Obviously the Department of Justice has been going through some issues of of late, no question. Spinning out of a recent New York Times article is tidbit worth mentioning in these parts - one of the bits of information that has been released in the U.S. Attorney hiring investigation is the "bad words" Lexis query, passed down from the White House, that DOJ staffers were instructed to use in vetting potential hires -- part of what the DOJ called The Thorough Process of Investigation:

[first name of a candidate] and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!

Ahhh the old audit trail. It'll get you every time. More here.

-- MDT