The Justice Department opens a criminal probe into allegations that Republican staffers downloaded and read Democratic memos. The Justice Department is opening a criminal investigation into allegations that Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee improperly accessed computerized memos by their Democratic counterparts between 2001 and 2003, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the committee’s top Democrat, said Monday. The department has assigned the investigation to David N. Kelley, the U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, Leahy said. “This is a serious matter that deserves and requires careful investigation,” Leahy said in a statement issued Monday evening after receiving a letter about the investigation from Assistant Atty. Gen. William E. Moschella. Full Story