Last September, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) opened an investigation “into whether partisan politics were a factor in the Justice Department’s prosecution of former Democratic Alabama governor Don Siegelman on corruption charges in 2006.” But a memo written last January by OSC career investigators has revealed that OSC chief Scott Bloch — whose office and home were recently raided by the FBI — ordered the Siegelman case closed, “saying that he had not authorized it.” According to the memo, Bloch also diverted focus and attention from other high profile cases, including the political activities of former White House aide Karl Rove and DoJ’s hiring practices:

Among various concerns, the staffers said the office’s probe of the political briefings was overly broad. [...] They recommend narrowing the focus and completing key interviews before proceeding with the related probe into Rove’s activities. [...]

The career investigators also wrote of their long-standing desire to open a probe into allegations that certain Justice Department officials considered political affiliation in their hiring and promotion decisions. Bloch told them not to open one last August, then approved a limited investigation in November. In their memo, the staffers pushed for more.

Michael Isikoff reports that the guy John McCain picked to run the GOP convention has done some lobbying for the military junta that rules Burma. Then there’s this dissonant element of the analysis: “But some allies worry that Goodyear’s selection could fuel perceptions that McCain—who has portrayed himself as a crusader against special interests—is surrounded by lobbyists.”

But it’s not just a perception that McCain is surrounded by lobbyists, he’s actually surrounded by lobbyists. This is a quantifiable reality of McCain’s campaign — it’s chock full ‘o lobbyists.