Compliments of Matt Drudge:
"The investigation of strip club owner Michael Galardi and numerous politicians appears to be the first time federal authorities have used the Patriot Act in a public corruption probe.
Government officials said Tuesday they knew of no other instances in which federal agents investigating allegations such as racketeering and bribery of politicians have employed the act.
"I don't know that it's been used in a public corruption case before this," said Mark Corallo, a spokesman for the Justice Department."
Watch the wrap.
I always thought the image of a "loose cannon" was pretty powerful - imagine yourself on an old man-0'-war in a storm and one of those cannons breaks loose from its retaining ropes and starts rolling all over the deck you're standing on.
Brad Hitch