The Plot Thickens

An interesting story gets interestinger.

Last week, Senator Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson (both R-New Mexico) wouldn't comment on allegations that they both called U.S. attorney David Iglesias "to speed up indictments in a federal corruption investigation that involved at least one former Democratic state senator." Then on Sunday, Domenici issued a statement in which he admitted having indeed called Iglesias, but, ya know, hey, it was no big deal; the Senator just wanted to see "if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what time frame we were looking at. … I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way." Big whoop. Geez, it's like everyone's making a federal case out of, uh, federal ethics violations, since communication between members of Congress and federal prosecutors about ongoing criminal investigations is, um, strongly discouraged.

Anyway, turns out Wilson also contacted Iglesias. But, hey, listen, it wasn't a big deal, either.

"I did not ask about the timing of any indictments and I did not tell Mr. Iglesias what course of action I thought he should take or pressure him in any way," Wilson said in a statement to The Washington Post. "The conversation was brief and professional."

Brief and professional, people. So, obviously, the fact that Iglesias, who is scheduled to testify before Congress today that "Wilson and Domenici were trying to sway the course of his investigation," is just a big fat liar. In fact, Wilson was just trying to help him!

Wilson said in her statement that many of her constituents had complained about "the slow pace of federal prosecutions" in corruption cases and that one unidentified constituent told her that "Iglesias was intentionally delaying corruption investigations."

Wilson also said she was trying to help Iglesias. "If the purpose of my call has somehow been misperceived, I am sorry for any confusion. I thought it was important for Mr. Iglesias to receive this information and, if necessary, have the opportunity to clear his name."

Aww, how sweet. She was worried for him because it was becoming obvious that, like seven other U.S. attorneys with good records and positive job reviews, Iglesias was probably going to get shit-canned for his terrible performance. Or something.

The furor over Domenici and Wilson has rapidly become the focus of the dispute over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys and a change in law that allows Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales to appoint interim prosecutors for an indefinite period of time. The Justice Department has said that seven of the prosecutors were dismissed for failing to follow Bush administration policy on multiple issues, and acknowledged that one was sacked to make way for an ally of White House political adviser Karl Rove.

And Iglesias' removal naturally has nothing to do with the noisemaking machine Domenici, who "complained about him to Gonzales three times in 2005 and 2006 and spoke to Deputy Attorney General Paul J. McNulty in the first week of October 2006."

So what's the big deal about all this? Well, here it is in a nutshell: The Patriot Act, otherwise known as The Gift That Keeps Giving, includes a provision which eliminates the time limit by which the Senate must confirm U.S. attorney appointees. Instead, now Gonzo can appoint interim prosecutors—who, unlike nominees for permanent appointment aren't subject to Senate confirmation—and the "interim" can last, well, pretty much indefinitely. In other words, this Patriot Act provision has created the ability for the Executive Branch to fill the U.S. attorney slots at the DOJ with their cronies—and the Senate can't do shit about it.

Welcome to America 2.0.