Parting Shot?

by digby

There’s lots of new information in this NY Times article about the allegedly suspicious financial transactions that led the Feds to Spitzer’s call girl habit. It’s still vague about how these scrappy investigators came to be interested in the finances of the governor of New York, but I assume that will be dealt with. Meanwhile, I found this tidbit interesting:

The rendezvous that established Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s involvement with high-priced prostitutes occurred last month in one of Washington’s grandest hotels, but the criminal investigation that discovered the tryst began last year in a nondescript office building opposite a Dunkin’ Donuts on Long Island, according to law enforcement officials.
[…]

Soon, the I.R.S. agents, from the agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, were working with F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors from Manhattan who specialize in political corruption.The inquiry, like many such investigations, was a delicate one. Because the focus was a high-ranking government official, prosecutors were required to seek the approval of the United States attorney general to proceed. Once they secured that permission, the investigation moved forward.

I’m just wondering when exactly last year that permission was sought. Rove and Gonzales both resigned in August of 07 under a cloud for a plot to fire US Attorneys who refused to trump up charges of “voter fraud” and pursue cases against Democratic politicians. Mukasey was sworn in in November. Peter D. Keisler was acting attorney general during the interim. Which one ordered the investigation?

Update: Fired US Attorney David Iglesias is not sitting down and shutting up. He’s written a book, due out in June. Dahlia Lithwick discusses it here.

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