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Recently retired U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici is the focus of a federal grand jury investigation of the U.S. attorney scandal, along with several Bush White House officials, according to an online report Wednesday in TPM Muckraker. However, Domenici's attorney on Wednesday denied the retired Republican senator is at the center of the investigation. "The investigation exists, but it's not focused on Senator Domenici to the exclusion of others," Washington lawyer Lee Blalack told a reporter. According to the Muckraker report, the grand jury is investigating whether Domenici and others tried to improperly press former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias to bring...

WASHINGTON — He doesn't claim to be cured, but Sen. Pete Domenici said Tuesday that a prominent doctor has raised doubts he suffers from the degenerative brain disease that prompted his decision to retire from the Senate after 36 years in office. Cured or not, Domenici said he's feeling better than he has in months and is optimistic about his future based on recent medical diagnoses. A devout Catholic, Domenici didn't discount the power of prayer in connection with his improved condition. Domenici said he doesn't know why his condition hasn't worsened, but said he suspects God has played a...

A Domenici spokesman, Chris Gallegos, confirms Pearce's announcement that the longtime senator will announce his backing of Pearce Thursday in Albuquerque. Pearce is running against a fellow New Mexico congressman, Democrat Tom Udall, for the seat that Domenici has held for six terms. Domenici announced last fall that he is retiring in January because of an incurable brain disease. His support of Pearce comes nearly three months after he endorsed Pearce's rival, Republican Rep. Heather Wilson, in her unsuccessful bid for the Senate seat during the primary election.

A photo finish appears to be in the works as a Survey USA poll shows Heather Wilson closing in on Steve Pearce in the last weekend of the primary campaign. Pearce is still clinging to a slim lead, but it's well within the poll's margin of error. The poll, conducted Friday through Sunday, shows Pearce ahead by one percentage point, 48 to 47. Wilson closed in on the three point lead Pearce had in the poll two weeks ago. The poll may reflect Pete Domenici's eleventh hour endorsement of Wilson as his choice to replace him in the U.S. Senate....

New Mexico voters have never seen this many open congressional seats: None of the state's three House members is seeking re-election, nor is longtime Sen. Pete Domenici. The unprecedented turnover will leave New Mexico with precious little seniority when the next Congress convenes. All three House members — two Republicans and a Democrat — decided against running for another term and instead sought Domenici's Senate seat. The six-term Republican is retiring because of a degenerative brain disease. For Democrats, this year's election offers their best chance to pick up seats that have been in the hands of the GOP for...

NMCEP will lead an event in early 2008 that will define the expectations of Americans that they be provided with reliable and competitively priced energy. This will be the first attempt to inject rural viewpoint into energy policy. Senator Pete V. Domenici is expected to deliver a major address at the event. Additional event details will be up soon.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Pete Domenici, ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, today introduced legislation intended to dramatically increase domestic production of oil and natural gas in order to lower prices and make America less dependent on foreign sources of oil. The American Energy Production Act of 2008 (S.2958) was introduced today by Domenici and nineteen co-sponsors from across the country. By expanding production offshore and in Alaska, the legislation will produce up to 24 billion barrels of oil-enough to keep America running for five years with no foreign imports. In addition, billions more barrels of...

The Senate Ethics Committee says he should never have picked up the phone, but that it found no substantial evidence Sen. Pete Domenici tried to improperly influence an ongoing investigation when he called then-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias in October 2006. The committee made its finding in what it called a "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" issed to the longtime Republican senator on Thursday. The ethics committee said Domenici should have known that his call "created an appearance of impropriety that reflected unfavorably on the Senate." Domenici, who plans to retire from the Senate after 36 years early next year, called...

ARLINGTON, VA -- U.S. Senator John McCain's presidential campaign today announced that New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici has endorsed the candidacy of John McCain for the Republican nomination for president. Senators Domenici and McCain spoke by phone today, and Sen. Domenici issued the following statement: "Today I am very pleased to endorse my colleague, Sen. John McCain, for the Republican nomination for president. "My many years working with John McCain persuade me that he is the best candidate on the issues upon which I have spent most of my career -- deficit reduction, federal spending reform, a strong military, and...

New Mexico's political scene continues its upheaval after Sen. Pete Domenici's announcement that he plans to retire at the end of his term. Rep. Tom Udall's office confirmed to Action 7 News Political Reporter Matt Grubs this afternoon that the Northern New Mexico Democrat might run. "New Mexicans have urged Tom Udall to reconsider running for the United States Senate and he's doing just that," said Udall spokesperson Marissa Padilla. If Udall decides on a senatorial run, he would face several Democrats who have already declared their candidacy. The most-recognized name among them is Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez. Should Udall...

Republican Congressman Steve Pearce will run against Congresswoman Heather Wilson for the Republican nomination to succeed Senator Pete Domenici, according to an online report published Tuesday. ABQJounal.com cites a “person familiar with Pearce’s plans” in reporting that the southeastern New Mexico Congressman will notify friends and supporters by email of his intention to run. The Associated Press reports that "a source close to Pearce" confirms he will run, but only on the condition of anonymity. Pearce, who represents the southern part of New Mexico, is generally considered to be more conservative than Wilson, whose congressional district is in the central...

Pete Domenici went back to his hometown school gym Thursday to make what was probably the hardest speech of his 41-year political career. Surrounded by nearly 50 relatives and staffers, many in tears, Domenici gamely described the incurable neurological disease that he has been suffering from for two years and announced it will end his Senate career. With a big, blue "People for Pete" button on the lapel of his dark suit, he also vowed to complete his sixth term and listed some of his accomplishments in a Senate career that has lasted more than a generation. ~~snip~~ After standing...

Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M) will run for the New Mexico Senate seat that is expected to open up officially later Thursday when Sen. Pete Domenici (R) declares that he will not seek reelection in 2008, according to a source familiar with Wilson’s decision. Domenici has taken Wilson under his wing in recent years, and as he has gotten older, Wilson’s name has topped the list of potential heirs. A strong campaigner, she has survived several multimillion-dollar challenges in a swing district ...

WASHINGTON — Democrat Bill Richardson said today that he's not giving up his presidential bid to run for a Senate seat that has opened in his home state of New Mexico. "I am not running for the Senate. I'm running for president," Richardson said in a brief phone interview with The Associated Press. The governor and his campaign advisers did not rule out a Senate race if he does not win the Democratic presidential nomination. "Right now," said his spokesman Tom Reynolds, "we're 100 percent committed to running for the White House."Republican Sen. Pete Domenici planned to announce Thursday in...

Just breaking on CNN. Domenici is supposed to announce his retirement tomorrow.

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The soldiers think they can win. Some Senators lose their nerve. Richard Lugar of Indiana, George Voinovich of Ohio, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, and John Warner of Virginia have together served more than a century in the world's greatest deliberative body. Historians will remember their time in public office for Reagan's challenge to the Soviet Union, for the success of pro-growth economic policies, for welfare reform, for the reinvigoration of a constitutionalist approach to the courts, for the framing of a foreign policy for the post-9/11 world. None of these men played a leading role in any of these...

During the last few days, both Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), two conservative Republicans, have broken with President Bush's policy on Iraq, both in very public ways. Here's a link on Domenici's statement on Iraq (via ThinkProgress), although it's still unclear on how far he will go in opposing Bush, and here's an article on Doolittle's recent comments in Iraq. Beyond being Republicans and facing tough re-election campaigns next year, Domenici and Doolittle have another thing in common - they are both under fire for ethics legal problems. Domenici is being investigated by the Senate Ethics...

July 05, 2007 Read More: Iraq Domenici is the latest.... .... To break with the president over the war. In Albuquerque today, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), a six-term incumbent who faces reelection next year, said he was "unwilling to continue our current strategy" in Iraq. The announcement follows the split of two other high-profile Republicans with the president over his handling of the war. Last week, Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) called on Bush to start withdrawing troops. Domenici did the same today by endorsing a Senate bill that would adopt recommendations of the Iraq Study...

Sen. Pete Domenici delivered the latest political body blow to President Bush's war policy today, as the New Mexico Republican announced his support for a bipartisan bill calling for redeployment of troops in the first quarter of 2008. As I wrote in the story for washingtonpost.com this afternoon, Domenici endorsed a bill that calls for implementing the 79 recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, most importantly drawing down troop size to a limited number that merely patrol the borders and work on counter-terrorism operations. "I am unwilling to continue our current strategy," Domenici said.

3:23 PM Sen. Pete Domenici (N.M.), a 36-year Republican veteran of the Senate, abandoned President Bush's Iraq war policy today by publicly endorsing legislation designed to withdraw nearly all U.S. troops from Iraq by March 2008. Domenici, a member of the defense appropriations subcommittee, is the fourth senior Senate Republican to sharply criticize Bush's war strategy in the past two weeks. He announced during a press conference in Albuquerque that he was co-sponsoring legislation that would embrace the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which called for a major redeployment that would leave only a limited number of troops in...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici on Thursday joined a growing chorus of Republicans who are calling for a change in course in U.S. military strategy in Iraq -- sooner rather than later. Domenici, R-N.M., said he supports a bipartisan Senate bill that would create conditions that could allow for a drawdown of U.S. combat forces in Iraq by next March. The bill, based on recommendations released six months ago by an independent study group, would make the group's 79 recommendations the policy of the United States. "I do not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a...

Domenici calls for change in Iraq strategy ALBUQUERQUE — U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici on Thursday joined a growing chorus of Republicans who are calling for a change in course in U.S. military strategy in Iraq — sooner rather than later. Domenici, R-N.M., said he supports a bipartisan Senate bill that would create conditions that could allow for a drawdown of U.S. combat forces in Iraq by next March. The bill is based on recommendations released six months ago by an independent study group. “I do not support an immediate withdrawal from Iraq or a reduction in funding for our troops...

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias was fired after Sen. Pete Domenici, who had been unhappy with Iglesias for some time, made a personal appeal to the White House, the Journal has learned. Domenici had complained about Iglesias before, at one point going to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales before taking his request to the president as a last resort. The senior senator from New Mexico had listened to criticism of Iglesias going back to 2003 from sources ranging from law enforcement officials to Republican Party activists. Domenici, who submitted Iglesias' name for the job and guided him through the confirmation process...

In 2005, Doña Ana County District Attorney Susana Martinez had a nearly beheaded teenage corpse on a ditch bank. In 2006, Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White had a deputy dead in the East Mountains. Federal law enforcement agencies led by the FBI were there to help. But Martinez and White said they had to kick and scream to get the attention of the U.S. Attorney's Office, run by fellow Republican David Iglesias. Martinez threatened to go to the president of the United States to get help in her case. It worked, and federal prosecutors took over the drug-related kidnapping and...

4 in N.M. charged with corruption ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A former state senator and three other people were charged with corruption Thursday in a highly politicized case that a former federal prosecutor told Congress he believes led to his firing.A federal grand jury accused former New Mexico Senate President Pro Tem Manny Aragon and the others of conspiring to skim $4.2 million in public funds meant for construction of a county courthouse.David Iglesias, one of eight U.S. attorneys fired late last year, told Congress this month that he rejected what he believed to be pressure from U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici...

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) has hired a top defense attorney to handle the pending ethics investigation into allegations that he pressured a federal prosecutor to bring indictments against New Mexico Democrats on the eve of the 2006 elections. Lee Blalack, who recently represented former [convicted] congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.) ... said today that he has signed on as Domenici's attorney in the wake of allegations from fired U.S. Attorney David C. Iglesias. Iglesias alleged that Domenici phoned him at his home and asked about a pending public corruption investigation. The Senate Ethics Committee indicated Monday that it has...

WASHINGTON — New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici acknowledged Sunday that he called a federal prosecutor to ask about a criminal investigation, but insisted he never pressured nor threatened his state's U.S. attorney. The prosecutor, David Iglesias, was fired by the Justice Department in December. Iglesias says he believes he was dismissed for resisting pressure from two members of Congress before last year's election to rush indictments in a Democratic kickback investigation. Iglesias, a Republican, has said he would not name the lawmakers unless asked under oath

Masked intruders forced their way into the Silver Spring home of a U.S. senator's daughter yesterday morning, startling a nanny who ran outside with the lawmaker's 2-year-old granddaughter and left his youngest grandson behind. A Montgomery County police SWAT team later found the baby safe in his crib. Police think the incident was a burglary gone awry because the intruders apparently didn't realize the house was occupied. The burglars approached the red-brick house on the 2400 block of Hayden Drive in Forest Glen about 9:30 a.m., police said. After hearing suspicious noises outside, the 42-year-old nanny opened the door. "When...

On April 4, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing to discuss a white paper that Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) released on a mandatory cap and trade program for carbon dioxide emissions. The majority of panelists that will provide testimony in the hearing are for a cap-and-trade program, suggesting the Committee views global warming to be a serious problem and that a cap-and-trade approach is the preferred mechanism for fighting it. The hearing's timing couldn't be better, as it coincides with an intense global warming propaganda campaign by the media that is...

In February last year, the chairman of the Senate energy committee sat down at Los Alamos National Laboratory for a private briefing on climate change. Was global warming real, Sen. Pete Domenici wanted to know. He turned for answers to a federal lab that he had gazed on admiringly since he was a boy. In a barrage of computer slides, Los Alamos scientists showed the 72-year-old Republican senator a planet tipping into uncertainty. Greenhouse gases were increasing in the atmosphere and the trapped solar radiation was boosting temperatures worldwide, with cascading impacts on natural and human welfare. Natural causes alone...

WASHINGTON, April 3 — During the heated immigration debate on Capitol Hill, some Republicans have portrayed immigrants as invaders, criminals and burdens to society. But for Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico, the image that comes to mind is that of his mother and the day the authorities took her away. It was 1943, World War II was raging, and federal agents were sweeping through Albuquerque hunting for Italian sympathizers. They found Mr. Domenici's mother, Alda V. Domenici, a curly-haired mother of four and a local PTA president who also happened to be an illegal immigrant from Italy....

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-NM) confirmed he will press to include Arctic National Wildlife Refuge leasing in this year's budget resolution. The disclosure came as he complimented Interior Sec. Gale A. Norton for her department's support Mar. 2 of environmentally responsible development of oil and gas resources along ANWR's coastal plain. Norton appeared before the committee to discuss the department's proposed fiscal 2007 budget. Domenici also praised Norton for the department's effort to begin an oil shale leasing program and urged her to move quickly to get streamlined permitting fully operating in the Rocky...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has abandoned research into a nuclear "bunker-buster" warhead, deciding instead to pursue a similar device using conventional weaponry, a key Republican senator said Tuesday. Sen. Pete Domenici (news, bio, voting record), R-N.M., said funding for the nuclear bunker-buster as part of the Energy Department's fiscal 2006 budget has been dropped at the request of the Energy Department. The nuclear bunker-buster had been the focus of intense debate in Congress, with opponents arguing that its development as a tactical nuclear weapon could add to nuclear proliferation. Administration officials have contended the country must try to develop...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top Republican energy bill negotiator, risking a break with the White House over the global warming issue, on Friday said the United States must act to curb heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, "is convinced that the science now indicates that climate change is occurring and we need to do something about it," said his energy advisor Alex Flint. The stance is contrary to the Bush Administration's opposition to mandatory measures. Domenici supports recommendations by the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP) for a mandatory cap-and-trade...

Immigration, Mr. Limbaugh said "could break up the Republican-conservative coalition" à la Ross Perot.

Mr. President, I thank Senator Lugar for finding time for me to express my views to the Senate and to those who might be listening or viewing the Senate proceedings. I say to Senator Lieberman, I appreciate very much the broad scope of his statement with reference to America and the world, and I thank him for stating his views, which are my views, and I think the views of an overwhelming number of Senators - 77 of them who voted for us to proceed with this approach to Iraq. I think we all know our intentions, regardless of what...

An unexpected change in Bush' schedule to visit Alamogordo, New Mexico this Sunday, October 24. George W. Bush is doing a rally in Ft. Myers, Florida Saturday morning, October 23. The change in schedule for the Bush rally was in response to the great turnout to Sen. Domenici’s early voting rally at the White Sands Mall in Alamogordo on Wednesday. The Bush campaign decided to put Alamogordo on Bush' schedule for a presidential visit before the election.

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) today issued the following statement: “The greatest criticism of Senator Kerry’s energy plan is that it ducks on all the tough issues. It is pure election year babble—long on hope but short on help. “Americans currently depend on foreign imports for more than 50 percent of oil, and Senator Kerry obviously does not have the stomach for the decisions or policies that would either reduce consumption of foreign oil or increase domestic production. “His ‘new’ energy policy contradicts his vote against a balanced National Energy Bill this year on the Senate floor....

WASHINGTON, DC— U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) issued the following statement regarding John Kerry’s upcoming trip to New Mexico: “The Kerry-Edwards ticket is the most liberal ticket in history, and their records reveal a distinct disconnect with the values, concerns and sensibilities of New Mexicans. "Just last night, Kerry and Edwards attended a fundraiser in New York City where Hollywood celebrities called President Bush a liar, thug and killer. Kerry has yet to denounce these hate-filled attacks. In fact, he said that the performers represented ‘the heart and soul of our country.’ I disagree. “The Democratic ticket combines the most...

A ranking Republican senator is challenging Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign promise to make the U.S. free from Middle East oil in 10 years by raising Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ) standards. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici Thursday not only challenged Kerry's "fatuous promise," but urged Kerry to participate in "serious energy solutions." "For 18 months, the Senate has struggled to pass an energy bill. John Kerry has missed every energy vote, including a July 2003 vote on the very CAFE proposal he now touts as America's energy salvation," Domenici said. "This week, Senator Kerry launched...

WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) - For a few moments on Thursday, the only sounds in the U.S. Senate chamber were the sobs of a grieving father. Oregon Republican Gordon Smith took the floor to introduce a youth suicide prevention bill named after his own dead son. "He saw only despair ahead and felt only pain in his present. Pain and despair so potent that he sought suicide as a release. As a release," Smith said, recalling his son Garrett, who killed himself in his college apartment last September, one day before his 22nd birthday. Smith recalled a "beautiful child, a...

Former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) may have committed an intelligence failure of his own. The prominent member of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks walked out on a high-profile interview with President Bush to meet Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.). He wanted to persuade the powerful chairman of the Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee to fund the New School University — the New York institution Kerrey runs. But the school may not get anything from Congress this year; Domenici, who met Kerrey briefly April 30, told The Hill he wasn’t even aware that his former colleague abandoned the president...

Does anyone have contact info on these Senators so we can express our appreciation? Republican senators who called for Gorelick to testify: Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Trent Lott of Mississippi, Conrad Burns of Montana; Bob Bennett of Utah; Pete Domenici of New Mexico; Don Nickles of Oklahoma; Ted Stevens of Alaska; Mitch McConnell of Kentucky; John Cornyn of Texas Norm Coleman of Minnesota.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Someone charged more than $800 to Sen. Pete Domenici's credit cards last month after he lost his wallet during a visit to Albuquerque. Speaking to a business group this week, the New Mexico Republican said he was surprised none of the cashiers who rang up the purchases raised questions when the buyer signed the six-term senator's name to a receipt. "Geez, you thought everyone knew me," Domenici said. A spokesman for Domenici said two or three credit cards were in the wallet. Before Domenici could cancel the cards, someone purchased a $500 appliance, $300 worth of...

                                    U.S. Senate                                 Committee on Armed Services,                                Washington, DC, October 9, 1998.       The President,       The White House, Washington, DC.           Dear Mr. President: We are writing to express our concern        over recent developments in Iraq.           Last February, the Senate was working on a resolution        supporting military action if diplomacy did not succeed in        convincing Saddam Hussein to comply with the United Nations        Security Council resolutions concerning the disclosure and        destruction of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. This        effort was discontinued when the Iraqi government reaffirmed        its...

Friday, August 1, 2003 Domenici Energy Reforms Shelved; Senate OKs Bingaman Bill By Michael Coleman Journal Washington Bureau     WASHINGTON— The Senate on Thursday abruptly shelved a major energy policy reform bill drafted by Sen. Pete Domenici, then resurrected and passed an older energy bill written by New Mexico's other senator, Democrat Jeff Bingaman.     The highly unusual maneuver— suggested by Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle during a morning floor debate— was viewed as the only way the Senate could approve an energy bill before the monthlong congressional recess, which begins next week.     Domenici, chairman of the Senate Energy...

<p>Senate Republicans abandoned their stalled energy bill yesterday, scuttling months of arduous political labor, and agreed to substitute the energy bill written by Democrats last year when they controlled the chamber.</p> <p>The extraordinary political maneuver, brought on by days of delaying tactics each party blamed on the other, ensures an energy bill will get to conference with the House, which passed its version in April.</p>

Although energy policy has taken a back seat since the terrorist attacks of September 11, the attacks highlighted weaknesses in the ability of the United States to withstand challenges to critical infrastructures. These attacks will force us to redouble our efforts to protect our population and the dependent infrastructure. Energy is in the class of systems to which we must direct careful attention to identify and mitigate threats. In a sense, the attacks of September 11 set a new standard against which future terrorist activities will be judged. Unfortunately, we can be sure that terrorists will now set their sights...

Democratic candidate for senate Gloria Tristani says the memory of the late Connecticut Senator Paul Wellstone will best be honored if Pete Domenici agrees to hold a debate in New Mexico. A televised forum between Tristani and Senator Domenici on Friday was canceled after Domenici said he would not appear in the matchup because he was distraught over Wellstone's sudden death in a plane crash. But Tristani says the election -- and debates that give voters insight to the candidates -- must go on. She says continuing in the campaigns will honor the memory of Wellstone's service and give New...