In a move that could signal its intention to go to court against two Internet giants, the U.S. Justice Department has hired the former head of its antitrust division to look at a revenue-sharing deal between Google and Yahoo Inc.

Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, a biomedical researcher, is no longer a person of interest in the investigation of the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States.

The KGB had a slogan: “Show me the man, and I’ll find you his crime.”

Which is to say that just because New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer hung himself by becoming Client 9 in the federal complaint against an alleged prostitution ring doesn’t mean that a Republican-controlled Justice Department wasn’t out to get him.

John Ashcroft was a controversial figure while he was U.S. attorney general. He held regular prayer meetings with his staff, ordered a semi-nude statue of Lady Justice at the Justice Department covered, and was a major proponent of the much-disputed Patriot Act.

Although he left the Bush administration nearly three years ago, controversy continues to stalk him as he builds a lobbying and consulting practice.

At issue is a federal contract worth potentially $52 million for the Ashcroft Group, a Washington-based company founded and led by Ashcroft. The contract was approved by Christopher Christie, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, one of Ashcroft’s senior employees at the Justice Department.

President Bush nominated former judge Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general on Monday.

As a federal judge in New York, Mukasey has presided over a number of high-profile terror cases, including those of defendants in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He also signed the arrest warrant against Jose Padilla.

The nomination indicates a desire on both sides of the aisle to fill the post quickly, with minimal conflict. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) described Mukasey as “a lot better than some of the other names mentioned.” At the other end of the spectrum, conservative editor William Kristol also endorsed Mukasey.

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, under intense fire from both Democrats, resigned today.

Saying he had “lived the American dream,” Gonzales announced that he would leave office Sept. 17. He had received heated criticism for the firing of nine assistant U.S. attorneys, and for his congressional testimony about domestic surveillance programs.

President Bush said he had accepted the resignation reluctantly. Gonzales, he said, had been “dragged through the mud for political reasons.”