Attorney-Gate Probe Continues at Justice.

By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t Report
Monday 31 January 2007

The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is attempting to build a case of misconduct against Alberto Gonzales by showing that the former attorney general may have played a hands-on role in ousting former New Mexico US Attorney David Iglesias based on pressure he received from former White House political adviser Karl Rove, according to several individuals familiar with the agency's probe.
Succumbing to improper political pressure in firing a US attorney would constitute a violation of Justice Department policy.

Recently, the OPR contacted Iglesias's former executive assistant, Rumaldo Armijo, to interview him about whether he was pressured by Pat Rogers, a Republican attorney in Albuquerque, and Mickey Barnett, a Republican lobbyist, to bring charges of voter fraud against Democrats in the state, individuals with knowledge of the scope of the OPR probe said.

Rogers was affiliated with the American Center for Voting Rights, a now defunct non-profit organization that sought to defend voter rights and increase public confidence in the fairness and outcome of elections. However, it has since emerged that the organization played a major role in suppressing the votes of people who intended to cast ballots for Democrats in various states. Rogers is also the former chief counsel to the New Mexico state Republican party, and was tapped by Sen. Pete Domenici (R-New Mexico) to replace Iglesias as US Attorney for New Mexico.

Domenici also played an instrumental role in Iglesias's firing, and is currently the subject of a Senate Ethics Committee probe for allegedly trying to pressure Iglesias into filing indictments against a Democratic New Mexico official who was the subject of a corruption investigation prior to the November 2006 midterm election.

Armijo, who was unavailable for comment, was in charge of issues related to voter fraud in New Mexico. Iglesias, who in an interview with Truthout earlier this year said he launched a in-depth investigation into claims of voter fraud in the state and found the allegations baseless, believes that his firing was due partly to the fact that he would not file criminal charges of voter fraud against individuals in New Mexico.

Armijo has spoken to the OPR once before about numerous telephone calls and emails dating back to 2005 he received from Rogers related to voter fraud, and Iglesias's alleged failure to investigate the matter while Iglesias was US attorney, sources familiar with the investigation said.

Contacted via email, Rogers said he could not comment at this time.

The OPR is one of two DOJ agencies investigating the ouster of at least nine US attorneys last year and whether partisan politics played a role in the firings. A DOJ spokeswoman said the Justice Department does not comment on ongoing internal investigations. More from Truthout.