Albuquerque, NM — Statement from former Congresswoman Heather Wilson concerning the House Judiciary Committee press and document release:

“The documents released today confirm that leaders in New Mexico had lost confidence in Mr. Iglesias and complained about his job performance as much as a year and a half before he was ultimately terminated. The Justice Department badly mishandled his termination.

“They also confirm that I did not have any communication with the Administration concerning anything related to Mr. Iglesias' performance before the final decision was apparently made to dismiss him.

“The House Judiciary Committee has never asked me anything about this matter or about the e-mail they misconstrue and highlight in their public statement. As a result, their statement today is incorrect in several important respects.

“The House Judiciary Committee knows that Mrs. Madrid, herself, was the subject of inquiries from the FBI while she was running for Congress in 2006. I was aware of those inquiries at the time. While it was in my power to release that information, I chose not to do so. Instead we cooperated with law enforcement to root out public corruption in New Mexico.”

The following information was released publicly in a September 30, 2008 press statement from my office.

“My e-mail of October 15, 2006 was not related to the performance of the U.S. Attorney or any matters involving his office. To conflate my e-mail with matters related to the U.S. Attorney is inaccurate. They were not related.

“I remember my October 15, 2006 e-mail and the circumstances surrounding it very clearly. This e-mail is related to an FBI inquiry concerning my opponent, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, which occurred while she was running for Congress in 2006.

“An FBI employee contacted my office in June 2006 and asked for any information we had concerning Attorney General Patricia Madrid and her connection to a Political Action Committee — Justice for America. I directed my staff to provide any information we had to the FBI and to cooperate with law enforcement.

“The AP story referred to in my October 15, 2006 e-mail caught my eye because the FBI, or someone close to the FBI, had leaked information about an investigation of Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania to the media. I believed it was possible we would see a similar leak from law enforcement concerning Mrs. Madrid and that we could be asked by the media to comment on it.

“My staff had contingency press guidance that, if asked, we would confirm that we had received and inquiry from the FBI about Attorney General Madrid and we were cooperating with law enforcement. The recipients of my e-mail knew about the FBI inquiry and the contingency press guidance. This e-mail was intended to be a “heads up” to them. This matter never became public and we never were asked to comment on it.”

Albuquerque, NM — Statement from former Congresswoman Heather Wilson concerning the House Judiciary Committee press and document release:

“The documents released today confirm that leaders in New Mexico had lost confidence in Mr. Iglesias and complained about his job performance as much as a year and a half before he was ultimately terminated. The Justice Department badly mishandled his termination.

“They also confirm that I did not have any communication with the Administration concerning anything related to Mr. Iglesias' performance before the final decision was apparently made to dismiss him.

“The House Judiciary Committee has never asked me anything about this matter or about the e-mail they misconstrue and highlight in their public statement. As a result, their statement today is incorrect in several important respects.

“The House Judiciary Committee knows that Mrs. Madrid, herself, was the subject of inquiries from the FBI while she was running for Congress in 2006. I was aware of those inquiries at the time. While it was in my power to release that information, I chose not to do so. Instead we cooperated with law enforcement to root out public corruption in New Mexico.”

The following information was released publicly in a September 30, 2008 press statement from my office.

“My e-mail of October 15, 2006 was not related to the performance of the U.S. Attorney or any matters involving his office. To conflate my e-mail with matters related to the U.S. Attorney is inaccurate. They were not related.

“I remember my October 15, 2006 e-mail and the circumstances surrounding it very clearly. This e-mail is related to an FBI inquiry concerning my opponent, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, which occurred while she was running for Congress in 2006.

“An FBI employee contacted my office in June 2006 and asked for any information we had concerning Attorney General Patricia Madrid and her connection to a Political Action Committee — Justice for America. I directed my staff to provide any information we had to the FBI and to cooperate with law enforcement.

“The AP story referred to in my October 15, 2006 e-mail caught my eye because the FBI, or someone close to the FBI, had leaked information about an investigation of Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania to the media. I believed it was possible we would see a similar leak from law enforcement concerning Mrs. Madrid and that we could be asked by the media to comment on it.

“My staff had contingency press guidance that, if asked, we would confirm that we had received and inquiry from the FBI about Attorney General Madrid and we were cooperating with law enforcement. The recipients of my e-mail knew about the FBI inquiry and the contingency press guidance. This e-mail was intended to be a “heads up” to them. This matter never became public and we never were asked to comment on it.”

Albuquerque, NM — Statement from former Congresswoman Heather Wilson concerning the House Judiciary Committee press and document release:

“The documents released today confirm that leaders in New Mexico had lost confidence in Mr. Iglesias and complained about his job performance as much as a year and a half before he was ultimately terminated. The Justice Department badly mishandled his termination.

“They also confirm that I did not have any communication with the Administration concerning anything related to Mr. Iglesias' performance before the final decision was apparently made to dismiss him.

“The House Judiciary Committee has never asked me anything about this matter or about the e-mail they misconstrue and highlight in their public statement. As a result, their statement today is incorrect in several important respects.

“The House Judiciary Committee knows that Mrs. Madrid, herself, was the subject of inquiries from the FBI while she was running for Congress in 2006. I was aware of those inquiries at the time. While it was in my power to release that information, I chose not to do so. Instead we cooperated with law enforcement to root out public corruption in New Mexico.”

The following information was released publicly in a September 30, 2008 press statement from my office.

“My e-mail of October 15, 2006 was not related to the performance of the U.S. Attorney or any matters involving his office. To conflate my e-mail with matters related to the U.S. Attorney is inaccurate. They were not related.

“I remember my October 15, 2006 e-mail and the circumstances surrounding it very clearly. This e-mail is related to an FBI inquiry concerning my opponent, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, which occurred while she was running for Congress in 2006.

“An FBI employee contacted my office in June 2006 and asked for any information we had concerning Attorney General Patricia Madrid and her connection to a Political Action Committee — Justice for America. I directed my staff to provide any information we had to the FBI and to cooperate with law enforcement.

“The AP story referred to in my October 15, 2006 e-mail caught my eye because the FBI, or someone close to the FBI, had leaked information about an investigation of Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania to the media. I believed it was possible we would see a similar leak from law enforcement concerning Mrs. Madrid and that we could be asked by the media to comment on it.

“My staff had contingency press guidance that, if asked, we would confirm that we had received and inquiry from the FBI about Attorney General Madrid and we were cooperating with law enforcement. The recipients of my e-mail knew about the FBI inquiry and the contingency press guidance. This e-mail was intended to be a “heads up” to them. This matter never became public and we never were asked to comment on it.”

Albuquerque, NM — Statement from former Congresswoman Heather Wilson concerning the House Judiciary Committee press and document release:

“The documents released today confirm that leaders in New Mexico had lost confidence in Mr. Iglesias and complained about his job performance as much as a year and a half before he was ultimately terminated. The Justice Department badly mishandled his termination.

“They also confirm that I did not have any communication with the Administration concerning anything related to Mr. Iglesias' performance before the final decision was apparently made to dismiss him.

“The House Judiciary Committee has never asked me anything about this matter or about the e-mail they misconstrue and highlight in their public statement. As a result, their statement today is incorrect in several important respects.

“The House Judiciary Committee knows that Mrs. Madrid, herself, was the subject of inquiries from the FBI while she was running for Congress in 2006. I was aware of those inquiries at the time. While it was in my power to release that information, I chose not to do so. Instead we cooperated with law enforcement to root out public corruption in New Mexico.”

The following information was released publicly in a September 30, 2008 press statement from my office.

“My e-mail of October 15, 2006 was not related to the performance of the U.S. Attorney or any matters involving his office. To conflate my e-mail with matters related to the U.S. Attorney is inaccurate. They were not related.

“I remember my October 15, 2006 e-mail and the circumstances surrounding it very clearly. This e-mail is related to an FBI inquiry concerning my opponent, Attorney General Patricia Madrid, which occurred while she was running for Congress in 2006.

“An FBI employee contacted my office in June 2006 and asked for any information we had concerning Attorney General Patricia Madrid and her connection to a Political Action Committee — Justice for America. I directed my staff to provide any information we had to the FBI and to cooperate with law enforcement.

“The AP story referred to in my October 15, 2006 e-mail caught my eye because the FBI, or someone close to the FBI, had leaked information about an investigation of Representative Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania to the media. I believed it was possible we would see a similar leak from law enforcement concerning Mrs. Madrid and that we could be asked by the media to comment on it.

“My staff had contingency press guidance that, if asked, we would confirm that we had received and inquiry from the FBI about Attorney General Madrid and we were cooperating with law enforcement. The recipients of my e-mail knew about the FBI inquiry and the contingency press guidance. This e-mail was intended to be a “heads up” to them. This matter never became public and we never were asked to comment on it.”