Elections matter, Pete Dominici edition

Yeah, it's pretty obvious that "regular people" don't care about that boring ol' U.S. Attorneys scandal.

WASHINGTON, April 7 — The seat of federal justice in Albuquerque is named for Senator Pete V. Domenici, a former mayor and native son who has showered New Mexico with federal money during his decades in Washington and was rewarded by having his name adorn the United States courthouse.

“He does extraordinary things for this state,” said Kate Nelson, managing editor of The Albuquerque Tribune and a political commentator, who dubbed Mr. Domenici, a Republican, “St. Pete” in recognition of the federal benefits he shipped west, leavened with a bit of sass for the outsized reverence in which he is held at home.

But a brief telephone call last year from Mr. Domenici to a federal prosecutor, David C. Iglesias, has become a central element of a Congressional inquiry into the dismissal of Mr. Iglesias and seven other United States attorneys.

Mr. Iglesias told Congress that he felt pressured by the call from Mr. Domenici, once his political mentor, who days before the November elections telephoned to inquire about the status of indictments in a politically charged case.

Committees in the House and Senate are exploring whether Mr. Iglesias and other federal prosecutors were ousted for strictly partisan reasons and whether Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and senior Justice Department officials initially misled Congress in explaining the personnel moves.

A complaint that Mr. Domenici broke Senate rules by interfering in a criminal matter has prompted an ethics committee inquiry. But it is unclear how that will play out because Mr. Domenici is not talking, and neither is the committee.

The scrutiny has marred the almost spotless reputation of Mr. Domenici, 74, the second-longest-serving Republican in the Senate — he was first elected in 1972 — as he prepares to seek a seventh term. The personal toll appeared to be weighing on him as he made his way around the Capitol in recent weeks.

“I think it has certainly been a distraction and a cause for stress,” said Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat who replaced Mr. Domenici as chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Steve Bell, Mr. Domenici’s chief of staff and an aide throughout most of his Senate career, which began in 1973, said: “I think he is really, really embarrassed, and it is so different from any reaction he has ever experienced before in his political life. The truth is he is absolutely stunned that this has been made into a huge political item.”