Report: Domenici, Wilson pushed prosecutor

WASHINGTON, March 2 (UPI) -- Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico pressured a U.S. attorney to expedite indictments of a Democratic politician, it was reported.

Citing two sources familiar with the case, McClatchy Newspapers reported that Domenici and Wilson -- both Republicans -- intervened in October to accelerate indictments in a federal corruption case that involved at least one former Democratic state senator.

Wilson was involved at the time in a hotly contested re-election campaign, which she won by 875 votes out of more than 210,000 cast.

The alleged involvement of the two lawmakers may expose them to questions about possible violations of Senate and House of Representatives ethics rules, McClatchy said.

David C. Iglesias, who resigned Wednesday as U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, had said two members of Congress tried to pressure him to speed up the investigation of Democrats before the November 2006 elections. He told the Washington Post he suspected complaints from the lawmakers, whom he would not name, may have led the Justice Department to fire him.

"I didn't give (the lawmakers) what they wanted," he said. "That was probably a political problem that caused them to go to the White House or whomever and complain that I wasn't a team player."