Monday, March 05, 2007

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) acknowledged today that she contacted a federal prosecutor to complain about the pace of his public corruption investigations, as the Senate Ethics Committee signaled that it had opened a preliminary inquiry into a similar communication by the state's senior senator, Pete V. Domenici (R).

Wilson denied allegations from former New Mexico U.S. attorney David C. Iglesias that she was pressuring him to speed up the pace of a public corruption investigation involving Democrats in the waning days of a tight election campaign.

"I did not ask about the timing of any indictments and I did not tell Mr. Iglesias what course of action I thought he should take or pressure him in any way," Wilson said in a statement to the Washington Post. "The conversation was brief and professional."

Iglesias, one of seven U.S. attorneys fired by the Justice Department on Dec. 7, is expected to testify to Congress tomorrow that Wilson and Domenici were indeed trying to sway the course of his investigation. Domenici acknowledged Sunday that he called Iglesias about the corruption case, but said he did not pressure him.

Wilson said in her statement that many of her constituents had complained about "the slow pace of federal prosecutions" in corruption cases and said she was told by one unidentified constituent that "Iglesias was intentionally delaying corruption investigations."

Wilson also said she was trying to help Iglesias: "If the purpose of my call has somehow been misperceived, I am sorry for any confusion. I thought it was important for Mr. Iglesias to receive this information and, if necessary, have the opportunity to clear his name."

Congresswoman on page board (Heather Wilson,R-NM) buried file on husband's child abuse allegation

A file allegedly suppressed by Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) has been obtained by RAW STORY.

In 1995, just three days into her tenure as Secretary of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, Wilson removed a routine working file alleging that her husband had engaged in inappropriate contact with a minor. The file was then transferred to the department's attorney in her own Albuquerque office, where it soon went missing.

At the time, a local investigative news team learned about the swap, but could not confirm certain details of the file. They were not able to recover the document itself.

More than ten years later, RAW STORY has uncovered and confirmed the authenticity of the police incident report believed to be contained in the missing dossier. Filed as a case of child abuse in 1993, it contends that Wilson's husband Jay Hone, an Albuquerque attorney, touched a then-16 year old boy "in a manner that was not welcome."

Charges were never filed against her husband, but Wilson's handling of the affair drew the ire of Bob Schwartz who at the time served as district attorney in Bernalillo County. He described Wilson's actions to the news team as "absolutely inappropriate," citing her "obvious conflict of interest." He also admonished Wilson for not following official procedure for the removal of official documents. "If this file is behind Secretary Wilson's desk," Schwartz said, "then she shouldn't be behind this desk anymore. She should resign."

Wilson originally denied to the news team that she had removed the file. Footage from that investigation was available on the internet site YouTube as recently as several days ago, but has since been removed by the site over concerns regarding copyright infringment.

In that video, also uncovered by RAW STORY, Wilson flatly denies ordering the removal of the document. The Congresswoman ultimately admitted to doing so in a press conference just days later.