Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM)

UPDATE:
Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) announced on October 4, 2007 that he would retire at the end of his term in January 2009.

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Senator Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) is a sixth-term senator from New Mexico. His ethics issues stem from his contacting the U.S. Attorney in Albuquerque, New Mexico to inquire about an ongoing corruption probe of Democrats.

Improper contact with U.S. Attorney

Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias has claimed that Sen. Domenici contacted him before the November 2006 elections to pressure him about an ongoing corruption probe into state Democrats. Sen. Domencici initially denied that he had ever contacted Mr. Iglesias, but later admitted he had inquired about the time frame of the investigation.

By pressuring Mr. Iglesias to act quickly on a pending corruption investigation, Sen. Domenici attempted to intervene in a pending legal action before the matter reached a resolution in the courts. Sen. Domenici violated the Senate rule that states that communication with an agency with respect to a matter in litigation is allowed as long as the agency is not engaged in an on-going investigative proceeding and engaged in improper conduct that reflects upon the Senate.

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics is currently investigating Sen. Domenici’s conduct.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT ON SEN. PETE V. DOMENICI (R-NM)