Monica Goodling's testimony yesterday raised more issues about Sen. Pete Domenici's involvement in the U.S. Attorney firings and prompted the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Brian Colón, to ask Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, for some answers about their contacts with the DOJ and Rove.
An article in today's Albuquerque Tribune reported:
Goodling testified she did not know who put Iglesias on the list of U.S. attorneys fired Dec. 7. But she did reveal that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty covered up Domenici's involvement in a private briefing McNulty had with the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and in a public hearing Feb. 6.
"He thought the senator would prefer to address those concerns privately with his colleagues, and he wanted to give him (Domenici) the opportunity to do that," Goodling said.
At one staff meeting prior to the briefings, one official - she could not remember who - suggested to McNulty that somebody should call Domenici's chief of staff, Steve Bell, "and see if he wanted to address the concerns with his colleagues before the briefing took place."
Goodling did not say whether the call to Bell was made.
In response to Goodling's testimony, the Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Brian Colón, sent a strongly worded letter to Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, demanding that they come clean with New Mexico citizens. Click for page 1 and page 2 (pdf) of Chairman Colón's letter to Senator Domenici. Excerpt:
...In hand-written notes Goodling made in February 2007 that were turned over to the committee and released publicly, Goodling described Iglesias as "in over [his] head," and writes that "Domenici says he doesn’t move cases." Those notes, made after your infamous October 2006 call to Iglesias and your three calls to the Attorney General clearly confirm your involvement in this sordid affair, but they again leave many questions unanswered – the very questions you have refused to answer publicly.
...This scandal has quickly spun into an indictment of the entire Department of Justice and its ability to fairly administer the nation's laws, and you stand squarely in the middle of the vortex. There is no longer any doubt that you were singularly responsible for Mr. Iglesias' firing - the only thing still in question is the manner in which you secured that firing and whether you crossed any ethical or legal lines in the process.
... The Senate Ethics Committee will weigh the legal questions surrounding your role, but in the meantime, you have a larger obligation to the people of New Mexico to finally explain your actions in detail. To that end, I request that you:
- Detail any contacts between you and your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Monica Goodling or other Department of Justice officials such as former Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson.
- Detail any contacts between you or your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Karl Rove and his staff.
If there are emails between your staff and the Department of Justice or White House office of Political Affiars, you owe it to the public to release them. If your executive assistant maintains call logs, a common practice in Senate offices, please release any such call logs noting calls either from or to the Department of Justice or White House.
New Mexicans entrusted you with your office, and there are serious questions whether you abused it to serve the political interests of the Republican Party. You owe it to your constituents to begin clearing the air by answering these questions.
I can't wait to see how Domenici's office responds.
A longer version of this diary is crossposted at Democracy For New Mexico.