Crossposted at AZnetroots

The ongoing investigation into the firing of a group of U.S. Attorneys deemed not loyal enough to President Bush is surely being watched closely by two people - Republican Congressman Rick Renzi and his opponent, Democrat Ellen Simon.

Yesterday, NPR reported on the scandals plaguing Renzi and found that support, even among local Republicans, is hard to find.

Renzi is a key player in the U.S. Attorney firings. In 2006, Renzi, was being investigated by then-U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton for a land deal that netted a Renzi donor over $3 million. Renzi later received $200,000 from the donor - an amount he failed to disclose to the House.

A month before the election, Renzi's top aide, Brian Murray, called Charlton's office to inquire about the investigation in a move that some believe could be taken as an attempt to delay the investigation until after the election.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the DoJ appeared to be dragging its feet in the investigation saying that investigators had been trying to get clearance from senior DoJ officials for a year before the election. In a hilarious move, Renzi told reporters that he thinks the whole thing was part of a secret plan by the Republican controlled Department of Justice to give his seat to a Democrat. Seriously, we couldn't make that one up.

The Department of Justice scandal continues to unfold as Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, Alberto Gonzalez's number-two man at the Department of Justice, resigned on Monday. Renzi, remember, is a key figure in the U.S. Attorney scandal. This comes just days after a Federal judge granted immunity to former DoJ official Monica Goodling.

Goodling, herself under investigation by the DoJ's inspector general and ethics office, was White House liaison for the DoJ, and appears to be responsible for carrying out much of the political gaming going on at DoJ. Now that Goodling has been granted immunity, it'll be interesting to see what comes out in further hearings about Republican manipulation at the DoJ and the Renzi investigation.