Attorney-Gate Probe to Continue Without Domenici

Attorney-Gate Probe to Continue Without Domenici
By Jason Leopold and Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report

Wednesday 17 October 2007

The Senate Ethics Committee will likely not conduct a formal investigation into the conduct of New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici. The Ethics Committee had been investigating a telephone call the senator made to David Iglesias, the state's former US attorney, in which Domenici inquired a few weeks before last November's midterm election about the timing of an indictment against a popular Democratic official in the state who was the target of a corruption investigation, according to two people who work closely with the Senate Ethics Committee.

In interviews conducted last week by Truthout, these people said that Domenici's recent announcement that he would not seek reelection next year due to a medical condition was a deciding factor in keeping the probe from becoming a full-blown public investigation.

These individuals requested anonymity because Ethics Committee rules prohibit them from commenting publicly about the status of its investigations.

"It's unlikely the preliminary investigation of Senator Domenici will move to the next stage," said one person who works closely with the committee. "The reason? His mental state."

These individuals added that the Ethics Committee and its legal counsel had been in discussions with Domenici and his high-powered Washington, DC attorney, Lee Blalack, just a few days before Domenici announced he would not seek reelection, to quietly end the ethics probe into the senator's behavior. Blalack did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.

In late September, Truthout reported the Ethics Committee had stepped up its investigation of Domenici's phone call to Iglesias. At that time, the Ethics Committee had conducted additional interviews with individuals who were present when the phone call took place and appeared to be close to entering into a formal probe of the senator. However, just two weeks later, Domenici said he would not seek reelection next year. In addition, Domenici disclosed he was suffering from a brain disease known as frontotemporal lobar degeneration, or FTLD, a deterioration of brain tissue that can lead to personality changes, difficulty with speech and dementia.

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http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/101707A.shtml

I do not want to find out next year that he's head of the NRA.

futile and even redundant to investigate someone who is going to soon be braindead or some equivalent. He appears to be getting his just rewards here on earth.

to get out from under charges. Yeah, he's senile, been going that way for about 10 years that I know of. However, it's been progressing slowly enough that the old bastard knew full damned well what he was doing when he threatened Iglesias, even if he was somewhat at a loss for words.

I just hope they nail Heather Wilson (R-COW) and prevent her from taking his seat in the Senate.

If she does manage to lie and cheat her way in, at least she'll be a whole lot less powerful than the miserable old fool she's replacing.