Today, CREW asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate whether Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) violated House rules by improperly contacting a sitting U.S. Attorney.

We initially made that request for an ethics investigation of Rep. Wilson in March of 2007.  We're renewing that effort today as the House Ethics Committee took no action.  However, the report released by the U.S. Department of Justice implicates Wilson's role in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, as noted by the Boston Globe:

The report leaves no doubt in the case of David Iglesias, a fired US attorney from New Mexico. Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson, both Republicans, complained to Justice about Iglesias for, in their view, his failure to prosecute allegations of vote fraud and corruption by Democrats. The department tried to hide the true reasons for his removal, the report concluded, with public misstatements and "disingenuous after-the-fact rationalizations."

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, stated:

Reprehensibly, Rep. Wilson attempted to influence the criminal justice process for partisan political gain and then tried to hide her misconduct from public scrutiny.  Now that Rep. Wilson has finally come clean, it is time for the newly reconstituted House ethics committee to prove it is not merely a paper tiger and take swift action. Anything less undermines our criminal justice system.

Here's the background:

The U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, David C. Iglesias has stated that, in mid-October of 2006, two members of Congress from New Mexico pressured him about an ongoing corruption probe of state Democrats. Apparently, Rep. Wilson first called Mr. Iglesias and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) called a week later. After Sen. Dominici admitted calling Mr. Iglesias, yesterday, Rep. Wilson finally admitted that she too had called the U.S. Attorney.

Rep. Wilson’s call to Mr. Iglesias violates chapter 7 of the House ethics manual, which prohibits members from contacting executive or agency officials regarding the merits of matters under their formal consideration. House rules also state that if a member wants to affect the outcome of a matter in litigation, the member’s can file a brief with the court, make a floor statement, or insert a statement into the Congressional Record. Directly calling officials to influence an on-going enforcement matter is not an option.

House rules also state that a member may not claim he or she was merely requesting “background information” or a “status report” because the House has recognized that such requests “may in effect be an indirect or subtle effort to influence the substantive outcome of the proceedings.”

Rep. Wilson’s conduct may also violate the requirement that members conduct themselves in a manner that “reflects creditably on the House.” In a precedent cited by the House ethics committee when it admonished former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), the House has held that members are prohibited from asking an executive branch employee to engage in an activity having an impermissible political purpose.

CREW’s complaint alleges Rep. Wilson contacted Mr. Iglesias to discuss an ongoing investigative matter for the impermissible political purpose of harming Democrats in the November elections.

Tomorrow, New Mexico Republicans will choose their nominee in the Senate race to replace retiring Pete Domenici:

Just two days before the primary in New Mexico, Rep. Steve Pearce is leading Rep. Heather A. Wilson in the battle for the Republican nomination to replace Republican Sen. Pete V. Domenici .

An Albuquerque Journal poll released Sunday showed Pearce with 45 percent support and Wilson with 39 percent. Sixteen percent of respondents were undecided and the margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Domenici on Friday finally emerged from the background and threw his support behind Wilson, his longtime protegee, but analysts wonder if it came too late to give her much bounce.

We want to point out that all three of these New Mexico politicos, Domenici, Pearce and Wilson, made CREW's list of most corrupt members of Congress in our report, Beyond DeLay.

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.

The Hill is reporting that Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) is planning to run for the Senate seat held by retiring Pete Domenici.   Both Wilson and Domenici were named to CREW's list of the most corrupt members of Congress.

Here's how Rep. Wilson earned that distinction:

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) is a sixth-term member of Congress, representing the first district of New Mexico. Her ethics issues stem from improperly contacting a sitting U.S. Attorney.

Improper contact with U.S. Attorney

The former U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico, David Iglesias, stated that, in mid-October 2006, two members of Congress from New Mexico pressured him about an ongoing corruption probe of state Democrats. Apparently, Rep. Wilson first called Mr. Iglesias and Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) called a week later. After Sen. Domenici admitted that he called Mr. Iglesias, Rep. Wilson finally admitted that she too had called the U.S. Attorney.

By contacting Mr. Iglesias about an ongoing investigation, whether to pressure him -- as he believed -- or merely to request a status report, Rep. Wilson violated House rules and her conduct does not reflect creditably on the House.

Besides California and Alaska, New Mexico was also a major contributor to this year's "Beyond DeLay."  Three of the state's five member delegation were named to our list of the most corrupt members of Congress as the Santa Fe New Mexican reports:

Corruption list: The three Republican members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation made a nonprofit organization’s list of what it considers the 22 most corrupt members of Congress.

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and U.S. Reps. Heather Wilson and Steve Pearce were included in the third annual “Beyond DeLay” report by a Washington, D.C., group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.

Domenici and Wilson were included for making phone calls to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias — calls that Iglesias interpreted as pressure to bring corruption charges against a prominent Democrat, former state Sen. Manny Aragon of Albuquerque, before the 2006 election. This allegedly would have helped Wilson in her close re-election contest with Madrid. (Aragon eventually was charged, earlier this year, with several felony counts.) Both Domenici and Wilson repeatedly have denied they tried to pressure Iglesias.

CREW earlier this year filed complaints against Domenici and Wilson over the Iglesias matter.

As for Pearce, CREW alleges the congressman from Southern New Mexico failed to report the 2003 sale of the assets of Lea Fishing Tools Inc., of which he was president, on his financial disclosure statements.

CREW also criticized Pearce for backing a plan to open Southern New Mexico’s Otero Mesa to oil-and-gas drilling while taking more than $78,000 in campaign contributions from the Yates family — which is involved in the oil business and traditionally is a big GOP contributor in the state.

A Pearce spokesman released a statement that said: “They don’t have their facts correct. Rep. Pearce filed an accurate financial disclosure statement and all of Mr. Pearce’s assets and transactions were correctly reported as law required. There has been no violation of the Ethics in Government Act and Mr. Pearce stands by the documents on record. ... It is appalling that a group which claims to promote ethics and accountability would publish outright lies.”

A central player in the U.S. Attorneys firings, David Iglesias, reports he is being interviewed by the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Ethics Committee today.  Iglesias was called by Rep. Heather Wilson last fall.  That revelation prompted CREW to ask for an ethics investigation of Wilson.  Apparently, an ethics investigation is underway based on today's The Albuquerque Tribune:

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of Albuquerque will be interviewed by the staff of the House Ethics Committee on July 31, the first sign that the committee might actually consider whether Rep. Heather Wilson violated House ethics rules by calling Iglesias about a pending investigation.

Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, has not been notified of any investigation and has not hired an attorney, according to her press spokesman, Joel Hannahs. That would indicate that the Ethics Committee has not appointed a panel of members to sit as an investigating subcommittee, the first step in any formal investigation.

Iglesias said he was told he would be interviewed by the committee's chairwoman, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat, and its ranking Republican, Doc Hastings of Washington.

Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, also an Albuquerque Republican, each called Iglesias in October to ask about a pending investigation of courthouse construction contracts that involved former Democratic state Sen. Manny Aragon.

Iglesias, who was fired Dec. 7, has testified that Domenici asked him whether indictments would be issued soon and that Wilson asked him for there were any "sealed" indictments. Both calls were placed before the Nov. 7 election, in which Wilson faced a strong challenge from Democrat Patricia Madrid.

Seattle Times columnist Kate Riley asks a question today that CREW often asks: 

Where is the House of Representatives ethics probe of the suspiciously over-the-line attempts by House members to influence U.S. attorneys in politically charged cases?

She also has the right answer:

Don't hold your breath. 

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) should be facing investigations by the House Ethics Committee, but they're not.  And Ms. Riley knows why: 

So here we are, two months after the prosecutors, under subpoena, revealed to Congress these inappropriate phone calls. The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington formally asked both the Senate and House ethics committees to probe all three incidents. The Senate acted almost immediately on CREW's complaint.

Different rules, written and unwritten, apply in the House. The ethics committee — formally the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct — does not act on outside complaints like CREW's. It acts on member complaints or outside complaints forwarded by members.

Interestingly, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., called for a House ethics investigation soon after the revelation. Nice sound bite, but he apparently has not filed a complaint of his own. Now, that would be real leadership.

The House ethics committee also can initiate its own investigation. That's not likely either, considering Hastings continues as ranking Republican on the committee split evenly with five Democrats and five Republicans.

Even though the Democrats have taken over control of the House, the ethics committee, notoriously indolent under Republican control, including Hastings' chairmanship, appears hopelessly stuck.

CREW's Executive Director Melanie Sloan sent a letter to the Chairwoman, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, and Ranking Minority Member, Doc Hastings, of the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (the Ethics Committee) asking them to clarify the rules governing the contact between members of Congress and U.S. Attorneys. The letter and our news release can be found here.

The recent controversy surrounding the firing of U.S. Attorneys has exposed several incidents of contact between members of Congress contacting prosecutors.  One member of Congress, Darrell Issa (R-CA), actually put his contact in writing. Rep. Issa sent a letter to San Diego's U.S. attorney, Carol Lam requesting information regarding the arrest and subsequent release of a man described by Rep. Issa as “an alien smuggler with a long criminal record.” He was very open about that direct contact -- as if there was really nothing wrong with interfering with an on-going case.  The Congressman has publicly released and discussed the letter.

Others members have been more secretive about contacting sitting U.S. Attorneys -- including Rep. Heather Wilson and Rep. Doc Hastings (yes, that same Ranking Minority Member of the Ethics Committee).  According to CREW's analysis, these members violated House Rules and CREW has asked the Ethics Committee to investigate Rep. Wilson and Rep. Hastings and Ed Cassidy, Hasting's former Chief of Staff

There is no question that House members need the policy clarified as soon as possible.  CREW wants the Ethics Committee to put the policy in writing:

Given the recent public attention to the issue of political pressure on U.S. Attorneys and the apparent confusion of members of Congress as to how best interact with U.S. Attorneys, the [Ethics] Committee should prepare and distribute an advisory memoranda clarifying the rules governing such contacts.

Last week's testimony by Kyle Sampson, former Chief of Staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, renewed questions about the role played by Senator Pete Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson in the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, The Hill reports. In what appear to be violations of the ethics rules in their respective chambers, both of those members of Congress called Iglesias about a pending case. CREW has asked for ethics committee investigations of Domenici and Wilson. Sampson's testimony reinforces our argument that ethics violations occurred:

Under intense Democratic questioning during the hearing, Sampson admitted that he regretted placing Iglesias’s name on the list of those slated for dismissal. He also said Gonzales had informed him that he had received a complaint from Rove that three U.S. attorneys, including Iglesias, were not doing enough to pursue voter-fraud cases. Justice Department e-mails and Sampson’s testimony also show that sometime between Oct. 17 and Election Day, Iglesias’s name was added to the list along with three names that were redacted in the e-mails.

Domenici and Wilson, who was running in a tight reelection race, called Iglesias just a few weeks prior to the Nov. 7 election. Iglesias said they called to inquire about whether he was going to issue indictments in a pending high-profile corruption investigation involving a Democrat in New Mexico, a line of questioning he said was both improper and threatening.

Domenici and Wilson dispute the nature of the calls; the Senate Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the matter, while members of the House ethics panel have refused to comment on whether they’ve launched a probe.

“There’s a lot that we don’t know yet between when Sen. Domenici hung up the phone and when David Iglesias was fired,” said Steve Dettelbach, a former federal prosecutor who is now a partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP. Dettelbach served as counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) from 2001 to 2003 and spent 15 years as a career prosecutor at the Department of Justice under both the Clinton and Bush administrations.

The House Ethics Committee investigation cannot proceed without a complaint filed by a sitting member. Unfortunately, to date, that has not happened.

The Associated Press takes a look at the ethics controversy swirling around Senator Pete Domenici: 

Revelations that Domenici phoned one of the ousted U.S. attorneys and complained to President Bush and the Justice Department about him helped touch off a larger congressional investigation into the firings, which has embarrassed the administration, threatened the job of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and sparked a showdown between the White House and Congress over whether Bush's aides should have to testify.

Domenici, who faces re-election next fall, is dealing with troubling consequences of his own.

He's under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee after a watchdog group accused him of trying to pressure David Iglesias, then the U.S. attorney in Albuquerque, N.M., to rush a corruption probe against Democrats in an effort to sway the 2006 elections.

This analysis from a New Mexico political scientist says a lot about the state of ethics on Capitol Hill last year:

Garcia said some believe the senator "maybe got a little careless," after several years of Republican domination of the White House and both chambers of Congress.

"A little careless"?  Or interfering with an ongoing prosecution?  At least in the US Senate, an ethics investigation is underway.