The disclosure that the two watchdogs are focusing on the Civil Rights Division marks an expansion to a new arena of the Justice Department of an ongoing investigation into whether politics played a role in the firing of nine US attorneys in 2006. The probe has widened to encompass allegations that the administration has used its control of the Justice Department to gain a partisan edge.

"This is to notify you that we have expanded the scope of our investigation to include allegations regarding improper political and other considerations in hiring decisions within the Department of Justice," wrote Inspector General Glenn Fine and Office of Professional Responsibility chief Marshall Jarrett , who are conducting a joint inquiry.

Under federal law, officials may not take political affiliation into account when hiring career professionals, permanent, non-partisan employees who stay on when an administration changes. But last week, a former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales , Monica Goodling , told Congress that she had "crossed the line" by attempting to block liberal applicants from being hired as career assistant prosecutors and immigration judges.

Goodling, a key figure in the US attorney firings who resigned in April, was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony. While it was known that Goodling's hiring practices were under investigation, the letter made clear for the first time that the internal probe has now been extended to hiring by other administration appointees as well.

"Among the issues that we intend to investigate are allegations regarding Monica Goodling's and others' actions in DOJ hiring and personnel decisions; allegations concerning hiring for the DOJ Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program; and allegations concerning hiring practices in the DOJ Civil Rights Division," they wrote.

The offices did not disclose whom else they are investigating. Dean Boyd , a Justice spokesman, declined to comment on the probe's expansion.

"That's what the campaign will be all about for him -- persuading a significant portion of the party that he truly is the right leader for a set of issues and an outlook on the world," said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster.

By tomorrow, aides said, the actor and former senator from Tennessee will incorporate a committee called Friends of Fred Thompson and will begin actively raising money for a White House bid. He launched the fundraising effort this week in a conference call with more than 100 supporters, whom he has dubbed his "First Day Founders."

Within the next few weeks, advisers say, a real campaign will take shape, even without a final decision or formal announcement. A Web site will be posted, campaign headquarters will be selected, and a staff will be hired. The signature red pickup truck from Thompson's Senate campaigns will be dusted off.

A senior adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Thompson has not formally announced his intentions, said he is confident about the future.

"This is not someone who is awkward in his own skin," the adviser said. "This will not be a D.C.-centric campaign. He has natural assets that appeal to conservatives, but at the same time he is not threatening to independents and Democrats."

Thompson will give a speech in Virginia this weekend and is scheduled to appear next month on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." An announcement could come as soon as the first week of July, using the hoopla of the national holiday as a backdrop. But those plans are in flux and could change, two sources said yesterday. One source said a formal announcement is likely to come "around that time."

As a lawmaker, Thompson exuded a folksy charm that supporters say could help him capture the attention of many Republican primary voters. His decades of movie and television appearances give him an immediate national presence that rivals that of the others in the campaign. Thompson has played District Attorney Arthur Branch on "Law & Order," but he told the television show he will not return in September, although he did not indicate any political intentions, producer Dick Wolf said in a statement.

Thompson, a senator from 1994 to 2003 and a guest host on Paul Harvey's show on ABC Radio, has already begun to reach out to party conservatives. He has been outspoken in his support of the war in Iraq and blasted the immigration deal reached in the Senate. He recently used a spat with liberal filmmaker Michael Moore to draw attention on conservative blogs, issued a Web video featuring himself chomping a cigar and chiding Moore for going to Cuba to film part of his new documentary.

Republican strategists predicted yesterday that Thompson will get an immediate boost in the polls by entering the race. "I think overnight he becomes the alternative," one strategist said.

Plaintiff attorney Judith L. Spanier, who said the class would contain about 80,000 current and former Wal-Mart employees, said similar cases were pending in other states.A spokesman for Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had no immediate comment on the ruling.

The Supreme Court found that the class should be certified because common questions of law outweigh individual issues, and that the class-action lawsuit is the better method to handle the dispute.

Lawyers for the two present Ernst & Young partners, Richard Shapiro and Martin Nissenbaum, said in statements that their clients had not engaged in any wrongdoing, and were cooperating with authorities. Lawyers for former partners Robert Coplan and Brian Vaughn have not yet commented on the case.

A Bahraini detainee held without charges since January 2002 threatened suicide in a letter released by his lawyer last Sunday, citing despair at his open-ended detention and conditions at the facility. Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives passed an amendment to a defense spending bill that would require the Pentagon to develop a Guantanamo shutdown plan.

The lawsuit alleges that GE pays female lawyers and women in entry-level executive jobs less than men. The lawsuit also accuses the Fairfield-based GE of failing to promote its female entry level executives, or executive band employees, at the same rate it promotes men in the same jobs.

A call was placed to GE Thursday morning seeking comment.

Schaefer is asking a judge to certify a class of 1,500 plaintiffs that includes female entry-level executives and all female lawyers, potentially seeking damages of $500 million.

"It's a corporate culture. You know you're in a very male-dominated culture," said Schaefer, who as general counsel was the top legal officer for Erie, Pa.-based GE Transportation.

Schaefer, 43, accused GE in her lawsuit of failing to promote female lawyers from senior professional level to executive, from executive to senior executive and from senior executive to the officer level at the same rate as it promotes male lawyers.

Schaefer was an executive band employee since 1997 and a GE employee since 1994. She said she decided to sue in April after learning that she was to be demoted from her job, which paid $380,000 last year, including bonuses.

Executives, including chairman and chief executive Jeff Immelt, decided she was to be replaced by a "big-time general counsel," she said.

"I had never heard those terms, 'big-time general counsel," she said.

Schaefer said she was placed on paid administrative leave earlier this month when she complained about the impending demotion.

The lawsuit, which seeks an injunction to halt GE's pay and promotion policies and practices, names Immelt and numerous other executives.

The lawsuit says Immelt has taken responsibility for changing the top leadership of GE since he became chief executive in 2001. But female senior professional employees comprise about 20 percent, "a disproportionately small percentage," Schaefer says in her lawsuit.

"Women at GE have remained in this disproportionately underrepresented level for the past five years since CEO Immelt took," the lawsuit says.

GE Transportation, a part of the corporation's infrastructure unit, posted revenue of nearly $4.2 billion last year. It comprises aircraft engine and locomotive manufacturing and motorized systems for mining trucks and drills, gas turbines for marine and industrial applications.