Domenici to Bush: "I want Iglesias gone!"

There's a great article in the Albequerque Journal about Sen. Pete Domenici and his role in the firing of David Iglesias. Seems he did more than just call Iglesias. He called Gonzales and he called Rove and finally he spoke to Bush complaining that Iglesias has to go.

So here is what happened according to the Albequerque Journal:

Domenici Sought Iglesias Ouster
Albuquerque Journal-->By Mike Gallagher

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired after Sen. Pete Domenici, who had been unhappy with Iglesias for some time, made a personal appeal to the White House, the Journal has learned.

Domenici had complained about Iglesias before, at one point going to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before taking his request to the president as a last resort.

The senior senator from New Mexico had listened to criticism of Iglesias going back to 2003 from sources ranging from law enforcement officials to Republican Party activists.

Domenici, who submitted Iglesias' name for the job and guided him through the confirmation process in 2001, had tried at various times to get more white-collar crime help for the U.S. Attorney's Office— even if Iglesias didn't want it.

At one point, the six-term Republican senator tried to get Iglesias moved to a Justice Department post in Washington, D.C., but Iglesias told Justice officials he wasn't interested.

In the spring of 2006, Domenici told Gonzales he wanted Iglesias out. Gonzales refused. He told Domenici he would fire Iglesias only on orders from the president.

At some point after the election last Nov. 6, Domenici called Bush's senior political adviser, Karl Rove, and told him he wanted Iglesias out and asked Rove to take his request directly to the president. Domenici and Bush subsequently had a telephone conversation about theissue. The conversation between Bush and Domenici occurred sometime after the election but before the firings of Iglesias and six other U.S. attorneys were announced on Dec. 7.

There's much more at the link. Domenici said he was getting complaints about Iglesias from "law enforcement officials to Republican Party activists". The article explaines some of this:

White-collar

In September 2005, Iglesias announced the arrests of state Treasurer Robert Vigil and his predecessor, Michael Montoya, on extortion charges. Both are Democrats in a state where Democrats control the Legislature and most statewide offices. Republicans who had complained about political corruption in the state for years saw an opportunity to do more than complain. And this was an issue with political traction.

The point man would be Iglesias. During one of his few news conferences while U.S. attorney, Iglesias called political corruption "endemic" in New Mexico. The FBI also put a high priority on public corruption, naming it its top priority behind terrorism.

According to Justice Department memos turned over to congressional investigators, Domenici approached Iglesias in late 2005 and asked if he needed additional prosecutors for corruption cases. Iglesias, according to the memo, told Domenici he didn't need white-collar crime prosecutors. He needed prosecutors for immigration cases. Domenici was disappointed in the response.

After that conversation, Domenici decided he would try to get Iglesias help, whether Iglesias wanted it or not.

In 2006, Domenici asked Gonzales if he could find additional experienced white-collar crime prosecutors to send to New Mexico. Gonzales had a number of prosecutors who were finishing the ENRON prosecutions and were quite experienced at complex white-collar crime cases.

None was sent here.

So Domenici's roll in the Iglesias firing was huge. It does show a
definate partisan slant. It also shows that Gonzales knew more about these
firings then he has admitted. Tuesday's committee meeting with Alberto
testifying will be quite interesting. And where will the Senate go with
Domenici? There's a rumor he might retire after this term.

UPDATE: From McClatchy Newspapers: Gonzales says he has `nothing to hide'

Declaring he has "nothing to hide," embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Sunday said he never sought the resignation of any U.S. attorney to influence a prosecution for political ends, but acknowledged that he and other officials made mistakes in how the dismissals of eight U.S. attorneys were handled.

While acknowledging mistakes, particularly in the way the dismissals were carried out, Gonzales argued that they involved no sinister motives and no inappropriate attempt to influence prosecutions.

"I want this committee to be satisfied, to be fully reassured, that nothing improper was done," Gonzales said. "I want the American people to be reassured of the same."

He said he recalled discussions of two possible candidates to become U.S. attorneys, but indicated he could not remember what he said about them. "I do not recall making any decisions" about who should replace any of the fired prosecutors, he said.

Gonzales said he left a review of the attorneys' performance up to deputies, then signed off on their recommendations.

And what of Bush and the White House involvement:

Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said the president did not tell
Gonzales to fire Iglesias. He also said that Gonzales did not recall discussing
with Domenici whether or not to replace Iglesias.

A White House spokesman, Trey Bohn, pointed to comments made by President Bush and his adviser Dan Bartlett last month when asked about the conversation with Domenici.

Bush said that in speaking to Gonzales about U.S. attorneys, "I never brought up a specific case nor gave him specific instructions." Bartlett said that "there was no directive given, as far as telling him to fire anybody or anything like that."

Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said Domenici would have no comment.

"Thank You Karl"

What's this? An email thank you note. To who? From who? And sent where? About what?

To: Karl Rove

From: Pete Domenici's Cheif of Staff, Scott Jennings

Sent to: Rove's political email account

Re: “Thanks for everything,” Here's the name of the replacement for David Iglesias.

From Neesweek:

Did Karl Rove have a hand in replacing the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico? An overlooked e-mail may provide a clue.

March 28, 2007 - New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici’s chief of staff sent a cryptic thank-you note to Karl Rove just as the senator was recommending replacements for David Iglesias, the fired U.S. attorney in New Mexico, according to internal White House and Justice Department documents.
“Thanks for everything,” Domenici chief of staff Steve Bell wrote Rove and two other White House officials, including Rove’s political deputy, Scott Jennings, in a Jan. 8, 2007 e-mail that forwarded the name of a candidate to replace Iglesias.

Buried in Justice Department documents released two weeks ago, the Bell e-mail was not initially noticed by congressional investigators because it was sent to Rove’s political e-mail account—not his more clearly recognizable White House e-mail address.

It is not clear from the content of the e-mail what Bell was thanking Rove for. But the thank-you note is the first indication that Rove himself may have been involved in replacing Iglesias. It is the dismissal of Iglesias—fired after Domenici complained about his handling of a local corruption investigation—that has raised the most serious questions of political interference in the U.S. attorney controversy.

So when asked what this email was all about...here's what the answer was:

Asked about the e-mail today, and why Bell was thanking Rove, Domenici’s press secretary, Chris Gallegos said: “We’re not going to have anything to say about that e-mail.” He added that Bell “did not want to discuss a private communication.” White House press spokesman Tony Fratto said the e-mail was "interpreted" by the three White House officials who recevied it as a thank you for considering the names of Domenici's candidates for replacing Iglesias—not for their help in removing Iglesias. Did Rove in fact intervene to have Iglesias removed? Fratto replied: "We're not commenting on that" because of general White House policy not to talk about "internal White House communications."

Hmmm! Internal White House communications? Was this not sent to Rove's Political email address? That is not an internal White House communication.

The e-mail continued: “To repeat [name blanked out] is our overwhelming choice and will take the job …” It was then that Bell added, “Thanks for everything.”

What makes this stand out is that Iglesias was not even on the original list to fire until Domenici complained. And who then put him on the list. Kyle Sampson. We'll find out tomorrow when Kyle Sampson goes in front of the Senate hearing.

To be continued!