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(Photo credit to Jason Reed/Reuters via MSNBC.)

Earlier in the week, the WaPo had an astounding article. You may recall that there have been mass firings of United States Attorneys around the country, including two that had ongoing investigations into public corruption by Republican members of Congress?

Well, it seems that a third member of the class of slaughtered US Attorneys may have also been fired in retaliation for his ethical conduct during a public corruption investigation.

David C. Iglesias, the recently fired US Attorney in New Mexico, had an open public corruption investigation into a Democratic member of the state legislature.  He reports receiving calls from two Republicans from the Hill, asking him to speed up the investigation so he could indict before the November Elections.

A political tempest over the mass firing of federal prosecutors escalated yesterday with allegations from the departing U.S. attorney in New Mexico, who said that two members of Congress attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections.

David C. Iglesias, who left yesterday after more than five years in office, said he received the calls in October and believes that complaints from the lawmakers may have led the Justice Department to fire him late last year.

Evidently, Iglesias did not allow political pressure to alter the timetable of the investigation and is now paying the price. It should be noted that he made a mistake in not reporting these contacts to DOJ, but honestly now, in his shoes would you paint a target on your own back and “out” yourself to Alberto by alerting him to the fact that you have some ethics and scruples? Come on!

So who are these lawmakers that thought they had the right to interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation? Inquiring minds want to know. Actually, Dan Eggen of WaPo gets a shout out for trying to nail down that little tidbit.

Spokesmen for Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) and the state's two Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall, said the lawmakers and their staffs had no contact with Iglesias about the case. The offices of New Mexico's two other Republican lawmakers, Sen. Pete V. Domenici and Rep. Heather A. Wilson, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Supposedly, there are hearings scheduled for Tuesday and several of the fired US Attorneys will be subpoenaed for them.  Iglesias's allegations were met with strong denials from the Justice Department, but prompted the Democratic-controlled House and Senate judiciary committees to announce that they would issue subpoenas for testimony from Iglesias and other fired prosecutors if necessary. Iglesias said he would not testify unless subpoenaed.  (Looks like it was necessary.  Good for Sen. Pat Leahy.)

I have a heads up for those committees: DO YOU HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT THIS MASS SLAUGHTER OF 8 US ATTORNEYS IS THE FIRST TIME THIS ADMINISTRAION HAS GOTTEN RID OF A PROSECUTOR FOR POLITICAL REASONS?

Here’s an idea for you. Subpoena every US attorney that left office during the Shrubya Administration and ask him or her what Karl Rove’s involvement was. Just for fun.

CHS adds, because these firings make me more and more angry by the day:

Talking Points Memo has more here and here.  The Muck has much, much more here.  And the NYTimes has more today, including the following:

After Daniel G. Bogden got the call in December telling him that he was being dismissed as the United States attorney in Nevada, he pressed for an explanation.

Mr. Bogden, who was named the top federal prosecutor in Nevada in 2001 after 11 years of working his way up at the Justice Department, asked an official at the agency’s headquarters if the firing was related to his performance or to that of his office. “That didn’t enter into the equation,” he said he was told.

After several more calls, Mr. Bogden reached a senior official who offered an answer. “There is a window of opportunity to put candidates into an office like mine,” Mr. Bogden said, recalling the conversation. “They were attempting to open a slot and bring someone else in.”…

Summoning five of the dismissed prosecutors for hearings on Tuesday, the newly empowered Congressional Democrats have charged that the mass firing is a political purge, intended to squelch corruption investigations or install less independent-minded successors.

Interviews with several of the prosecutors, Justice Department officials, lawmakers and others provide new details and a fuller picture of the events behind the dismissals. Like Mr. Bogden, some prosecutors believe they were forced out for replacements who could gild résumés; several heard that favored candidates had been identified.

Other prosecutors may have been vulnerable because they had had run-ins with the Justice Department, not over corruption cases against Republicans, but on less visible issues….

Some said they suspected that the administration hoped to install its favorites in the jobs, as they did when J. Timothy Griffin, a prosecutor who had worked for Karl Rove, the White House political adviser, was chosen as the temporary replacement for H. E. Cummins III of Arkansas. Mr. Cummins was told last summer to step down after Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, met with Mr. Gonzales’s staff on Mr. Griffin’s behalf.

Even Republicans who are generally supportive of the administration expressed skepticism about the Justice Department’s explanations.

Go and read the entire NYTimes article. It is infuriating.  Patronage, anyone?

And a huge thank you to LHP for putting this together for us.  Because I know the misuse of public trust ticks her off as much as it does me. — CHS

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