The Times' coverage of disgraced (now-former) Gov. Eliot Spitzer has for the most part been pretty tough, albeit delivered with a sense of righteous disappointment, the downfall of a noble crusader.
And then there's this, on the front page of Wednesday's Metro section, "The Reports [1]That Drew Federal Eyes To Spitzer [1]," by David Johnston and Stephen Labaton from Washington.
The eighth paragraph applies a light brushing of the vast right-wing conspiracy motif, a coloring often employed by the paper when a Democrat gets in trouble (like the paper's conspiracy-mindedness over the plight of former Alabama [2] Gov. Don Siegelman [2]).
The federal officials sought to emphasize that Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, had not been singled out by the Republican administration, although allegations of political interference dogged the Justice Department during the tenure of the former attorney general, Alberto R. Gonzales, who left office last year after lawmakers in both parties called for his removal. The Spitzer investigation began in July and Mr. Gonzales resigned in August last year; it is not clear whether he knew about it.