A Washington Post blog picked up the story as well. Still haven't heard if this is more widespread. Anybody have word on similar ads elsewhere attacking fired USAs?
Local college/community radio station KUNM-FM also picked up the story on their morning broadcast. The Santa Fe New Mexican picked up an AP story on the ad as well.
Here's the full text of the Tribune story, with permission.
Radio ad runs one day, says it's obvious why Iglesias was fired
By Michael Gisick (Contact)
Thursday, March 29, 2007
A New Mexico group with Republican ties has launched a radio ad attacking former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, the Republican appointee now at the center of a national controversy over fired federal prosecutors.
The ad, which ran Wednesday on KKOB-AM (770) and was paid for by a group called New Mexicans for Honest Courts, criticizes Iglesias' job performance and says it's "obvious" why Iglesias was fired.
It focuses on Iglesias' handling of a major public corruption case and says Iglesias "did nothing" about voter fraud allegations in 2004.
Both have become central talking points for state Republicans as they seek to rebuff Iglesias' claim that he was fired because he resisted pressure to rush a corruption probe said to involve prominent New Mexico Democrats ahead of last year's Nov. 7 election.
That case, which is still pending, reportedly focuses on the construction of Albuquerque's Metro Court. It is not mentioned in the ad.
"Iglesias brags he won a huge corruption case, but he cut sweetheart deals with most involved, and lost 23 of 24 counts at trial," a female announcer says, referring to the 2006 corruption trial of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil.
A chorus of voices then chimes in with: "Not guilty!"
The ad also claims Iglesias took dozens of taxpayer-funded junkets around the world and says the prosecutor, who is Hispanic, is now "trying to play the race card" over his dismissal.
On Wednesday, Iglesias said the ad "has the flavor of a full-blown campaign, of a one-minute attack ad."
He added: "I'm an unemployed former appointee who is not running for anything."
Iglesias said the ad was probably a response to a radio spot earlier this month paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That ad called on U.S. Rep Heather Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, to answer questions about her possible role in Iglesias' firing.
Iglesias said he had nothing to do with the Democratic committee's ad.
He said he had never claimed he was fired because he is Hispanic, and said the only trips he took while U.S. attorney were either part of his Naval Reserve duty or at the invitation of the Justice Department. One, he said, was a trip with other border attorneys to Colombia - "hardly a garden spot," he said.
Iglesias has previously cited trips to Colombia and Mexico as among his proudest moments during his tenure.
During an interview with The Tribune earlier this month, Iglesias questioned the political wisdom of firing a prosecutor who is a "Hispanic, evangelical veteran," but hasn't otherwise publicly linked race to his ouster.
Iglesias, who was repeatedly praised by the Justice Department in 2004 and 2005, has defended the result of the Vigil trial, saying the three-year prison sentence the ex-treasurer received on his single conviction was an appropriate punishment.
New Mexicans for Honest Courts, the group running the ad, was founded in 2004 by Linda Chavez Krumland, a Roswell businesswoman and prominent Republican donor.
According to campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Elections Commission, Krumland has given $13,500 to Republican candidates or committees in New Mexico since 2002, including $2,000 to Wilson and $10,900 to U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce of Hobbs.
She also served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2004.
Her husband, Tom Krumland, the owner of Roswell Toyota, has donated $7,650 to Pearce and $500 to Wilson since 2002.
Messages left for Linda Krumland at the Roswell dealership were not returned Wednesday.
New Mexicans for Honest Courts has brought in $5,840 in donations since it was founded in 2004, according to the Secretary of State's Office Web site. Of that, $2,000 came from Linda Krumland.
KKOB Public Affairs Director Art Ortega said the ad was only slated for a one-day run on Wednesday. The ad has been posted on the group's Web site along with an appeal for donations.
Charlotte Lane, a spokeswoman for the state Republican Party, said the party wasn't behind the ad and that she only learned of it when she heard it on the radio.
"I have to applaud the sentiment, but I had nothing to do with it," Lane said.
U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, an Albuquerque Republican, "in no way, shape or form knew about this advertisement or this group," spokesman Chris Gallegos said.
Wilson spokesman Enrique Carlos Knell said Wilson had nothing to do with the ad, either, and didn't know it existed until she received media inquiries.
State Democratic Party Executive Director Matt Farrauto called the ad "a desperation, diversionary tactic to distract from Wilson and Domenici's potentially illegal actions."
Iglesias testified before Congress earlier this month that Wilson and Domenici called him about the courthouse case last fall. Iglesias said he believes he was fired at their urging because he refused to push indictments that could have helped Wilson in her hard-fought re-election campaign against former state Attorney General Patricia Madrid.
Both Wilson and Domenici have denied pressuring Iglesias, though both have acknowledged calling him.
Combined with the firings of other U.S. attorneys, Iglesias' allegations have touched off a political firestorm in Washington, with Democrats saying they constitute an unprecedented political purge of the federal judiciary.
Members of Congress from both parties have sharply criticized the White House and Justice Department for providing shifting and at times false explanations for the firings, leading to increasing calls for the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
Former Gonzales Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson, who resigned this month, is expected to testify today in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.