Last year, we learned that Senator Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson applied pressure on U.S. Attorney David Iglesias over a pending case. CREW filed ethics complaints against Senator Domenici and Rep. Wilson. A report in today's edition of The Hill about the larger investigations into the firings of the U.S. Attorneys indicates that those investigations may well be underway:

Public records show that the Senate Ethics Committee spent nearly $5,000 to send three staff members to Albuquerque in March and July last year.

According to one source, investigators met last September with Iglesias’s wife, Cindy, who was in the room when Domenici placed the telephone call asking about the status of the investigation. Both Domenici and Wilson have admitted placing phone calls, but deny trying to influence Iglesias or put any political pressure on his investigation.

Last month, the Senate panel’s investigators returned to Albuquerque to interview Iglesias’s former staff members, the source said. With Domenici retiring this Congress, it is unclear whether the panel will take steps against him. These could include public hearings, an admonishment or, in the extreme, expulsion from the Senate. Wilson is seeking to replace Domenici in the Senate.

The investigation remains “open,” according to Natalie Ravitz, spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the ethics committee.

The status of the House ethics committee review is unclear, but the panel has been active. Iglesias met with the panel last year to discuss his firing and his allegation that Wilson put pressure on him to file charges before the election.

Following the Senate ethics committee visit to Albuquerque last month, Justice Department investigators interviewed Iglesias’s former staff, according to a well-placed source.