A thunderstorm named David Iglesias will come crashing down next Tuesday in DC.

[trumad]

WASHINGTON - Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico pressured the U.S. attorney in their state to speed up indictments in a federal corruption investigation that involved at least one former Democratic state senator, according to two people familiar with the contacts.

The alleged involvement of the two Republican lawmakers raises questions about possible violations of House of Representatives and Senate ethics rules and could taint the criminal investigation into the award of an $82 million courthouse contract.

The two people with knowledge of the incident said Domenici and Wilson intervened in mid-October, when Wilson was in a competitive re-election campaign that she won by 875 votes out of nearly 211,000 cast.

David Iglesias, who stepped down as U.S. attorney in New Mexico on Wednesday, told McClatchy Newspapers that he believed the Bush administration fired him Dec. 7 because he resisted the pressure to rush an indictment.

According to the two individuals, Domenici and Wilson called to press Iglesias for details of the case.

Wilson was curt after Iglesias was "non-responsive" to her questions about whether an indictment would be unsealed, said the two individuals, who asked not to be identified because they feared possible political repercussions. Rumors had spread throughout the New Mexico legal community that an indictment of at least one Democrat was sealed.

Domenici, who wasn't up for re-election, called about a week and a half later and was more persistent than Wilson, the people said. When Iglesias said an indictment wouldn't be handed down until at least December, the line went dead.

<snip>
On Thursday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., issued subpoenas to require Iglesias and three other ousted U.S. attorneys to testify before Congress.

The judiciary subcommittee on administrative law authorized the subpoenas by a 7-0 vote. The five Republican members of the subcommittee didn't show up for the vote.

The subpoenas require Iglesias, and former U.S. attorneys Carol Lam of San Diego, H.E. "Bud" Cummins of Little Rock, Ark., and John McKay of Seattle to appear before the subcommittee next week.

"The former U.S. attorneys are alleging very serious charges against the administration and we need to hear from them," Conyers said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is sending letters to the same four asking them to testify voluntarily on Tuesday.
http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16813951.htm

[cali]

1. This is a huge bombshell.

Is what Domenici and Wilson did obstruction of justice. But why the heck is the Senate JC asking them to testify voluntarily. I thought they said they'd only testify if compelled.

[Toots]

2. They are being compelled to testify for the House and after doing so

there would be no point in not doing the same for the Senate....:shrug:

[Divernan]

3. They should still have the protection of subpoenas from the Senate before testifying there.

I would expect that these former federal employees continue to be bound by confidentiality agreements regarding much of their work. The fact that they spoke in one circumstance, under subpoena, does not void such agreements as to that information. Additionally, the Senators who question them could well ask for different information, or more details than had been provided in response to the House subpoenas.

If these very skilled lawyers believed they could only discuss the matter with the House committee if they were "forced" to do so by subpoenas, why would they be willing to go before the Senate without the same protection?

Their testimony should be explosive. A key fact is that each of these attorneys were appointed by Bush early in his first term. These people were not holdovers appointed by a Dem. president.