Ex-Prosecutor "Sickened" by GOP Senator's Attempt to Lean on Him

Ex-prosecutor says lawmaker tried to leverage him

Story Highlights

.. Ex-prosecutor: White House used heavy hand after attorneys quoted in media

.. Justice Department calls claim "twisted," accuses attorneys of

"grandstanding"

.. Fired attorney says call from senator about pending case was

"unprecedented"

.. Two New Mexican members of Congress deny pressuring prosecutor

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A fired federal prosecutor told a Senate committee

Tuesday that he felt "leaned on" and sickened as Republican Sen. Pete

Domenici hung up on him in disgust last fall when told that indictments in a

corruption case against Democrats would not be issued before the fall

elections.

"He said, 'Are these going to be filed before November?' " former federal

prosecutor David Iglesias, one of eight U.S. attorneys summarily fired in

recent months, told the panel. "I said I didn't think so. And to which he

replied, 'I'm very sorry to hear that.' And then the line went dead."

The Bush administration also applied a heavy hand after the firings of eight

prosecutors became public and some of the dismissed U.S. attorneys had been

quoted in media, according to one of those ousted, Bud Cummins of Arkansas.

Cummins said in an e-mail released by the Senate Judiciary Committee that

Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, had

called and expressed his displeasure that the fired prosecutors talked to

reporters about their dismissals.

"If they (DOJ) feel like any of us intend to continue to offer quotes to the

press, or organize behind the scenes congressional pressure, then they feel

forced to somehow pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to

defend their actions more fully," Cummins said in the e-mail to five other

fired prosecutors.

The Justice Department denied that any threat, implied or otherwise, was

made.

"A private and collegial conversation between Mike Elston and Bud Cummins is

now somehow being twisted into a perceived threat by former disgruntled

employees grandstanding before Congress," said department spokesman Brian

Roehrkasse.

"Mike Elston did not tell any U.S. attorney what they should or should not

say publicly about their departure," Roehrkasse added. "Any suggestion that

such a conversation took place is ridiculous and not based on fact."

'Unprecedented' call

Iglesias said he received the call from Domenici at home on October 26 or

27th and that it lasted two minutes, "tops."

"I felt leaned on. I felt pressured to get these matters moving," Iglesias

testified.

Asked by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, whether such a call was unusual in

Iglesias' experience, the former prosecutor answered, "Unprecedented."

Six of eight prosecutors fired by the Department of Justice in recent months

were expected to appear before House and Senate panels -- all six under

subpoena before the House, four voluntarily in the Senate. Justice officials

have said most of the eight were dismissed for performance-related issues,

an allegation those testifying staunchly denied.

Cummins' e-mail also shed light on the way some of those who were fired saw

the dismissals. If they voluntarily agreed to testify before Congress, "they

would see that as a major escalation of the conflict meriting some kind of

unspecified form of retaliation," Cummins wrote in the February 20 e-mail.

Democrats accuse the Bush administration of firing the prosecutors to make

room for Republican allies and using a new provision of the Patriot Act to

install new U.S. attorneys without going through the Senate confirmation

process. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has denied that charge and said

he intends to submit all of the names of his appointees to the Senate

confirmation process.

At least one Republican said he isn't sure that the agency acted properly.

"If the allegations are correct, then there has been serious misconduct in

what has occurred in the terminations of these United States attorneys,"

Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said. He cautioned his colleagues to

withhold judgment on the mass firings and the charges of cronyism leveled

against the Justice Department.

But as a former district attorney in Philadelphia, he was clearly troubled

by reports that two lawmakers -- Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, both New

Mexico Republicans -- contacted their state's U.S. attorney about a pending

case. Domenici and Wilson have acknowledged making the calls, but denied

placing political pressure on prosecutor David Iglesias.

For their parts, six former U.S. attorneys said they got little or no

information about why they were fired.

Domenici had complained repeatedly to high-level Justice Department

officials about Iglesias, the department said. Wilson said that she, too,

had spoken with Iglesias about "the slow pace" of federal corruption probes

in the state.

Iglesias told the panel he received a call from Wilson about two weeks

earlier, in which she asked him about sealed indictments -- a topic

prosecutors cannot discuss. Wilson's question "raised red flags in my head,"

Iglesias said.

Lawmakers deny pressuring prosecutor

"I was evasive and nonresponsive to her question," Iglesias told the panel,

saying he talked generally about why some indictments are sealed. "She was

not happy with that answer. And she said, 'Well I guess I'll have to take

your word for it." The call ended almost immediately, Iglesias said.

Asked by Schumer if he felt pressured by that call, Iglesias replied: "Yes

sir, I did."

Like Domenici, Wilson denied pressuring the New Mexico prosecutor. She said

earlier Tuesday she had called Iglesias because she had received an

allegation "by a constituent with knowledge of ongoing investigations" that

he "was intentionally delaying corruption prosecutions." She said Iglesias

denied that allegation, saying he simply had few people to handle corruption

cases. "I told him that I would take him at his word, and I did," Wilson

said.

In a joint statement ahead of Tuesday's hearings, six of the eight former

prosecutors made clear that some of them had differences with the Department

of Justice.

"When we had new ideas or differing opinions, we assumed that such thoughts

would always be welcomed by the (Justice) department and could be freely and

openly debated within the halls of that great institution," six of the

attorneys said in a joint statement released ahead of the hearings.

Domenici said over the weekend that he had contacted Iglesias in October

2006 to ask about progress of the probe, though he denied putting any

pressure on the prosecutor.

In her statement Tuesday, Wilson said the department dismissed Iglesias

"without input from me." Her telephone call was not politically motivated,

she said, and the conversation was "brief and professional."

"If the purpose of my call has somehow been misperceived, I am sorry for any

confusion," Wilson said.

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