Republicans Respond to Corruption Indictments

770KKOB is still trying to determine Rebecca Vigil-Giron's employment status with the state's Workforce Solution's Department following her indictment on 50 Felony counts involving the accounting of $6 million in Help America Voter Act [HAVA] award money.

I spoke to Vigil-Giron on her cell phone just before lunch about her employment status. She told me she had just left her attorney's office and was directed not to talk to the press. She did ask us "to pray" for her.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the state's Republican Party, Harvey Yates Jr., isn't wasting any time responding to a state grand jury's indictment of former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron:

Unfortunately, yesterday's indictment of a Richardson-Denish administration political appointee and former elected Democrat official, along with more mainstays of the Democrat political machine, is this month’s reminder that this state is headed in the wrong direction.

Chairman Yates said political corruption in the state needs to be stopped:

The pattern of corrupt behavior and inept management exhibited by prominent Democrat public servants, while becoming routine, has got to stop. I congratulate the attorney general for joining the fight against corruption; it is not easy to take on one’s own party.

Vigil-Giron’s indictment is one of several scandals currently plaguing Democrat politicians. In addition to Manny Aragon’s departure to prison (June) and the indictments of PRC Commissioners Jerome Block Jr. and Jerome Block Sr. (April), other notable scandals including the indictment of Vincent "Smiley" Gallegos, a former lawmaker and regional housing director, and the convictions of former State Senate President Pro-tem Manny Aragon, Joe Ruiz, a Deputy Insurance Superintendent, and State Treasurers Michael Montoya and Robert Vigil.

Of course the state Republicans are running for cover with legal battles of their own. Democrats want to know if former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici and Congresswoman Heather Wilson interfered with or obstructed justice before the White House firing of Assistant U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and eight other prosecutors.

Chairman Yates statement concludes with:

Along with New Mexicans statewide, we look forward to the Democrats’ account of ‘every last nickel that was spent’ of voter education funding entrusted to the former secretary of state.

NM GOP Candidate for Governor, Dona Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez, also responded to the fraud, embezzlement and money laundering indictments:

[This is] a sad reminder that for too long public officials in New Mexico have used elected office to serve themselves as opposed to serving the public who entrusted them to lead our state. Corruption and misuse of taxpayer dollars and public funds are simply inexcusable and those responsible should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. As we move forward in examining the records of candidates seeking our state’s highest-elected office, it is critically important voters match rhetoric with action, and support someone who has a track record of identifying fraud and corruption and rooting it out. New Mexicans deserve to have faith and confidence that elected officials in state government are conducting themselves with integrity and honesty.

Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, who is also running for Governor, has not issued a public statement, although she did talk to our blogging colleague Heath Haussamen.

Audio Post: Iglesias Says Wilson's Email Proves He Was Fired For Not Playing Ball.

Photo Credit: MG Bralley -- Audio Credit: Pat Allen On Tuesday in Washington, DC, the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by John Coneyrs, released thousands of pages of interview transcripts around the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico and eight others.

But, Wilson is blasting the committee's report. She says her email simply dealt with media leaks from an FBI investigation centered around Pennsylvania Congressman Curt Weldon.

The documents suggest an email from then Congresswoman Heather Wilson began a chain of emails in which, according to the committee, Iglesias was criticized for not bringing forward public corruption and voter fraud cases in the run up to the whisker close 2006 Election between Rep. Wilson and then New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid.

But Wilson's email never mentions Iglesias.

UPDATED: Wilson released a statement and notes, including the entire email, on her Facebook page.

Wilson, who has been considering running for governor in New Mexico next year, responded to the committee's report. She told 770KKOB News Director Pat Allen the committee deliberately mis-characterized her October 2006 email.



While the email does not mention then U.S. Attorney David Iglesias directly, the committee's report says Jennings forward Wilson's email to Rove with a note complaining that Iglesias had been "shy about doing his job on Madrid," who appears to have been under investigation for work she did with a political action committee, Justice for America

A day after the Wilson's email was released she told us:

The documents released yesterday confirm that I had no contact with the Administration about Mr. Iglesias until after the decision was made to fire him.

Wilson said at the time she believed it was possible "we would see a similar leak from law enforcement concerning Mrs. Madrid and that we could be asked by the media to comment on it:

My staff had contingency press guidance that, if asked, we would confirm that we had received an inquiry from the FBI about Attorney General Madrid and we were cooperating with law enforcement. The recipients of my email knew about the FBI inquiry and the contingency press guidance.

Wilson said the email to her staff, and Sen. Domenici's Chief of Staff Steve Bell, was intended to be "a heads up" to them. Wilson said because the investigation was not leaked, and did not become public, she didn't commented on her email until September 2008.

Iglesias Claims Reports Totally Vindicates Him

David Iglesias, has long contented he was a victim of a political witch hunt by state Republican leaders.

Iglesias tells 770KKOB that there was never any performance issues. He says they wanted to politicize U.S. Attorneys which the law can not allow. He says he wishes the White House would have shot straight with the American people.



Iglesias says he wanted to remain politically independent once he was in the office, and was punished for not playing ball.

Iglesias called from Washington, D.C. He's back on active duty in the Navy, working as a JAG on the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases and says it's the most challenging work of his career.


The Judiciary Committee's report also criticized former U.S. Senator Pete Domenici who allegedly asked Bush's Chief of Staff Josh Bolten to have Iglesias replaced. The report says, in October 2006 Domenici stepped up his campaign to have Iglesias replaced. And, according to White House phone logs and emails, as well as Rove's own testimony, Domenici spoke with Bolten about Iglesias as late as October 5th and four other times the same month.

Blogger Heath Haussamen reports Conyers, D-Mich., said the documents, which include e-mails and transcripts of testimony from Rove and Harriet Miers, prove that “Karl Rove and his cohorts at the Bush White House were the driving force behind several of these firings, which were done for improper reasons.”

“When Mr. Iglesias said his firing was a ‘political fragging,’ he was right,” Conyers said in a news release.

The committee's reports are available online for the public's review.

Pouncing on Criminals: District Attorney Kari Brandenburg Makes A Compelling Argument for a 3rd Term.

The 2nd Judicial District Attorney, Democrat Kari Brandenburg, sailed to election victories in 2000 and 2004. This year, despite a coordinated attack by a serious Republican opponent, Brandenburg is making the case for re-election.

The District Attorney told us her office seeks justice and applies the law equally to everyone while developing partnerships with law enforcement, the courts, and attorneys.

Brandenburg has received the endorsement of all the top law enforcement associations, including the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputies Association, The Chicano Police Officer's Association and the APOA.

Take a moment to listen to her speak about her qualifications, program successes and goals for a third term here.



During the interview, Brandenburg explains her Early Case Resolution program and how it is holding criminals immediately accountable, the mether initiative, and her office's felony DWI conviction rate. Brandenburg says she's got a 95% conviction rate in Felony DWI cases and the lowest dismissal rate in the state.

Brandenburg, who supports the death penalty, also talks about her victory, earlier this year, in district court, against the Capital Jury Project. That group tried to get the death penalty thrown out of consideration in accused deputy killer Michael Paul Astoraga's case. The matter is now being appealed to the state's Supreme Court.

Since becoming district attorney in Bernalillo County Brandenburg says she's developed programs and partnership with law enforcement agencies including an Auto Theft Task Force. the courts and defense attorneys. She's proud of the $6.2 million in grant money awarded to her office, but say's if she's re-elected she'll go back to Santa Fe in January (during the legislature) to get even more resources for her busy office.

Brandenburg also tells us why she believes her office, and the court, made the right decision in offering a controversial plea deal to former Marine Elton John Richard.

Finally Brandenburg speaks out on the alleged voter registration fraud and her involvement in referring some cases directly to former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

Darren White Provides Documentation in Voter Fraud Investigation

Timing is everything, and by high noon on Monday Democratic Congressional Candidate Martin Heinrich decided the time was right to take a shot at his Republican opponent Darren White, who's named turned up in this Department of Justice’s report filed two years after nine U.S Attorney Generals were summarily fired.

But, by sunset, the two-term Sheriff had fired back with his own questions about Heinrich's integrity.

Heinrich claims White “is knee deep in one of the largest scandals in the history of the DOJ and he needs to come clean immediately to the voters of Central New Mexico about his role in the potentially illegal firing of U.S. Attorneys,” because his name is mentioned in the 300+ page joint report from the DOJ's Inspector General and Office of Professional Responsibility.

But the question is did Heinrich pounce too quickly?

White says, "I don't think I ever talked to David," about potential voter fraud, White said. "I just sent him a letter."

Keep in mind, White is the second top law enforcement officer in Bernalillo County responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes, including voter fraud.

In a press release from Heinrich, White is criticized for passing along information about potential criminal activity to the US Attorney.

"This scandal clearly demonstrates Darren White is anything but an independent voice for New Mexico and the voters of central New Mexico will see him for the partisan hack that he is," Heinrich said.

However, White said he told Justice Department investigators everything he knew about possible voter fraud, describing how he had forwarded information to Iglesias. He disputed Heinrich's allegation that he acted improperly.

"I was just doing my job," White said.

Heinrich’s staff lifted this quote from the Albuquerque Journal that has already by retracted by the paper’s editor:

White earlier admitted he had complained to both Attorney General Gonzales' Chief of Staff at the Department of Justice and Senator Pete Domenici about Iglesias, who subsequently said that White was part of "a political chorus that got to Pete Domenici." [Albuquerque Journal, 4/15/07, 4/19/07]

But the White campaign quickly released this unedited letter from Albuquerque Journal Editor Ken Walz to White retracting some of the reporting:

Sheriff White:

I have reviewed our David Iglesias stories with investigative reporter Mike Gallagher.

It appears that in a story published April 15, 2007, we incorrectly placed you in a convesation [conversation] with Kyle Sampson of DOJ during a meeting in the spring of 2006. We reported that you complained to Sampson about Iglesias and that Sampson produced statistics showing Iglesias was doing a good job.

In fact, based on other reporting, it appears to us the participants in that conversation with Sampson were Pat Rogers and Mickey Barnett and that you were not present.

Your [You] met with Sampson in 2005 on a different topic, although Iglesi [Iglesais] as came up during casual discussion. We have no information that you registered complaints about Iglesias during that meeting.

We did interview you for the story published in April of 2007, and you commented on other matters involving direct dealings between Iglesias and youir [your] office. We no longer have notes from this period, so we cannot cite to additional specifics.

Kent Walz

cc: Mike Gallagher

The Word also received this letter (click on image to the left to read the orginal) sent from Sheriff Darren White to US Attorney David Iglesias asking him to investigate voter fraud.

White says he sent Iglesias the letter after receiving a complaint from a mother about her underage child being fraudulently registered to vote, and after he consulted with the Democrat County Clerk Mary Herrera. In the letter White says he's "writing to bring to your attention potential inconsistencies with certain voter registration within Bernalillo County.


White informs Iglesias, "I'm referring the documentation to your office [U.S. Attorney] for investigation under federal law. The letter says copies of voter registration forms with "several potential problems are included."

We also obtained this copy of a letter from David Iglesias thanking White for his correspondence and confirms he has sent the referral to a task force. To read Iglesias letter click the image to the left.

In this transcript from the Albuquerque Journal Article Herrera clearly tells the reporter she'd like a federal investigation into problem voter cards:

County Clerk Mary Herrera said she is also getting forms that are only partially completed. When a clerk's employee calls the voter to fill in the blanks, the person sometimes says he or she never filled out the form, Herrera said. She said she, too, wants the U.S. Attorney's Office or state prosecutors to get involved. "We have a pile (of forms) that we are questioning," Herrera said in an interview. "They're just suspicious."

White's own campaign says if Heinrich wants to criticize the Sheriff for passing along information about potential criminal activity to the US Attorney, the question voters should really start asking is what would Heinrich do in the same situation?

Photo Credit: MG Bralley

UPDATE -10:06PM

Progressive blogger NMFBI HOP posted a U-tube video here featuring an interview with David Iglesias commenting on the Bern Co Sheriff at one of his "In Justice" book signings.

Updated with Audio: David Iglesias, A Fired U.S. Attorney, Hopes Subpoena Power Helps Special Prosecutor Find "Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt."

Former US Attorney David Iglesias tells The Word he hopes a special prosecutor appointed by Attorney General Michael Mukasey will use subpoena powers to overcome roadblocks encountered by the U.S. Justice Department.

"I've been telling people for two years that my firing was illegal," said Iglesias, from the Saint Anselm College campus in New Hampshire.

A report released Monday singles out the removal of New Mexico's former U.S. Attorney as the most troubling of the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys in late 2006.

The Word tracked Iglesias down this morning. He tells us, "The special prosecutor will have more authority to investigate the firings." Iglesias says he supports the move.

"It was the next logical step. We've never had proof beyond a reaonable doubt."

UPDATED - 6:15PM

770KKOB News Director Pat Allen recorded a 2nd telephone interview with Mr. Iglesias. The former Navy Jag, told Allen, this investigation will be complicated, but he believes even the "high and mighty" face consequences.



On Monday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey appointed a prosecutor Monday to pursue possible criminal charges against Republicans who were involved in the firings.Mukasey's action follows the leading recommendation of the Justice Department report. That probe harshly criticized Bush administration officials, members of Congress and their aides for the ousters, which were seen by many as politically motivated.

The report states Republican political figures in New Mexico --including Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson --had complained about Iglesias' handling of voter fraud and public corruption cases. The report states those complaints led to his firing.

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility director Marshall Jarrett said that a prosecutor is needed because serious allegations involving potential criminal conduct have not been fully investigated or resolved.

Iglesias is lecturing at Saint Anselm College (the site of Presidential debates). He's been on tour promoting his book, In Justice: The Scandal That Rocked the Bush Administration since the first week in June.

He was invited by University of New Mexico Professor David Albright and will lecture students at a Business Ethics class this week. Iglesias did not know how many book have been sold, but told us the tour will end next month, on October 9th, at Yale University.

Tripp Jennings has more on this story at the New Mexico Independent.

And you can read the complete Department of Justice report online here.

UPDATED - 3:50pm

Visit page 188 in the report (linked above) to read details outlining the possible involvement by several high ranking New Mexico Republicans. Iglesias has accused Senator Pete Domenici, Rep. Heather Wilson, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White, Mickey Barnett and Pat Rogers of requesting the White House fire Iglesias for prolonging voter fraud investigations and delaying indictments in the Bernalillo County Metro Courthouse construction corruption trial.

UPDATED - 4:00pm

Sen. Pete Domenici's attorney K. Lee Black has just released a statement regarding the report.

Domenici's lawyer says: The report is complete with innuendos that pass as findings. He also claims the six-term retiring Senator offered to respond to questions in writing during the report's compilation.

Black writes:

The Senate Ethics Committee has already investigated and rejected the allegation that Senator Domenici may have obstructed or otherwise interfered with an ongoing criminal investigation.

After an exhaustive review, taking sworn testimony from numerous witnesses and reviewing thousands of pagers of documents in the process, the Ethics Committee found “not substantial evidence that [Senator Domenici] attempted to improperly influence an ongoing investigation.” Indeed, even Mr. Iglesias himself has conceded that Senator Domenici did not attempt to obstruct his investigations, “I doubt [Senator Domenici] called me to interfere with the courthouse cases” and the Senator “never directly pressured me to take action” on voter fraud cases

To read the rest of the statement click on the photo image to the left.

Iglesias told Heather Clark with the Associated Press he thinks criminal investigations should be pursued against Domenici, Wilson and anyone else who may have broken federal criminal laws.

I've said all along that these moves were improper and illegal and now it appears that they were criminal as well.

Our complaints weren't just complaints of disgruntled former employees.

Photo Credit: MG Bralley

The Word is: It's NOT Over!

Former United States Attorney David Iglesias got straight to "to the point" as he addressed 300 people at the Albuquerque Academy. His new book, In Justice: Inside the Scandal That Rocked the Bush Administration, is scheduled to be released nationally on June 2nd.

Iglesias' local supporters were the first to get a copy of the hardcover "tell all" during a brief lecture on May 18tth at the Albuquerque Academy when Page 1 hosted his first book signing. The event came less than a month after six-term U.S. Senator Pete Domenici received a written admonition from the Senate Ethics committee. On Sunday, May 25, 2008, Iglesias told NY Times Magazine reporter Deborah Solomon he's a disillusioned Republican, and he that believes Domenici's punishment was "a roughly fair result."

The wrist-slap was for the senator's telephone call to Iglesias in October 2006, less than a month before the closely contested Congressional District 1 (NM) race between incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson (R) and Attorney General Patricia Madrid (D). Domenici allegedly wanted to know if voter-fraud cases were going to be prosecuted in the State of New Mexico.

Iglesias has always claimed prosecutors, who have the power to take life, liberty and property, must remain independent of the political process. He told the crowd there are still five on-going investigations involving "attorney gate." He stressed his book is not about losing his job 18 months ago; rather, Iglesias, reminded the crowd, the scandal is about "the separation of powers and the rule of law."

Cindi Iglesias says what happened to her husband is unconscionable and inexcusable. And, Iglesias told supporters he's speaking out because the scales of justice need to be blind.

Before signing individual books, Iglesias told the the crowd his firing was a life altering event, and he was infuriated when he heard supervisors lie to congress about the nature of his firing. The crowd roared with laughter after he said if he could go back in time he'd tell Heather Wilson, "You'll be sorry," referencing her telephone call to his office inquiring about sealed indictments. He says Wilson apologized, but continues to spin the truth during her U.S. Senate primary campaign. Iglesias admits he should have called Washington to report the two congressional inquiries immediately.

He says his coming forward isn't about what's Right or Left, but what's Right and Wrong. The crowd cheered when they learned Karl Rove may have a legal target on his back for his role in Iglesias' firing. Rove who has been speaking publicly, and on cable television about the matter, has been held in contempt by the U.S. Senate for failure to appear. Rove claims executive privilege, but the President says he was never involved in any discussions with U.S. Attorneys; so, it's doubtful the privilege extends to Rove. He has also been served a subpoena from Congressman John Conyers to testify on July 10, 2008.

Check out the book and listen to Iglesias' account of the scandal.

Photos: MG Bralley