Cannon, R-Utah, argued on ''Fox News Sunday'' there was no evidence political motivations were behind the termination of ex-U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, who, as a former Judge Advocate General lawyer, was part of the inspiration for Tom Cruise's character in the movie "A Few Good Men."

"He was fired because he's an idiot," Cannon said on the news program, adding later, "This is a guy who is clearly not competent to do his job and one of the few people who were decided - it was decided that he should leave his job because of competency"

Iglesias was one of eight federal prosecutors dismissed as part of a 2006 purge, seven of whom were fired in December. Iglesias claims he was subjected to political pressure over his handling of a corruption case.

New Mexico Republican Sen. Pete Domenici made repeated phone calls to the Justice Department and to White House political adviser Karl Rove to complain about Iglesias' handling of voter fraud investigations and a corruption case involving Democrats.

Democrats, who now control Congress, have held several hearings questioning whether the White House was attempting to pursue a political vendetta against the prosecutors for not towing the Republican line.

Iglesias said Monday that Cannon doesn't have the facts and is now "stooping" to the level of name-calling.

"The evidence was pretty clear I was doing a good job," Iglesias said. "I was taken out for political reasons and Chris Cannon doesn't have the truth so he has to lash out with personal attacks, which I think are beneath the dignity of his office."

Iglesias says his DOJ evaluations have "nothing but good things to say about me," and he was heralded in a January 2006 letter from the Executive Office for United States Attorneys for his "exemplary leadership."

In his appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Kyle Sampson, the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a Utah native, who orchestrated the firings, praised Iglesias and said he regretted having included Iglesias in the firings.

Cannon backtracked a bit Monday from his comments on the news program.

"While he would have preferred more time to explain why his firing was deserved, Mr. Iglesias' temperamental and puerile appearance before the Judiciary Committee, coupled with his subsequent outrageous statements on the talk show circuit, demonstrates why he did not belong on the same panel as the other dismissed, yet competent and capable, professional U.S. attorneys," Cannon spokesman Fred Piccolo said.

The investigation by Democrats has uncovered no corruption, Piccolo added. "Instead, it has made one man's bruised ego a national scandal at the expense of real issues."

Fernando Cuevas, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said that Cannon's comments "illustrate the House Republicans' belief that they are somehow above the law, from their support of Libby's commuted sentence to their refusal to cooperate with the U.S. attorney investigation."

Cuevas was referring to President Bush's commutation of the 30-month sentence given to former White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, and the Bush administration's decision to invoke executive privilege not to have two top advisers testify before a congressional committee.

For his part, Iglesias says it's unfortunate politicians like Cannon are launching into "ad hominem" attacks. "This is the kind of angry rhetoric that I think the American people are really tired of hearing and reading," he said.

tburr@sltrib.com