The Justice Department is mulling whether to have prosecutors and FBI agents from Manhattan take an active role in the ongoing probe of Sen. Joseph Bruno‘s business dealings, several sources told Newsday.

Bruno, who stepped down Tuesday as Republican leader in the State Senate, has been under investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany. It would be unusual for FBI agents and prosecutors to take an active role or take over an inquiry initially spearheaded by another federal law enforcement district.

Fueling talk about the status of the Bruno investigation was the presence in Albany this week of Boyd Johnson from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, along with downstate FBI agents, sources said. Johnson, head of the Southern District public corruption unit, is supervising the probe of former Gov. Eliot Spitzer‘s alleged involvement with prostitutes.

Johnson and the agents were seen going through boxes of records in federal offices in Albany this week, according to one source.

But officials would not confirm whether Johnson or the Southern District were actively involved in the Bruno investigation. Bruno has denied any wrongdoing.

Separately, two sources confirmed yesterday that 30 or so boxes of documents from Bruno’s state offices were delivered Monday to prosecutors in Albany in response to a request made in March. The sources said they did not believe Bruno was aware of the handover when he announced that day he wouldn’t seek re-election this fall.

A lawyer for Bruno, William J. Dreyer of Albany, yesterday denied any involvement by Manhattan prosecutors in the case. “The inquiry … has been conducted solely by the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York and not by anyone else,” he said.

Dreyer also denied a report in the Daily News that he contacted prosecutors recently to find out if the probe would end if the senator retired.

Source: Newsday