Domenici, Wilson, Weh, Jennings, Rove and All Roads Lead To New Mexico !!!

[WillyT]

<snip>

Two months later, Schiff passed away after a battle with skin cancer and a special election was called for June 1998. Rather than facing a primary, Wilson won the backing of a local Republican committee in the special after Domenici leaned on members to support Wilson. Domenici dispatched Bell (Domenici's Chief Of Staff), as well as his political and finance directors, to run the subsequent campaign against a Democratic multi-millionaire.

After a narrow victory, the senator and the new representative were established as the backbone of the New Mexico GOP. "Pete Domenici is Congresswoman Wilson's mentor and a friend," said Enrique Carlos Knell, Wilson's spokesman.

Bell said he hired Wilson's first two chiefs of staff. In spring 2004, Domenici and Wilson installed her former fundraising chairman, Allen Weh, as the New Mexico GOP Chairman. Domenici has headed up annual fundraising events for Wilson, including a September 2006 event that he co-hosted with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

By the fall of 2006, Wilson was facing her toughest race in a brutal political climate, as the Abramoff and Mark Foley scandals became a central theme for Democrats. Wilson counter-punched with ads accusing her opponent, state Attorney General Patricia Madrid, of failing to tackle corruption, particularly in a courthouse construction probe connected to Democrats.

At the same time, local Republicans had been campaigning for investigations of Democrats over voter fraud allegations. Weh told McClatchy Newspapers in early March that he complained to one of White House adviser Karl Rove's deputies in 2005 about Iglesias' lack of voter-fraud prosecutions. One of Rove's aides, Scott Jennings, had served as the executive director of Bush-Cheney '04 in New Mexico. Jennings has been subpoenaed to testify before the House and Senate Judiciary committees.

Despite the complaints, Iglesias was still not being considered for dismissal in early October.

And...

In testimony before the senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, Sampson said that sometime between Oct. 17 and Nov. 7, Iglesias was added to the firing list.

He said he did not remember who added Iglesias to the list and what the reasons were. In that same timeframe, Gonzales relayed to Sampson a complaint from Rove about voter fraud cases in New Mexico. The White House has acknowledged that Bush himself also delivered complaints to Gonzales about voter fraud cases in New Mexico.

Link: http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_5573641

Things seem a tad bit incestuous down in 'ole New Mexico, eh???

:shrug:

[Bitwit1234]

1. They also accused Iglesias of being absent too much

and he was but...he was conscripted to give lectures on security and such by Homeland Security. So don't you think there is a reason for Iglesias to complain.

[WillyT]

2. He Was Also A Captain In The Navy Reserve !!!

<snip>

It's almost too perfect.

When Justice Department official William Moschella was asked why the Department had fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, he told Congress that “Iglesias had delegated to his first assistant the overall running of the office. And, quite frankly, U.S. attorneys are hired to run the office.” Internal documents from the time show officials planning to accuse Iglesias of being an "absentee landlord" to justify his firing.

Iglesias did, in fact, leave the office for 45 days each year. But that's because he's a captain in the Navy Reserve -- something that was no secret to his superiors.

So now the Office of Special Counsel is investigating whether Iglesias was wrongfully terminated due to his reserve duty, Newsweek reports. It is against the law for employers to discriminate against members of the U.S. military.

Now, as Kyle Sampson admitted last week, there was no real performance reason to fire Iglesias. And in fact, it's indisputable at this point that Iglesias was actually fired because he didn't indict enough Democrats.* So the "absentee landlord" line was just a cover story -- but one that seems to have gotten them into some trouble now.

<snip>

Link: http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002951.php#more

:shrug:

[Hamlette]

3. Also, remember Iglesias was played by Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men

Although I'm not a Tom Cruise fan and I understand the part was fictionalized, I also understand Iglesias was a heroic prosecutor. (God, once again, I'm forced to defend GOP PROSECUTORS!!!!! Ack. This former public defender's head is about to explode!....not really...but gosh.)

[WillyT]

4. It's Ok... In The Republican Party, There Really Are Only A Few Good Men !!!

Iglesias seems to be one of them.

Probably why he had to be bounced.

:shrug:

[Hamlette]

5. LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

We have a winner! You made my day.

[Sydnie]

7. I wasn't aware of that little tidbit

thanks for the info.

[TygrBright]

6. Yes, things are a bit, um... "closely related" here, but...

...that's because this is a very small place --not geographically, but socially. Small and with a long, long history of local groups and families vying for power amongst themselves. It's ferocious, it's barely beyond Byzantine when it comes to corruption, nepotism, and cronyism (though it has made decent strides in the last couple of decades,) and it involves a complicated and arcane set of rules that you have to be "from here" to understand.

What people don't realize is that "Democratic" and "Republican" have a whole different subtext in New Mexico, and party designation doesn't necessarily mean the same thing here that it means in, say, Ohio. Or Virginia. Or Nebraska.

"Outsiders," including party higher-ups in both parties, are welcome to stick their oars in ONLY insofar as they do so to advance the interests of some powerful New Mexican, and then only if they're discreet enough to keep their sticky fingerprints from showing. Once it looks as though "outsiders" are trying to mess with the local power dynamics, they have EVERYONE, even their former allies, gunning for them. And the bad smell is highly likely to rub off on whatever local was foolish enough to let their outsider connections get out of hand.

Even Domenici can't buck this forever, and certainly that skanky cow Wilson is gonna get her heinie handed to her with a very ugly message tattooed across it. Applied with a blunt and unsterilized needle, no less.

tsk-tsk. Poor Heather.

NOT.

anticipatorially,
Bright

[WillyT]

8. Thank You For The Insight...

Only passed thru NM once, in 1976. Beautiful place. I'd love to visit once again.

:hi:

[Quixote1818]

9. I believe the FBI gave Iglesias the evidence on the case Wilson and Pete

were so interested in just a month and a half before the elections. It was clearly not enough time for Iglesias to build a real case.

[bobbolink]

10. Yet, Gov. Richardson blocked the recount vote in NM in 2004!

One can only wonder why.

It all begins to stink to high heaven. (Where's that stinky smilie when you need it..?)



Oh, and for all those Richardson fans who will storm back in and say, "BUT, but, but but...... he signed a bill to have paper ballots."

Yes, ONLY AFTER he was forced into it by New Mexico election activists! It certainly wasn't his idea, nor one he was enthusiastic about.

Our thanks must go to those grassroots who took matters into their own hands and PUSHED!!