[soryalomop]

Y'all are discussing the fact that they were fired and the reason the White House is giving for them being fired. The issue that they testified before congress with is that previous to being fired, for example Iglesias was called on two seperate occasions by two republican senators asking unethical questions about a sealed indictment.

New Mexico's David Iglesias told lawmakers he felt pressed by Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., last October to rush indictments against Democrats before Election Day in November. "If the allegations are correct, then there has been serious misconduct in what has occurred in the terminations of these United States attorneys," Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record) of Pennsylvania said.

As a former district attorney in Philadelphia, he said prosecutors should operate "unfettered."

Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., have acknowledged making the calls. They have denied placing political pressure on Iglesias. Neither responded to requests for reaction to Iglesias' testimony.

The two lawmakers may face additional questions over the matter. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (news, bio, voting record), D-Md., said the House ethics committee "has a responsibility" to investigate Wilson's conduct. A watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has called for investigations of both Wilson and Domenici. Iglesias told the panel he received a call from Wilson in mid-October in which she asked him about sealed indictments — a topic prosecutors cannot discuss. Wilson's question "raised red flags in my head," Iglesias said.

"I was evasive and nonresponsive to her question," Iglesias told the panel, saying he talked generally about why some indictments are sealed. "She was not happy with that answer. And she said, 'Well I guess I'll have to take your word for it." The call ended almost immediately, Iglesias said.

Asked by Schumer if he felt pressured by that call, Iglesias replied: "Yes sir, I did."

Cummins was threatened by the Justice Dept not to talk to reporters about being fired.

Arkansas' Bud Cummins wrote other fired prosecutors in an e-mail last month of a "message" conveyed by a Justice Department official that if they continued to talk with news reporters, the agency "would feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off" and fight back. In the Arkansas firing, the Senate committee released an e-mail written by Cummins regarding a phone call he says he received Feb. 20 from a department official.

Mike Elston, chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, expressed displeasure that the fired prosecutors had talked to reporters about their dismissals, according to the text.

"If they feel like any of us intend to continue to offer quotes to the press, or organize behind the scenes congressional pressure, then they feel forced to somehow pull their gloves off and offer public criticisms to defend their actions more fully," Cummins said in the e-mail to five other fired prosecutors.

"I don't want to overstate the threatening undercurrent in the call, but the message was clearly there," he added. And McKay was asked by an aid to another Republican congressman about an investigation but did not answer the questions.

John McKay, the fired U.S. attorney in Seattle, said he stopped a top aide to Rep. Doc Hastings (news, bio, voting record), R-Wash., from asking him detailed questions about an investigation into the disputed election of Washington state's Democratic Gov. Christine Gregoire in 2004. These are clues as to why they may have been fired. They were not doing the Republicans bidding.

Fired U.S. attorneys felt 'leaned on' - Yahoo! News