Sen. Pete Domenici (AP Photo/The Albuquerque Journal, Jaelyn deMaria)
by James Oliphant
Sen. Pete Domenici, the New Mexico Republican who is retiring at the end of the year, was sanctioned by the Senate Ethics Committee Thursday for a call he placed to a federal prosecutor prior to the 2006 election.
In October 2006, Domenici called then-U.S. attorney for New Mexico, David Iglesias, and asked for an update in a corruption probe involving an Albuquerque construction project. Iglesias was one of the nine U.S. attorneys ultimately fired by the Justice Department and Attorney General Alberto Gonazles after the election. Iglesias and others alleged they were dumped for not pursuing corruption and fraud cases against Democrats with enough enthusiasm.
The committee, in a formal letter to Domenici, said it found no "substantial evidence" he was trying to influence the investigation, but he was admonished for the appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate. The committee is composed of six members, three from each party.
The committee also noted that it confined its own probe to Domenici's telephone call and not to the U.S. attorney affair as a whole. That is still being investigated by both the Senate and House Judiciary Committees, as they have attempted to compel former White House aides such as Karl Rove to testify about the role the White House allegedly played in orchestrating the firings. Congress' ongoing probes of the matter was a factor in the resignation of Gonzales last year.
"I did not attempt to improperly influence an ongoing investigation when I telephoned [Iglesias]," Domenici said in a statement Thursday. "Nevertheless, as I said publicly last March when this complaint was originally filed, I regret the distraction this controversy has caused my colleagues, my staff, my family and, most importantly, my constituents."
• 
• 
• 
Comments
Typical Republican tactics, if you can't beat them at the polls, try something that isn't above board. That is the cornerstone of Republican politics. Well, I think the electorate will let them know in the fall, how tired they are of gutter politics. Clean that House and Senate of the Incompetents and Obstructionists and put in our White House, someone who stands for new politics, not politics as usual!!! Vote Democrat, vote for Senator Obama.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | April 25, 2008 11:39 AM
What a joke! The Senate Ethics Committee ran the investigation of a fellow Senator and we are supposed to accept their findings? Why do they insist on investigating themselves and resist outside investigations? John McCain got the same advantage of being the target of an investigation by his buddies. Guess what they found!! You guessed it, what he did was wrong but did not break any rules. Shocking.
Posted by: jackson | April 25, 2008 12:26 PM