Yesterday,  Attorney General Michael Mukasey named Nora Dannehy as the special prosecutor, in the investigation of the firings of the U.S. Attorneys.  Ms. Dannehy is well-known in Connecticut.  She help convict the Governor.  The Hartford Courant provided some background:

Dannehy, a career prosecutor known for winning convictions against Gov. John G. Rowland and state Treasurer Paul Silvester, was named by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey to investigate "unanswered" questions about the Bush administration's dismissal of the U.S. attorneys, which was widely assailed as being politically motivated.

Dannehy's appointment followed the release Monday of a report on an 18-month-long, internal Justice Department investigation that concluded top department officials "abdicated their responsibility" by failing to supervise subordinates who carried out the nine dismissals. What's more, the inquiry found "significant evidence" that partisan political factors played a role in some of the dismissals.

The report, by the Justice Department offices of Inspector General and Professional Responsibility, said that former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "bears primary responsibility" for what amounted to a series of botched removals. But it said that gaps remain in the investigation because of the refusal by key witnesses — among them former White House officials Karl Rove and Harriet Miers and U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M. — to submit to interviews.

The authors of the report recommended that Mukasey name a special counsel to "ultimately determine whether the evidence demonstrates that any criminal offense was committed with regard to the removal of any U.S. Attorney, or with regard to the testimony of any witness related to the U.S. Attorney removals."

"Alberto Gonzalez is in trouble," said Connecticut defense attorney Hugh Keefe, who traded blows with Dannehy while representing Rowland co-chief of staff Peter N. Ellef Sr. in the corruption prosecution that led to the imprisonment of both Ellef and Rowland.

"She is analytical and she is thorough, and if she suspects wrongdoing she will not let it go."