In an interview with me two years ago, Iglesias said he believed "somewhere on an RNC computer - on some server somewhere - there's an e-mail from Karl Rove stating why we need to be axed." He added that he believed a "smoking gun" would eventually surface and lead directly to Rove and blow the scandal wide open.
"The e-mail timing [in October 2006] corroborates what I suspected," Iglesias said Tuesday. Domenici and other New Mexico Republican Party officials "wanted me to file indictments and [Wilson] would benefit. They wanted to use me and my office as a political tool."
Iglesias said Dannehy has access to "a lot of the facts" and "there still may be obstruction of justice charges" filed. He added, "I can't believe Gonzales did not know what was going on," suggesting that the former attorney general may be one of Dannehy's targets.
Domenici retired from the Senate and Wilson also left Congress in 2009 after unsuccessfully seeking the Republican nomination to fill Domenici's seat, which is now held by Democratic Sen. Tom Udall.
Deputy Attorney General McNulty testified before Congress in February 2007 that the prosecutor firings were "performance related," though that testimony also now appears to be in question.
Documents released by the Justice Department showed that Gonzales and McNulty participated in an hour-long meeting with Gonzales's chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, who compiled the list of prosecutors to be fired, a group he famously designated as not "loyal Bushies."
The documents, along with Rove's and Miers's testimony, contradict numerous public statements made by White House spokespersons Tony Snow and Dana Perino in the aftermath of the December 2006 firings. Snow and Perino insisted that the White House did nothing wrong and didn't oust prosecutors for political reasons.
Yet, upon being informed in November 2006 via e-mail of the plan to fire the US attorneys, Perino responded: "Someone get me the oxygen can!" When told the firings included some US attorneys who were actively investigating GOP lawmakers alleged to be involved in corruption, Perino added: "Give me a double shot - I can't breathe."
The newly released documents also show that Kansas City US Attorney Todd Graves was removed in a deal between the White House and Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri that appears to have been personally approved by Rove.
According to the documents, Bond agreed to lift his hold on an Arkansas judge nominated to the Eighth Circuit federal appeals court in exchange for Graves's firing. A December 21, 2005, e-mail sent by White House lawyer Fred Klingler to Miers stated that "Karl is fine" with the proposal.
