To guard against unfair conduct, Holder wrote, employees facing questions about "the timing of charges or overt investigative steps near the time of a primary or general election" should consult with the Public Integrity Section of the Criminal Division.
Although a comprehensive charge profile of each patient was generated, trends in the timing of charges could not be obtained.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., Representative Darrell Issa, the leading Republican on the House Oversight Committee, is demanding the SEC's documents on Goldman, arguing that the timing of the charge raises doubts about the agency's political independence, according to various news outlets.
The chief of the Scorpions, Leonard McCarthy, was accused of taking political orders on the timing of those charges.
Mr. Hynes said the timing of the charges announced on Wednesday was unrelated to the recent crane accidents.
Besides, the conversations on the tapes, however improper, apparently played no actual role in the timing of the charges against Mr. Zuma.
Goldman's defenders reckon the timing of the charges was motivated more by political considerations than the completeness of the S.E.C.'s case.
The timing of the charges, in particular, raises questions, said Issandr el-Amrani, a writer and political analyst who blogs at the Arabist.
Thursday's filing includes a letter Mr. Dowd sent to the S.E.C. on Monday urging it to reconsider the timing of its charges against Mr. Gupta because of the negative impact it could have on Mr. Rajaratnam's jury selection.
So the timing of these charges, at least, is surely less than ideal.And yet less than 48 hours after the indictments were announced it was worth asking whether Mr Perry was born lucky.
