Has the AG's office dropped the corruption ball?

Is Chris Christie extending his investigations into Union County? Or even Plainfield?, several readers have asked.

I don't know -- though Mildred Crump's chief of staff is quoted as saying he had Elizabeth contacts and could do corrupt business there.

But I can tell you who probably is NOT extending a corruption investigation anywhere -- the State Attorney General's office.

Though they do great on gangs, guns, and gambling -- there seems to be little enthusiasm for going after political corruption, on either side of the aisle.

This was brought home in the story in Sunday's Ledger, reporting the complaint of sexual harassment and political corruption made by former Mims Hackett aide Laverne Ballard.

The kicker in the story is not the sexual harassment angle (Hackett has been accused before), but the acknowledgment that Essex County prosecutor had reviewed her complaints in May, felt they needed further review, and forwarded them to the Attorney General's office.

(Plainfield readers will note Ballard's termination was handled by Jewel Thompson-Chin, Orange's business administrator, who once worked in Plainfield's city hall.)

This comes behind the Ledger story of a week earlier detailing how the sting went down, in which we learned that after an honest school board member in Pleasantville had forced an investigation, the attorneys who looked into the matter were directed by the school board to forward their report to the AG's office for further action.

"We never got any reply," said George Frino, the attorney who led the investigation.

So, is it fair to ask if this dog can't -- or won't -- hunt?

Or maybe we should just be glad it's the US Attorney who seems to have the time, the resources, and the inclination to pursue corruption.

Now, when IS he coming to Union County?