Second US lawmaker called fired prosecutor-paper

WASHINGTON, Mar 6 (Reuters) A second US Republican lawmaker has acknowledged calling a federal prosecutor to complain about the slow pace of corruption cases just before elections last year, The Washington Post reported.

At least eight federal prosecutors, including New Mexico US Attorney David Iglesias, have been fired by the Bush administration recently, prompting critics to allege political motives.

President George W Bush's Republican allies lost control of both houses of Congress to the Democratic Party in last November's elections.

Rep Heather Wilson of New Mexico said she spoke to Iglesias about a case involving Democrats but denied she was applying political pressure, the Post reported.

''I did not ask about the timing of any indictments and I did not tell Mr Iglesias what course of action I thought he should take or pressure him in any way,'' Wilson said in a statement to the newspaper yesterday.

''If the purpose of my call has somehow been misperceived, I am sorry for any confusion,'' she said, adding that Iglesias was dismissed without any input from her.

A spokesman for Wilson was not available for comment.

Iglesias and three of the other dismissed prosecutors were subpoenaed to appear before a House of Representatives Judiciary subcommittee today. They have also agreed to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Democratic aides have said if it was determined that lawmakers interfered with an investigation, they could face ethics or even criminal charges.

Iglesias has told Senate aides he believes he was fired because he rejected what he considered political pressure to bring charges in an investigation involving New Mexico Democrats shortly before last year's elections, according to Sen Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.

Wilson's statement came as the Senate Ethics Committee signaled it had opened a preliminary inquiry into a similar communication by New Mexico's senior senator, Pete Domenici, the Post said.

Domenici, a Republican, acknowledged on Sunday he called Iglesias late last year to ask about the local corruption investigation.

''I asked Mr Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what timeframe we were looking at,'' Domenici said in a statement.

''At no time in that conversation or any other conversation with Mr Iglesias did I ever tell him what course of action I thought he should take on any legal matter. I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way.'' The Justice Department denied any wrongdoing on its part.

''Any suggestion that any US Attorney was removed to inappropriately interfere with any investigation is plainly wrong and ill-conceived,'' Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

''These decisions were based on the individual concerns of each US Attorney about their overall performance.'' Overall, there are 93 US Attorneys responsible for prosecuting federal crimes in the United States.

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