PROSECUTORS TESTIFY ON THEIR FIRINGS
WASHINGTON — A fired federal prosecutor described Tuesday how two Republican lawmakers from New Mexico made him feel "sick" after they called him -- in one case at his home -- to ask about criminal charges against Democrats last fall, just as one of the officeholders faced a tight reelection race.
The former prosecutor, David C. Iglesias, told congressional committees investigating the firing of him and seven other U.S. attorneys that in mid-October, Rep. Heather A. Wilson grilled him over the phone for information about possible sealed indictments in a call to his hotel room in Washington.
Two weeks later, Iglesias said, Sen. Pete V. Domenici called him at home, expressed disgust that there would be no indictments against Democrats in New Mexico before the November election, and slammed down the phone.
"I felt sick afterwards," Iglesias said. "I felt leaned on. I felt pressured to get these cases moving."
The testimony of Iglesias and five other former U.S. attorneys ratcheted up the controversy over the Bush administration's motives in replacing them. Two Democratic-controlled congressional committees are investigating whether any lawmakers violated ethics rules in pushing for their removal.
In a rare spectacle, the ousted prosecutors appeared at a pair of hearings on Capitol Hill, all of them responding to subpoenas and sharing their disbelief and frustration over how they were abruptly terminated by Justice Department officials.
The prosecutors said they could see no clear reason why they were let go other than political motives, noting that supervisors in Washington had praised their work and given them glowing performance evaluations since President Bush took office in 2001.
One of them, Carol Lam of San Diego, successfully prosecuted former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Rancho Santa Fe), yet was dismissed shortly after indicting two of his partners in a sweeping bribery case.
"In most of our cases," Lam said, speaking for the group, "we were given little or no information" about why the firings occurred.
Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales and Justice Department officials have strongly defended the terminations, saying they were made because the prosecutors had not met expectations or simply to make room for other individuals to have a shot at the traditionally plum jobs.
