Ex-GOP aide wants probe of Democrats

WASHINGTON, March 8 (UPI) -- A former top aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is accusing Democrats of using threats to convince a lobbying firm not to hire him.

Manuel Miranda, who handled strategy on judicial nominees for Frist, has sent a sworn affidavit to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia accusing Senate Democrats of threatening to hold up legislation important to McDermott, Will & Emery if it hired him, The Hill reported Tuesday.

Miranda said he was given a verbal job offer to work as a lobbyist for the firm, but was later told he had been not been given a job offer on the day he showed up to begin work.

The firm disputes the allegation. "Calls from the Republican side urged us to hire him," McDermott lobbyist Stanton Anderson said. "Most of the calls from the Democratic side of the aisle -- and there weren't a lot of them -- asked about information with respect to (his) status."

"Certainly no one ever threatened me," Anderson said. "I don't respond well to threats."

Miranda resigned his Senate job under pressure in February 2004 after an internal investigation concluded he read documents the Democrats stored without password protection on a computer server both parties shared.