The Obama campaign general counsel, Bob Bauer, has demanded that Michael Mukasey expand the scope of Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy's investigation to include Republican claims of voter fraud in this election.

As a reminder, Dannehy was appointed to investigate the US Attorney firings. Arguing that Republicans' bogus claims of "vote fraud" are the same kind of misconduct as firing a bunch of US Attorneys in 2006 was, Bauer says Dannehy should include current Republican activities in her investigation.

The Dannehy investigation concerns, most fundamentally, abuse of the law enforcement process to advance, in the name of combating "voting fraud", a partisan political agenda. The appointment of a Special Prosecutor was required because the Department's leadership was the focus of the investigation and unable to credibly undertake an independent, professional and credible inquiry.

Now, on the emerging evidence of recent conduct undertaken by Bush Administration officials, Republican party officials, and representatives of the McCain-Palin campaign, it appears that further misconduct of the same nature, directly relevant to the work of the Special Prosecutor, requires that the scope of the Special Prosecutor's assignment be expanded.

Accordingly, I request that Special Prosecutor Dannehy's inquiry incldue a review of any involvement by Justice Department and White House officials in supporting the McCain-Palin campaign and the Republican National Committee ("RNC")'s systematic development and dissemination of unsupported, spurious allegations of vote fraud. It is highly likely that the very sort of politically motivated conduct identified in the Department's investigation to date, necessitating the appointment of a Special Prosecutor, is repeating itself, and for the same reason: unwarranted and politically motivated intervention in the upcoming election.

Shorter Obama campaign: Republicans are already under criminal investigation for this stuff. Don't let them get away with the same kind of criminal conduct again.

We're not dealing with 2000 or 2004's Democratic Party anymore.