Justice Department Heralded Iglesias for Election Crime Expertise

Although fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias has been heavily criticized by New Mexico Republicans about his so-called "failure" to prosecute "voter fraud," he was lauded by the U.S. Department of Justice for his expertise in that area. In the latest installment of the prosecutor firing scandal, TPMmuckraker quotes a Washington Post story describing how Iglesias was one of two U.S. Attorneys tapped (twice) to teach at a "voting integrity" symposium:

One of the U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration after Republican complaints that he neglected to prosecute voter fraud had been heralded for his expertise in that area by the Justice Department, which twice selected him to train other federal prosecutors to pursue election crimes.

David C. Iglesias, who was dismissed as U.S. attorney for New Mexico in December, was one of two chief federal prosecutors invited to teach at a "voting integrity symposium" in October 2005. The symposium was sponsored by Justice's public integrity and civil rights sections and was attended by more than 100 prosecutors from around the country, according to an account by Iglesias that a department spokesman confirmed.

Iglesias, a Republican, said in an interview that he and the U.S. attorney from Milwaukee, Steven M. Biskupic, were chosen as trainers because they were the only ones identified as having created task forces to examine allegations of voter fraud in the 2004 elections. An agenda lists them as the panelists for a session on such task forces at the two-day seminar, which featured a luncheon speech by Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales.

According to Iglesias, the agency invited him back as a trainer last summer, just months before a Justice official telephoned to fire him. He said he could not attend the second time because of his obligations as an officer in the Navy Reserve.

As more facts emerge about Iglesias' firing, it becomes crystal clear that complaints about his handling of alleged "voter fraud" in New Mexico are nothing more than politically partisan whining by New Mexico Republicans who wanted to use the issue to discredit Democrats and provide an excuse for their push for measures like voter ID. Such initiatives were used to discourage voting by Democratic constituents in a number of swing states for several election cycles. Despite grumblings by Sen. Domenici, Rep. Wilson, and politically powerful Republican attorneys Mickey Barnett and Pat Rogers about Iglesias' lack of indictments for "voter fraud," it's obvious Iglesias was actually considered to be an expert of sorts on the matter -- specifically due to his handling of complaints here in 2004.

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