I believe the U.S. Attorney scandal could get really, really big.
I will start with where I see this ending: Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson resign. Co-conspirators are indicted. Top administration officials resign or are impeached.
Why? Continue reading to see more.
Sen. Domenici and Rep. Wilson have both admitted to personally calling U.S. Attorney Iglesias about an ongoing criminal investigation. Domenici has supposedly called Attorney General Gonzales repeatedly to complain about Iglesias. It is hard to see this as anything other than an attempt to obstruct justice (18 U.S.C. section 1503) and to abuse the power of office for political gain (sections 371, 372, and 1951).
Even if Domenici and Wilson were not later involved in getting Iglesias fired, any actions they took in calling Iglesias must themselves be looked at closely to see if crimes were committed. If they did take action such as complaining to Iglesias' superiors, it makes a bad situation worse.
It is certainly unexpected for even one Congressmember to violate ethics rules and criminal laws in this manner. Can it be coincidence that two members may have done so a week apart in regards to the same investigation?
We must be asking, who told Wilson to make this call? Who told Domenici to do so? How far does this conspiracy to obstruct justice go?
It has been reported that the White House was involved in various respects in planning the purge of U.S. Attorneys. It has been suggested that Gonzales took part. It seems highly likely that the White House, the Justice Department, and other top Republican officials were involved in any conspiracy that may have put pressure on Iglesias.
And then there is the question of a cover-up. U.S. Attorney Cummins had an interesting "no comment" when we was asked whether the White House has pressured him not to testify.
We need to investigate the actions of Domenici and Wilson, but we must go further. We must find out who orchestrated this campaign. We must find out from how high the orders came. It appears that Gonzales was involved. How about Gonzales' boss?