Old Pete must be getting worried:

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 congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), who is now serving time in prison for bribery and other offenses, 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 opened a preliminary inquiry into the matter, which will examine Iglesias’s and Domenici’s differing accounts of the phone call.

This is how one phone call can ruin your life. You think a lawmaker in our nation would know better.