Washington – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales confirmed Thursday that he discussed with President Bush concerns about U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico, but he could not remember precisely why or when Iglesias was added to a Dec. 7 list of prosecutors to oust.
Still, he testified the decision was not unexpected since Iglesias’ performance had come up in several conversations with high-ranking officials, including Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., and Bush political adviser Karl Rove.
“The fact that Mr. Iglesias appeared on the list … was not surprising to me because I already had heard concerns about Mr. Iglesias’ performance,” Gonzales said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Gonzales’ job is on the line for his handling of the congressional investigation into the firing of Iglesias and seven other U.S. attorneys.
Senators pressed Gonzales in often tense exchanges about why his explanations for the firings and his description of his role in the decision have seemed inconsistent over the past several months.
They were clearly still frustrated with Gonzales’ answers at the hearing.
Gonzales previously said he did not remember discussing the firings with Bush. But on Thursday, he said he remembers that on Oct. 11, he and Bush discussed concerns about how Iglesias and two other U.S. attorneys were handling voter fraud allegations.
Gonzales said he could not remember details about his conversation with Bush. But senators questioned his memory.
Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., reminded him that his former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, told lawmakers that Gonzales returned from the meeting and told him, “Look into the vote prosecution issue, including those in New Mexico.” Gonzales said he did not play a direct role in adding Iglesias to the target list. He said Iglesias was added sometime between Oct.
17 and Nov. 15.
“How much more could you have been involved?” Specter asked, with frustration.
Gonzales’ recollection Thursday means he and Bush discussed concerns about Iglesias shortly before Iglesias received phone calls from Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., about the status of political corruption cases. Iglesias has said Wilson called on Oct. 16 and Domenici followed up on Oct. 26 or 27.
Iglesias viewed the calls as pressure to rush an investigation into an alleged Democratic kickback scheme. Wilson and Domenici have denied pressuring him.
Iglesias was added to the list late in the process. Records and statistics show he was well-regarded by the Justice Department before that.
Senators demanded to know when and why Iglesias lost Gonzales’ confidence.
Gonzales said he could not answer specifically. He said he relied on the “consensus recommendation of the senior leadership in the department.” He said he learned in fall 2005 that Iglesias had lost Domenici’s confidence.
Domenici “called me and said something to the effect that Mr.
Iglesias was in over his head and that he was concerned that Mr.
Iglesias did not have the appropriate personnel focused on cases like public corruption cases,” Gonzales said. “He didn’t mention specific cases, he simply said ‘public corruption cases.”‘ “That’s when I made the decision to accept the recommendation that, in fact, it would be appropriate to make a change in this particular district,” Gonzales said.
Iglesias has defended his record on voter fraud. He said he pursued allegations after the 2004 election but couldn’t make a case out of them.
Iglesias believes he was fired for political reasons because he would not rush a political corruption investigation that might have helped Republicans in the November election.
Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions asked whether anyone ever talked to Iglesias about the concerns raised about the voter fraud cases.
Gonzales said such a conversation would have been very sensitive.
“There’s nothing wrong with questioning a U.S. attorney,” Sessions said, adding that voter fraud cases are difficult and controversial to prosecute. “I think somebody should have met with him to ascertain his judgment on that.” Gonzales said he regretted that the U.S.
attorneys were not given a chance to defend themselves before they were fired. He said Iglesias’ fate might have been different had he reported the calls he received from Domenici and Wilson.
But Gonzales said later he stood by his decision to fire Iglesias because Iglesias was obligated under Justice Department rules to report the calls.
A month after he was fired, Iglesias asked for and received permission to list Gonzales as a resume reference, according to government e-mails released last month.
