“Why I Was Fired” -by David C. Iglesias
Why I Was Fired
By David C. Iglesias
The New York Times
Wednesday 21 March 2007
Albuquerque - With this week’s release of more than 3,000 Justice
Department e-mail messages about the dismissal of eight federal
prosecutors, it seems clear that politics played a role in the ousters.
Of course, as one of the eight, I’ve felt this way for some time. But
now that the record is out there in black and white for the rest of the
country to see, the argument that we were fired for “performance related”
reasons (in the words of Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty) is starting
to look more than a little wobbly.
United States attorneys have a long history of being insulated from
politics. Although we receive our appointments through the political
process (I am a Republican who was recommended by Senator Pete Domenici),
we are expected to be apolitical once we are in office. I will never forget
John Ashcroft, then the attorney general, telling me during the summer of
2001 that politics should play no role during my tenure. I took that
message to heart. Little did I know that I could be fired for not being
political.
Politics entered my life with two phone calls that I received last
fall, just before the November election. One came from Representative
Heather Wilson and the other from Senator Domenici, both Republicans from
my state, New Mexico.
Ms. Wilson asked me about sealed indictments pertaining to a
politically charged corruption case widely reported in the news media
involving local Democrats. Her question instantly put me on guard.
Prosecutors may not legally talk about indictments, so I was evasive.
Shortly after speaking to Ms. Wilson, I received a call from Senator
Domenici at my home. The senator wanted to know whether I was going to file
corruption charges - the cases Ms. Wilson had been asking about - before
November. When I told him that I didn’t think so, he said, “I am very sorry
to hear that,” and the line went dead.
A few weeks after those phone calls, my name was added to a list of
United States attorneys who would be asked to resign - even though I had
excellent office evaluations, the biggest political corruption prosecutions
in New Mexico history, a record number of overall prosecutions and a 95
percent conviction rate. (In one of the documents released this week, I was
deemed a “diverse up and comer” in 2004. Two years later I was asked to
resign with no reasons given.)
When some of my fired colleagues - Daniel Bogden of Las Vegas; Paul
Charlton of Phoenix; H. E. Cummins III of Little Rock, Ark.; Carol Lam of
San Diego; and John McKay of Seattle - and I testified before Congress on
March 6, a disturbing pattern began to emerge. Not only had we not been
insulated from politics, we had apparently been singled out for political
reasons. (Among the Justice Department’s released documents is one
describing the office of Senator Domenici as being “happy as a clam” that I
was fired.)
As this story has unfolded these last few weeks, much has been made of
my decision to not prosecute alleged voter fraud in New Mexico. Without the
benefit of reviewing evidence gleaned from F.B.I. investigative reports,
party officials in my state have said that I should have begun a
prosecution. What the critics, who don’t have any experience as
prosecutors, have asserted is reprehensible - namely that I should have
proceeded without having proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The public has a
right to believe that prosecution decisions are made on legal, not
political, grounds.
What’s more, their narrative has largely ignored that I was one of
just two United States attorneys in the country to create a voter-fraud
task force in 2004. Mine was bipartisan, and it included state and local
law enforcement and election officials.
After reviewing more than 100 complaints of voter fraud, I felt there
was one possible case that should be prosecuted federally. I worked with
the F.B.I. and the Justice Department’s public integrity section. As much
as I wanted to prosecute the case, I could not overcome evidentiary
problems. The Justice Department and the F.B.I. did not disagree with my
decision in the end not to prosecute.
Good has already come from this scandal. Yesterday, the Senate voted
to overturn a 2006 provision in the Patriot Act that allows the attorney
general to appoint indefinite interim United States attorneys. The attorney
general’s chief of staff has resigned and been replaced by a respected
career federal prosecutor, Chuck Rosenberg. The president and attorney
general have admitted that “mistakes were made,” and Mr. Domenici and Ms.
Wilson have publicly acknowledged calling me.
President Bush addressed this scandal yesterday. I appreciate his
gratitude for my service - this marks the first time I have been thanked.
But only a written retraction by the Justice Department setting the record
straight regarding my performance would settle the issue for me.
———
David C. Iglesias was United States attorney for the District of New
Mexico from October 2001 through last month.