In their reports on a March 4 statement by Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) acknowledging that, in October 2006, he called then-New Mexico U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and asked him about the status of an investigation into a Democratic state senator, neither The New York Times nor National Public Radio's Morning Edition mentioned that Domenici had originally claimed, “I have no idea what he's talking about,” in reference to Iglesias' allegations. As Media Matters for America has noted, Iglesias -- one of eight U.S. attorneys fired in December 2006 -- has claimed he was terminated after resisting pressure from two members of Congress to accelerate his investigation.

Further, NPR uncritically reported Justice Department officials' claim that Iglesias “and the other U.S. attorneys, who were asked to leave, were all fired for performance-related reasons.” In fact, the explanation by Bush administration officials for the dismissals has evolved over several days.

In December 2006, the Bush administration fired eight U.S. attorneys -- Iglesias among them -- and reportedly replaced several of them with interim appointments drawn from the administration's “inner circle.” Many news reports have suggested political interference in the justice system, and the House of Representatives issued subpoenas to four of the fired prosecutors on March 1. Iglesias has alleged that two members of Congress “attempted to pressure him to speed up a probe of Democrats just before the November elections,” and that he believes his resistance led to his termination.

As of March 1, all but two members of the New Mexico congressional delegation had denied contacting Iglesias -- Domenici and Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R). In a March 2 article on the controversy sparked by Iglesias' allegations, The Washington Post reported Domenici's statement that he had “no idea what [Iglesias was] talking about”:

The state's top two Democrats, Rep. Tom Udall and Sen. Jeff Bingaman, and Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) have denied calling Iglesias. Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-N.M.) and Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) have not responded to requests for comment over the past two days and deflected questions from the Associated Press about the allegations.

“I don't have any comment,” Domenici said. “I have no idea what he's [Iglesias] talking about.”

On March 4, however, Domenici acknowledged having “called Mr. Iglesias late last year” to inquire about the ongoing local investigation.

But in reporting Domenici's admission, neither the Times nor Morning Edition noted Domenici's earlier statement. The March 5 Times article simply reported that Domenici “apologized ... and said he regretted making the call, but added that he had not urged any course of action in any investigation.” On Morning Edition, when host Renée Montagne asked NPR Justice reporter Ari Shapiro if it was a “surprise that Domenici admitted ... this call,” Shapiro replied that Domenici being one of the two lawmakers “wasn't really that much of a surprise. ... [F]rankly, the congressional delegation from New Mexico is not that large, so it was really a process of elimination.”

By contrast, in a March 4 report on Domenici's admission, the AP noted that he “refused last week to say if he had contacted Iglesias, insisting in a brief interview with the Associated Press, 'I have no idea what he's talking about.' ” Similarly, on March 5, The Washington Post reported that "[w]hen asked last week about Iglesias's allegations, Domenici said: 'I have no idea what he's talking about.' "

Further, in the Morning Edition segment, Shapiro uncritically reported that Justice Department officials “say that Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys, who were asked to leave, were all fired for performance-related reasons.” But as Media Matters has noted, at a February 6 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty conceded that performance played no role in at least one case: the forced resignation of H.E. “Bud” Cummins III as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, who was replaced by J. Timothy Griffin, a former research director for the Republican National Committee and aide to White House senior adviser Karl Rove.

Additionally, as Media Matters noted, in a February 14 article, McClatchy Newspapers reported that “at least five of [the fired U.S. attorneys] received positive job evaluations before they were ordered to step down.” Indeed, on March 1, the Post reported that “Iglesias cited a January 2006 letter from [Director of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys] Michael A. Battle -- the Justice official who fired him -- commending him for 'exemplary leadership in the department's priority programs,'" and that "[a] November 2005 evaluation obtained by [the newspaper] said Iglesias was 'experienced in legal, management and community relations work and was respected by the judiciary, agencies and staff.'" (As the weblog TPM Muckraker noted, the AP reported on March 5 that Battle has resigned, effective March 16. The AP also reported that, according to the Justice Department, Battle notified U.S. attorneys of his decision in January.)

In fact, Shapiro's representation of the administration's explanation does not even reflect the administration's most recent explanation: On March 3, the Post reported that while “Justice Department officials have consistently portrayed [the firings] as personnel decisions based on the prosecutors' 'performance-related' problems,” administration “officials [have] acknowledged that the ousters were based primarily on the administration's unhappiness with the prosecutors' policy decisions.” The Post also reported that “senior Justice Department officials identified the prosecutors they believed were not doing enough to carry out President Bush's policies on immigration, firearms and other issues.”

From the March 5 edition of National Public Radio's Morning Edition:

MONTAGNE: Now the senator in question is Pete Domenici.

SHAPIRO: Right, Republican from New Mexico -- and his office released a statement yesterday saying that Domenici did call his state's U.S. attorney, David Iglesias, late last year.

Part of the statement says, “I asked Mr. Iglesias if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation” -- meaning the corruption investigation -- “and give me an idea of what time frame we were looking at.” Now, Senator Domenici says it was a short conversation. He says he did not pressure or threaten Iglesias, but his statement also says that months before he made that call, he suggested to the Justice Department that perhaps Mr. Iglesias should be replaced, because Senator Domenici thought his office was slow in handling cases.

[...]

MONTAGNE: Now, was it a surprise that Domenici admitted, you know, all these -- that this call?

SHAPIRO: Well, the fact that Domenici was the one who placed the call wasn't really that much of a surprise: Iglesias said last week that he received calls from two members of Congress and, frankly, the congressional delegation from New Mexico is not that large, so it was really a process of elimination.

So, now Domenici has confirmed that he was one of the callers. The question remains: Who was the other? And David Iglesias is scheduled to testify under subpoena tomorrow on Capitol Hill, and he says, in that testimony, he will reveal, if asked, all the details about exactly who called him, when he was called, what was said, et cetera.

MONTAGNE: OK, so how does the Justice Department explain these findings?

SHAPIRO: Well, they say that --

MONTAGNE: The firings, rather. Sorry.

SHAPIRO: Right, right. They say that Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys, who were asked to leave, were all fired for performance-related reasons. They say they would never fire anybody for political reasons. And they also note that U.S. attorneys serve at the pleasure of the president, so any of them can be asked to resign for any reason or no reason, at any time.

MONTAGNE: And if Congress were to find this to be a problem, what can they do about it?

SHAPIRO: Well, they're talking about rolling back a law -- the reauthorization of the Patriot Act gave the attorney general more authority to appoint interim U.S. attorneys -- and so there's a group of senators that are talking about rolling that back to restore some authority to the Senate.

MONTAGNE: NPR Justice reporter Ari Shapiro, thanks very much.

SHAPIRO: You're welcome.