The Republican National Committee signed a consent decree in 1986 stating it would not engage in the practice after it was caught suppressing votes in 1981 and 1986.
In July 2007, in a letter to then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, said, "caging is a reprehensible voter suppression tactic, and it may also violate federal law and the terms of applicable judicially enforceable consent decrees."
Documents released last year showed that Republican operatives engaged in a widespread effort to "cage" votes during the 2004 presidential election in battleground states, such as New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Ohio, where George W. Bush was trailing his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry.
The efforts to purge voters from registration rolls were spearheaded by Tim Griffin.
Coddy Johnson was another Republican operative involved in the effort to cage votes during the 2004 presidential election. Johnson worked as the national field director of Bush's 2004 campaign and spent time in the White House as an associate director of political affairs, working under Karl Rove. Johnson's father was Bush's college roommate at Yale.
Iglesias said Republicans in New Mexico expected him to put loyalty to the Republican Party above the law.
"Only one case of the over 100 referrals had potential. ACORN had employed a woman to register voters. The evidence showed she registered voters who did not have the legal right to vote. The law, 42 USC 1973 had the maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.
“After personally reviewing the FBI investigative report and speaking to the agent, the prosecutor I had assigned, Mr. [Rumaldo] Armijo, and conferring with [a Justice Department official] I was of the opinion that the case was not provable. I, therefore, did not authorize a prosecution.
I have subsequently learned that the State of New Mexico did not file any criminal cases as a result of the" election fraud task force.
Complaints Begin in 2005
Steve Bell, Domenici’s chief of staff, "began complaining about Iglesias to the White House sometime in 2005."
Bell lodged his complaints with Scott Jennings, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. Jennings told the IG and OPR investigators that "that shortly after joining the White House in early 2005, he received criticism of Iglesias’s erformance as U.S. Attorney from Bell."
"Jennings said Bell told him on a periodic basis that he was unhappy with Iglesias’s response to complaints about voter fraud, among other issues, and that the White House should replace him. Jennings said he passed that information along to his immediate superiors at the time, [White House Director of Political Affairs Sara] Taylor and [Tim] Griffin."
Taylor reported directly to Rove. Griffin was a former Republican National Committee opposition researcher and close friend of Karl Rove.
Bud Cummins, the former U.S. Attorney for Little Rock, Arkansas, was fired and Griffin was given his job. Griffin resigned from his post as interim U.S. Attorney last year when details of his role in vote suppression during the 2004 election was reported.
Monday’s report by the Justice Department’s IG and OPR said, “After Cummins was instructed to resign and Griffin was announced as his replacement, senior Department leaders made a series of conflicting and misleading statements about Cummins’s removal.”
Jennings told IG and OPR investigators that "sometime in 2006 Bell told him that Senator Domenici was going to call the White House Chief of Staff, Josh Bolten, about Iglesias.
In July 2007, in a letter to then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, and Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, said, "caging is a reprehensible voter suppression tactic, and it may also violate federal law and the terms of applicable judicially enforceable consent decrees."
Documents released last year showed that Republican operatives engaged in a widespread effort to "cage" votes during the 2004 presidential election in battleground states, such as New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Ohio, where George W. Bush was trailing his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry.
The efforts to purge voters from registration rolls were spearheaded by Tim Griffin.
Iglesias said Republicans in New Mexico expected him to put loyalty to the Republican Party above the law.
"Only one case of the over 100 referrals had potential. ACORN had employed a woman to register voters. The evidence showed she registered voters who did not have the legal right to vote. The law, 42 USC 1973 had the maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment and a $5,000 fine.
“After personally reviewing the FBI investigative report and speaking to the agent, the prosecutor I had assigned, Mr. [Rumaldo] Armijo, and conferring with [a Justice Department official] I was of the opinion that the case was not provable. I, therefore, did not authorize a prosecution.
I have subsequently learned that the State of New Mexico did not file any criminal cases as a result of the" election fraud task force.
Complaints Begin in 2005
Steve Bell, Domenici’s chief of staff, "began complaining about Iglesias to the White House sometime in 2005."
Bell lodged his complaints with Scott Jennings, Deputy Director of the White House Office of Political Affairs. Jennings told the IG and OPR investigators that "that shortly after joining the White House in early 2005, he received criticism of Iglesias’s erformance as U.S. Attorney from Bell."
"Jennings said Bell told him on a periodic basis that he was unhappy with Iglesias’s response to complaints about voter fraud, among other issues, and that the White House should replace him. Jennings said he passed that information along to his immediate superiors at the time, [White House Director of Political Affairs Sara] Taylor and [Tim] Griffin."
Taylor reported directly to Rove. Griffin was a former Republican National Committee opposition researcher and close friend of Karl Rove.
Bud Cummins, the former U.S. Attorney for Little Rock, Arkansas, was fired and Griffin was given his job. Griffin resigned from his post as interim U.S. Attorney last year when details of his role in vote suppression during the 2004 election was reported.
Monday’s report by the Justice Department’s IG and OPR said, “After Cummins was instructed to resign and Griffin was announced as his replacement, senior Department leaders made a series of conflicting and misleading statements about Cummins’s removal.”
Jennings told IG and OPR investigators that "sometime in 2006 Bell told him that Senator Domenici was going to call the White House Chief of Staff, Josh Bolten, about Iglesias.
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