No Charges Filed in Bush-Era Firing of David Iglesias, Other U.S. Attorneys

"Evidence did not demonstrate that any prosecutable criminal offense was committed with regard to the removal of David Iglesias," prosecutors said in a letter to Congress. "The investigative team also determined that the evidence did not warrant expanding the scope of the investigation beyond the removal of Iglesias."

Iglesias was highly regarded in New Mexico, but had upset Republicans in his state, who complained Iglesias was not pursuing corruption cases against Democrats aggressively enough. Democrats claimed that the firing of Iglesias and others was politically motivated by the Bush Justice Department as a way to influence criminal cases.

The scandal eventually contributed to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Nora Dannehy, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, faulted the Justice Department for firing Iglesias without looking into whether complaints about him were based in fact. That indicated "an undue sensitivity to politics on the part of DOJ officials who should answer not to partisan politics but to principles of fairness and justice," the Justice Department wrote in its letter Wednesday.

Harriet Miers, White House counsel under Bush, testified before Congress that administration adviser Karl Rove was "very agitated" over Iglesias "and wanted something done about it." Rove has insisted he played no role in the firings and that the dismissals weren't politically motivated.