ALBUQUERQUE — Campaign contributions to retired U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici paid for more than $700,000 in lawyers' bills arising from an ethics investigation into his role in the 2007 firing of former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias.

The People for Pete Domenici Committee listed $705,043 in legal fees, with the bulk of that, $602,054, going to the Washington, D.C., firm of O'Melveny & Myers.

Domenici did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press. He told the Albuquerque Journal in a copyright story Thursday that the fees were "outlandish" but added: "You can't do without them (lawyers) because you don't know how these things can turn."

The committee did not get a Federal Election Commission ruling in advance about the expenditures, which were disclosed in an October 2008 report.

FEC press officer Judith Ingram said Thursday that the committee had requested an advisory opinion about spending campaign funds for legal fees, but withdrew its request because the FEC lacked a quorum to rule for about six months in 2008.

In other cases from Congress, the FEC has issued advisory opinions saying such spending conformed to the law. Ingram said each of those opinions referred to a specific set of circumstances.

She said Domenici's committee made no subsequent request to the FEC.

"The FEC hasn't contacted them about this, and there hasn't been a complaint as far as I know," she said.

Domenici, a Republican, retired last year after being diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease. He served 36 years in the Senate, longer than any other New Mexican.

The People for Pete report also listed disbursements for "legal-ethics investigation" to Akin Gump Stauss Hauer & Feld, Washington, $49,817; Covington & Burling, Washington, $19,827; Keleher & McLeod, Albuquerque, nearly $289; King & Spalding, Atlanta, $13,020; McKenna, Long & Aldridge, Atlanta, $7,662; and WilmerHale of Philadelphia, $12,373.

After his firing, Iglesias said he felt pressured by Domenici.

The Senate Ethics Committee in April 2008 criticized Domenici for creating an appearance of impropriety when he called the federal prosecutor in New Mexico about the timing of expected corruption indictments. However, it recommended no punishment against Domenici.

The committee found "no substantial evidence" Domenici tried to improperly influence an investigation, but said he "should have known that a federal prosecutor receiving such a telephone call, coupled with an approaching election which may have turned on or been influenced by the prosecutor's actions ... created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate."

Domenici said the decision not to take action against him confirmed that he did not attempt to influence the investigation.

A later U.S. Justice Department report concluded that complaints from Republican politicians and activists from New Mexico led to Iglesias' firing. The report said Domenici's complaints to the White House were a "primary factor" in Iglesias being placed on a list of U.S. attorneys fired by the Bush administration in late 2006 and early 2007.

Domenici's attorney, K. Lee Blalack of O'Melveny & Myers, has said the report was full of "innuendoes that pass as findings."




© Copyright Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.