Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has filed an ethics complaint against New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici for his attempt to pressure former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to indict a Democrat before November's elections. (Via TPM Muckraker)
CREW’s complaint alleges that Sen. Domenici violated Rule 43 by pressuring Mr. Iglesias to act quickly on a pending corruption investigation. Moreover, given that Sen. Domenici made the call shortly before the November elections, he appears to have violated the prohibition on contacting agencies based on political considerations.
CREW also alleges that by initially denying Mr. Iglesias’s allegation, Sen. Domenici may have violated Senate rules by engaging in "improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate."
Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, stated, "The Senate Ethics Committee should take advantage of the fact that Mr. Iglesias will be in Washington testifying before Congress to convene its own hearing to learn the details of Sen. Domenici’s telephone call." Sloan continued, "If, as it appears, Sen. Domenici pressured a sitting U.S. Attorney to push a criminal case to benefit a political party, the Ethics Committee should take swift and harsh action. No member of Congress can be permitted to manipulate our system of justice for political gain." - CREW press release
The complaint is here (PDF).
It's not just CREW - it seems like every story on Domenici's call has some new ethics expert saying "this guy's in trouble." For instance, from the AP
Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics rules, said Domenici's phone call to Iglesias could have violated Senate ethics rules if there was an element of pressure or coercion to his inquiry.
"It doesn't sound very good to me," Gross said. "But requests for the status of cases are generally considered permissible."
Punishment for such violations range from a warning and reprimand to expulsion from office.
Abbe D. Lowell, a criminal defense lawyer who served as special assistant to the attorney general during the Carter Administration, said it was hard to determine if there was a violation without knowing what Domenici knew about the investigation when he made the call and what exactly he said.
But Lowell added, "The safest course of a member of Congress is not to make inquiries of prosecutors about pending matters so their motives and actions cannot be misunderstood."
Tomorrow the fired U.S. attorneys testify before the House and the Senate - so that's when the action should really start.