Iglesias on Fox News Sunday: "My Firing Was a Political Hit" (And More on "Voter Fraud")

Think Progress has video and a transcript. They report:

Today on Fox News Sunday, former U.S. attorney David Iglesias beat back several misleading claims by Bush administration officials, and reasserted that his firing was a “political hit,” not done for performance reasons.

He pointed out that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales agreed to write him a recommendation even after he was fired. “If [my firing] was performance based, there is no way they would have agreed to have allowed me to list them as a reference,” he said. “In fact, they agreed, telling me that the true nature was political, not performance.”

New York Times Has More
In the interview with Iglesias, Chris Wallace referred to today's New York Times front page story about the scandal, which reports:

Mr. Iglesias defended his handling of the vote-fraud and other investigations, saying his critics did not have access to the findings that guided his decisions. He says the attacks occurred because state Republican leaders felt betrayed, figuring “We helped the guy get the position, he owes us some kind of fealty.” [emphasis mine]

The article had this to say about the political maneuvering in New Mexico and Washington regarding Iglesias:

Mr. Iglesias said he had believed that his bosses shared his view that United States attorneys should stay above the fray. “I thought I was insulated from politics,” he said in an interview. “But now I find out that main Justice was up to its eyeballs in partisan political maneuvering.”

Since his ouster, Mr. Iglesias has received support from other federal prosecutors, who say the department failed to honor its obligation to ensure that decisions about prosecutions are free of political taint.

“People who understand the history and the mission of the United States attorney and Justice Department — they are uniformly appalled, horrified,” said Atlee W. Wampler III, chairman of a national organization of former United States attorneys and a prosecutor who served in the Carter and Reagan administrations. “That the tradition of the Justice Department could have been so warped by that kind of action — any American should be disturbed.”

Lack of Evidence of "Voter Fraud"
As to the alleged "voter fraud" that had Republican attorney Mickey Barnett and others so het up in 2004 in New Mexico, Iglesias lays out why he could not and did not bring charges, despite being pressured by Republicans eager for headlines they could use to their advantage in the election:

To appear even-handed, Mr. Iglesias set up a bipartisan task force with state officials to look into the matter. But soon after announcing his plan, he received an e-mail message from Mickey D. Barnett, a Republican lawyer who represented the Bush campaign in New Mexico, urging him just to bring federal charges against any violators.

Culling through about 100 tips about fraud, investigators found only a handful that had some merit, and “only one where we had a real shot,” Mr. Iglesias said.

That inquiry focused on the woman who had submitted the registration applications in the names of the teenagers and at least two dozen others. Mr. Iglesias said she had worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn, which had paid her and others in part based on how many applications they turned in.

He said that when the F.B.I. interviewed her, she did not make any clear admission of guilt. And under federal election law, Mr. Iglesisas said, prosecutors would have had to prove that the woman, who had been fired for other reasons, had falsified the applications with the intent of influencing the election. Mr. Iglesias said “it appeared she was just doing it for the money.”

Albuquerque Attorney John Boyd Weighs In
Be sure to read New Mexico FBIHOP's , which includes coverage of a Brad Blog story that reports on studies showing American "voter fraud" to be a bogus problem, as well as a must-read statement by Albuquerque attorney John Boyd, who represented the Democratic Party of New Mexico when state Repubs filed voter fraud claims in 2004.

Front-Paged at Daily Kos (Again)
The Party That Cried Voter Fraud is another excellent commentary on the "voter fraud" that wasn't, and why the Repubs are constantly crying wolf on this issue. Hint: It provides cover for their own extensively documented election fraud and gives them an excuse to try reduce the numbers of Democrats who register and vote.

For even more on the "voter fraud" angle to this story, read our previous post. All of our posts on the U.S. Attorney firings can be found in our archive.