was not pursuing corruption charges quickly enough.
There were many reasons given for the dismissal of Iglesias, but as NMI’s own Trip Jennings wrote last year:
Ultimately, the report concluded that Iglesias was removed because of complaints to the Department [of Justice] and the White House by Senator Domenici and other New Mexico Republican political officials, not for reasons given publicly. All other reasons offered after Iglesias’ removal — “that he was an ‘absentee landlord,’ that he delegated too much authority to his First Assistant, and that he was an underperformer –- were after-the-fact rationalizations that did not actually contribute to his removal.”
That story was reporting on a Department of Justice report. More from Jennings’ September 2008 story:
Although criticized by some New Mexico Republicans, Iglesias’ task force approach received recognition within the department. For example, in October 2005, Iglesias was asked to speak at a department-sponsored symposium on voting integrity. In addition, according to an attorney in the Public Integrity Section, Iglesias’s approach to the problem in New Mexico was held up by the department as an example of how to handle voter fraud investigations.
Domenici was given what amounted to a slap on the wrist in the Iglesias firing from the Senate Ethics Committee in April of last year when he was given a qualified admonition.
