Hmmmm….It appears that his 2006 Senate campaign paid $37,000 to Brown Sugar Unlimited, a catering company run by his sister.

OK, that is unseemly, why is it likely illegal? Because the company had filed to dissolve 11 months before the payment.

There also appear to be questionable money transfers, which pissed off the Maryland Republican Party, and significant payments to a law firm for work never done.

How did the Washington Post find out about this?

The U.S. attorney’s office inadvertently sent the confidential document, a defense sentencing memorandum filed under seal [for Alan B. Fabian who was being prosecuted under unrelated fraud charges], to The Washington Post after the newspaper requested the prosecution’s sentencing memorandum.

Which seems to me to be a hit job, and the motivations could be:

• A disgruntled ‘Phants in the Maryland party.
• A disgruntled prosecutor, who wanted the investigation to proceed.
• It could just be a hit from someone who just does not like Steele.

Note, however, that the US Attorney is still a Republican appointee, so if it’s a hit, it’s an internecine affair.