Ousted Prosecutor to NPR: “Red Flags Went Up”

U.S. Attorney David Iglesias for New Mexico was interviewed by NPR this afternoon and provided more detail about his accusations that two lawmakers called him in mid-October to pressure him about his office’s investigation of a state Democrat. I’ve provided a transcript of an excerpt below. You can listen to the entire interview here.

The first call was in mid-October. The caller was asking –- this was not a staff member, an actual member of Congress — the person was asking about “I want to know if there are any sealed indictments.” And I said, “Sealed indictments? We only do that for juvenile cases or national security cases. It’s fairly unusual.” Instantly red flags went up. I didn’t want to talk about it. Federal prosecutors can’t talk about indictments in general until they’re made public. So I was evasive, I shucked and jived like Walter Payton used to for the Chicago Bears, and the call was ended rather abruptly….

Approximately a week and a half later I got a second call from another member of Congress wanting to know about when the corruption matters were going to filed. Again, red lights went on. It was a very unpleasant phone call, because I know that members of Congress should not be making phone calls about pending matters, pending investigations, indictment dates, things of that nature.

NPR’s Melissa Block asked why Iglesias refused to go ahead and name the lawmakers.

Because frankly, I’m afraid of retaliation. I live in a very small state with a very small legal community. And I’m frankly afraid if I go public right now, that there could be retaliation in terms of me being blacklisted, blackballed… you pick your adjective.

When Block noted that New Mexico doesn’t have a very big delegation, and that every member of the delegation with the exception of Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) have denied making the calls (Domenici and Wilson said “no comment” to NPR), Iglesias responded, “Right.”

“Anything you want to add to that?” Block asked.

“I’ll be adding much more on Tuesday afternoon at two o’clock,” he responded, referring to the upcoming House Judiciary Committee hearing.

Update: Iglesias also spoke to KRQE in Albuquerque. The video doesn’t seem to be available online yet, but Joe Monahan tells me that Iglesias said, regarding who called him, “I will be fully truthful on Tuesday afternoon relative to all five members contacting me or not contacting me.”

He was also asked whether he had proof of the calls and replied that he did not have a recording, but said, “I am reviewing possible documents that I may be taking to the House for their review.”