First the good news: the Justice department recently had a sit-down with erstwhile mining lobbyist and ex-Interior deputy Stephen Griles and outlined the federal criminal charges he faces.

Presumably they also brought photos of his potential future roommate, Bubba, in an effort to get him to flip on his former boss, Gale Norton.

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Now for the better news:

With the prospect of Griles’s indictment, a senior Justice Department official — who Interior employees said has been dating Griles — tendered her resignation this week.

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Sue Ellen Wooldridge, assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources for the past year, submitted a letter of resignation Monday saying that she intends to return to the private sector, a Justice Department official said yesterday.

Wooldridge served as Interior Department solicitor and as deputy chief of staff to then-Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton before moving to Justice in November 2005.

I heard they were all in bed together, but I thought it was just a figure of speech.

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