The Bush Justice Department - Problem # 417 and Counting

The folks at McClatchy, formerly Knight Ridder, really seem to have one heck of a news bureau these days...

Right now, they're reporting:

WASHINGTON - A senior Justice Department official has resigned after coming under scrutiny in the Department’s expanding investigation of convicted super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to a Justice Department official with knowledge of the case.

Making the situation more awkward for the embattled Department, the official, Robert E. Coughlin II, was deputy chief of staff for the criminal division, which is overseeing the Department’s probe of Abramoff.

If you ask me, this news is rather surprising. With this administration, I figured Coughlin would stay on at least until he finished investigating himself and his friends.