Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher
Assistant Attorney General Alice Fisher and her coworkers at the Public Integrity Division of the Justice Department's criminal division are at the helm of the Washington corruption probe.

President Bush recess appointed Fisher to her current post in August 2005. She previously worked on the government's Whitewater Development investigation during the Clinton administration and later on an investigation into the financial dealings of now defunct energy giant Enron.

"She's not some pushover; she's a tough lawyer," said Eric Bernthal, a former colleague of Fisher's, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Prior to becoming assistant attorney general, Fisher was the division's second in command under then chief and current Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. In that role, she helped set the Bush administration's post-9/11 terrorism policy and worked on uncovering corporate fraud.

Fisher, a Kentucky native, graduated from Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington in 1992.