The Daily Background

The WaPo is set to report tomorrow that “Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) hired a top defense attorney to handle a related probe by the Senate ethics committee, which is investigating allegations that he pressured a New Mexico prosecutor to bring indictments against a Democrat just before the November elections.”

Domenici (pictured right with the President) of course is the Republican Senator who personally called US Attorney David Iglesias to hurry up investigations of New Mexico Democrats in a corruption probe. Iglesias said testified in Congress this week that he “felt sick” after the Senator called him at his home one night and pressured him to exbidite indictments “in time for November” last October ahead of the midterm elections.

Iglesias was fired a few months in a seemingly-political move after not hurrying up his investigations, despite favorable job reviews. Half a dozen other prosecutors (mostly Republicans themselves) have also been fired by the White House in suspiciously political situations.

So, what “top defense attorney” did Domenici hire to defend himself? None other than the attorney who “defended” Duke Cunningham against corruption charges in 2005. And by “defended,” I mean, convinced him to ‘fess up and plead guilty in order to only serve 8 years, four months in prison (plus 1.8 million dollars in fines).

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