Fired U.S. Attorneys Defend Their Records

Six former U.S. attorneys said they got little or no information about why they were fired, as another Republican lawmaker reportedly acknowledged contacting one of the federal prosecutors about an investigation.

Republican Sen. Pete Domenici had complained repeatedly to high-level Justice Department officials about New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias, the department said. Republican Rep. Heather Wilson late Monday said that she, too, had spoken with Iglesias about one of his pending cases.

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

Democratic lawmakers want to know whether the Bush administration dismissed the U.S. attorneys for political reasons. As many as six of eight former prosecutors dismissed in recent months were expected to tell House and Senate committees Tuesday that they were given little or no information about the reason for their firings.

"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.

Iglesias has also said he would relate details of a conversation with two members of Congress who he says pressured him to rush indictments in an investigation into an alleged Democratic kickback scheme that could have helped Republicans in the November 2006 elections.

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.

The Senate ethics manual advises lawmakers to refrain from speaking to court officers about specific proceedings until after they are resolved.

Domenici's contact with Iglesias is now the subject of an ethics charge. Iglesias' testimony will help determine the next step in the probe, filed Monday by a watchdog group. It is still unclear what action the Senate Ethics Committee will take.

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.

The Bush administration has said eight prosecutors were told to leave, all but one for performance-related reasons.

Democrats say they fear that the White House is using a provision of the anti-terror USA Patriot Act to bypass the Senate confirmation process for U.S. attorneys and reward political allies with the plum jobs.

U.S. attorneys are political appointees and can be fired for any reason, or none at all. But the firings have become a stress point of a power struggle between the Republican Bush administration and newly ascendant Democrats in Congress.

House Judiciary Committee Democrats on Monday asked the Justice Department to provide details of communications between the department and lawmakers about the ousted U.S. attorneys, the identities of White House and administration officials who decided which prosecutors to fire, and information about what the dismissed prosecutors were told about why they were terminated.

Domenici called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his deputy four times, questioning whether Iglesias was "up to the job," department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty singled out two U.S. attorneys, Iglesias and Carol Lam of California, during a briefing for senators last month about the firings, saying they had generated "extensive congressional concern," according to a senior administration official who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak on the record about that briefing.

The Justice Department released letters from Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Republican Rep. Darrell Issa to Gonzales and Lam complaining about Lam's prosecution record with illegal immigrants, and other matters.

Feinstein has strongly defended Lam in public. Spokesman Scott Gerber said Monday that after she wrote the letter complaining about her, Feinstein learned that Lam had made changes and the issues were being addressed.

Meanwhile, a former federal prosecutor from Maryland said he was forced out of his job in 2005 because of political pressure.

The former prosecutor, Thomas M. DiBiagio, told The New York Times that the pressure stemmed from an investigation of possible corruption involving associates of Maryland's Republican governor, Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

"There was direct pressure not to pursue these investigations," DiBiagio said. "The practical impact was to intimidate my office and shut down the investigations."

DiBagio had never talked about the reasons for his departure publicly before, but said he was doing so now because he saw similarities with the recent firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

The Justice Department disputes DiBiagio 's version of the events that led to his departure.