WASHINGTON (AP) - House Judiciary Committee leaders investigating the firing of eight federal prosecutors, including New Mexico's David Iglesias, want to interview Iglesias' successor, Larry Gomez.
In a letter sent Monday to the acting assistant attorney general, Richard Hertling, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said lawmakers believe Gomez and seven other Justice Department officials might have information that is critical to their investigation.
Conyers wrote that lawmakers are asking the officials to appear voluntarily for interviews about "circumstances surrounding recent terminations of U.S. attorneys, representations regarding those circumstances to Congress and related matters."
A spokeswoman for the committee on Tuesday would not specify what committee members want to ask Gomez, who is serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Mexico.
Gomez was an assistant U.S. attorney in the New Mexico office and has been a federal prosecutor for 27 years. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
Iglesias and seven other U.S. attorneys were fired last year without explanation. After Congress began investigating, administration officials said Iglesias was fired partly because he was deemed an "absentee landlord," who delegated too much responsibility.
Iglesias has said he was out of the state for about 40 days a year on Navy Reserve duty and that if he was fired for his military-related absences, he could be protected under federal law. The Office of Special Counsel, which protects federal government whistleblowers, is looking into Iglesias' case.
