U.S. Attorney Update: Domenici Lawyers Up

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In a move that suggests he’s feeling the heat, New Mexico Republican Pete Domenici hired a high-powered lawyer today. Fired attorney David Iglesias said Domenici’s chief of staff called him just weeks before the November election and pressured him to be more aggressive in his ethics probe of a Democrat. The senator himself took the phone at one point and asked if Iglesias would produce indictments before the election. (For a full report on yesterday’s congressional testimony, click here.)

I’m not sure if it’s more comical or terrifying, but Domenici has hired the lawyer who represented Randy “Duke” Cunningham, the former Republican congressman who was found guilty on ethics charges brought by U.S. attorney Carol S. Lam—who was fired shortly thereafter. Comical because Cunningham is in jail; terrifying because the Republican wagons are circled pretty tight and they don’t fight fair.