Law Firm Dems Hired to Probe Attorney Firings Gave Heavily to Dem Campaigns

This is a developing story, so there's room for it to play out a bit, but the law firm congressional Democrats are hiring to help plow through the U.S. attorney firings, Arnold & Porter, has a history of heavy donations towards Democrats.

From the last two paragraphs of a March 28 Associated Press story:

[House Judiciary Committee Chairman John] Conyers , meanwhile, has signed a contract with the law firm Arnold & Porter worth up to $225,000 through the end of the year to help with the investigation.

Republicans said the contract, which was first reported by The Washington Times, was evidence that Democrats were willing to invest taxpayer money in efforts to conduct political investigations of the administration.

The AP story doesn't mention it, but the lion's share of political donations in recent years coming from Arnold & Porter employees has flowed to Democratic candidates, PACs, and Democratic Party committees (pre-2002 and the soft money ban). You can find a comprehensive list of donations from the firms attorneys and staff at OpenSecrets.org.

While a few attorneys donated to conservative Republicans such as former Sen. Rick Santorum or President Bush, liberal Republicans such as Sen. Arlen Spector (Pa.) former Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.I.) and former Rep. Connie Morella (Md.) were far more common recipients of donations from the firm's attorneys.