Docked for Duty?

Those duties expanded in recent years, with the advent of the war on terrorism. In addition to prosecuting routine JAG Corps cases at naval bases in San Diego and Washington state, Iglesias told NEWSWEEK he was also enlisted to teach courses for allied military and intelligence officers at the Defense Institute of International Legal Studies at the U.S. Naval Station in Newport, R.I.—and at the Joint Special Operations University in Florida.

"I've taught foreign special forces on legal issues related to law enforcement and military operations," Iglesias said, in an e-mail exchange with NEWSWEEK. The courses focus in part on the use of military versus law-enforcement rules of engagement. "I try to get them to think of what rules of force apply to terrorists," he said.

But it wasn't until months after he was abruptly terminated as U.S. attorney last December that Iglesias was surprised to discover that his time away from the office doing his military service may have been a factor—or at least was being cited as a factor—in his dismissal.

In February, when the controversy over the abrupt firings of eight U.S. attorneys erupted, top Justice Department officials prepared internal "talking points" for Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, who was preparing to answer questions about the dismissals before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The talking points, part of thousands of pages of internal Justice Department documents released last month, show that officials listed "performance-related" reasons that McNulty could cite to explain why Iglesisas was fired. The second reason given was that Iglesias was "perceived to be an "absentee landlord" who relies on the first assistant U.S. attorney to run the office." (In one version of the talking points, the words "absentee landlord" are underlined.)

Although McNulty never addressed the specific reasons for Iglesias's firing in his Feb. 6 public testimony, a Justice Department official (who asked not to be identified talking about sensitive matters) confirmed that the deputy attorney general later mentioned the "absentee landlord" factor in a private briefing for congressional staffers.

To be sure, Justice officials cited other reasons, as well. They described Iglesias in the talking points as "under performing generally" and as a "lackluster manager."