WASHINGTON (AP) – The Justice Department said Monday that Senator Domenici, Republican of New Mexico called Attorney General Alberto Gonzales four times to complain about a Federal prosecutor who claims he was fired for not rushing a corruption probe.

Mr. Domenici acknowledged Sunday that he contacted the David Iglesias, the top federal prosecutor in New Mexico, in October 2006 to ask about his investigation into an alleged Democratic kickback scheme. But Mr. Domenici insists he never pressured or threatened Iglesias, though he said he had long sought Mr. Iglesias’ ouster.

On Monday, Justice officials said that Mr. Domenici had called Mr. Gonzales on three occasions – September 2005, as well as in January and April 2006 – to question whether Iglesias was “up to the job.”

In the first week of October 2006, Mr. Domenici then made another “similar and very brief call about the U.S. attorney’s performance,” said Justice spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

“During those calls, Senator Domenici – who initially recommended David Iglesias for the position – expressed general concerns about the performance of U.S. Attorney Iglesias and questioned whether he was ‘up to the job,'” Mr. Roehrkasse said. “At no time in these calls did the senator mention the public corruption case.”

The new details come as lawmakers say they have many questions about whether the Bush administration’s ouster of at least eight top Federal prosecutors was politically motivated. Two sets of hearings – one in the House and one in the Senate – are slated for Tuesday, with Iglesias and at least three other fired federal prosecutors set to testify along with a Justice Department official and others.

Mr. Domenici had said earlier in the week that he didn’t know what Iglesias was talking about. But Sunday, he acknowledged that he called Iglesias to ask about the criminal investigation.

Mr. Domenici’s statement adds a new dimension to Democrats’ inquiry.

Mr. Iglesias has insisted that he received strong performance reviews. He says he is certain that the call for his ouster was neither performance-related nor the result of any misconduct.

But Domenici said he had been growing frustrated with Iglesias’ work and had recommended months before calling him in October that the Justice Department replace him. Mr. Domenici said Mr. Iglesias’ office seemed unable to move more quickly on immigration and other high-profile cases, even as Domenici worked to get them more resources.

Ethics experts said Domenici’s conduct may have violated Senate rules, which generally bar communications between members of Congress and federal prosecutors about ongoing criminal investigations.

“The plot continues to thicken,” said Senator Schumer, Democrat of New York. “No one believes any more these U.S. attorneys were fired for any good reason, and we will start to uncover the real truth at our hearing on Tuesday.”

Mr. Iglesias, a Republican, has said he would not name the lawmakers unless asked under oath.

But in his statement Sunday, Mr. Domenici said he had a brief conversation with Mr. Iglesias last year and asked “if he could tell me what was going on in that investigation and give me an idea of what time frame we were looking at.”

“In retrospect, I regret making that call and I apologize,” Mr. Domenici said. “However, at no time in that conversation or any other conversation with Mr. Iglesias did I ever tell him what course of action I thought he should take on any legal matter. I have never pressured him nor threatened him in any way.”

Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who specializes in congressional ethics rules, said Mr. Domenici’s phone call to Mr. Iglesias could have violated Senate ethics rules if there was an element of pressure or coercion to his inquiry.

“It doesn’t sound very good to me,” Mr, Gross said. “But requests for the status of cases are generally considered permissible.”

Punishment for such violations range from a warning and reprimand to expulsion from office.

Abbe D. Lowell, a criminal defense lawyer who served as special assistant to the attorney general during the Carter administration, said it was hard to determine if there was a violation without knowing what Domenici knew about the investigation when he made the call and what exactly he said.

Mr. Iglesias, who serves in the Navy Reserve and partially inspired the Tom Cruise character in the 1992 movie “A Few Good Men,” said last week that he was shocked to receive two separate phone calls in mid-October from lawmakers who asked about details of the investigation and seemed eager to see an indictment before the 2006 election.

“I frankly felt violated,” Mr. Iglesias said. “They were very troubling phone calls.”

Mr. Iglesias is expected to testify Tuesday that Mr. Domenici and Representative Heather Wilson, Republican of New Mexico, contacted him to discuss moving forward on indictments in a high-profile corruption case involving a Democrat before the November congressional elections, according to a Democratic aide who is familiar with Iglesias’ planned testimony.

The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly before the hearings.

Ms. Wilson’s office did not return repeated calls for comment Sunday.

Ms. Wilson last week refused to say if she had contacted Mr. Iglesias, referring questions about “that personnel matter” to the Justice Department.

The Justice Department has defended its decision to dismiss the U.S. attorneys, saying some were fired for performance reasons.

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Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report.