Michael Levy (DOJ)

The interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Michael Levy, has launched a regional working group aimed at combating fraud related to the federal economic stimulus package approved earlier this year, The Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

The group, which will hold its first meeting Friday, was spawned at the encouragement of the Justice Department, which asked U.S. Attorneys offices nationwide to begin hosting such working groups in an effort to create an open dialogue among government agencies. DOJ hopes such efforts will aid in the development of a plan to reduce fraud related to the billions of dollars made available through the stimulus package and other federal programs.

More than 80 prosecutors, agents, auditors and other personnel from more than 20 federal, state and local government agencies in Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey will participate in the meeting, which will be the first in a series, according to the newspaper.

The Department of Justice top leadership is joining Vice President Joe Biden in Philadelphia on Tuesday to hold another big press event announcing law enforcement stimulus grants, this time in the presidential battleground state of Pennsylvania.

Last month, the venue was Michigan. Read our previous report here.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli will represent the DOJ at the Philly news conference, where they will appear alongside embattled Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine of New Jersey. Polls show Corzine, who is running for reelection in November, trailing his Republican challenger, former New Jersey U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

The Associated Press’s Devlin Barrett got the scoop on where the money will go in advance of the official annoucement. Barrett led with the news that New York, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Houston had been left out of the COPS program sweepstakes, in which the federal government picks up salary and benefits for local police for three years.

But we found it equally interesting that places like Mobile, Ala., and Salt Lake City, Utah, are getting COPS funds. Mobile is the home town of the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions, while another Senate Judiciary Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch, is from near Salt Lake. Both Sessions and Hatch have announced they will oppose President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court.

According to The AP, around 1000 localities are getting COPS money to pay for 4,699 officers.

The roughly 1,000 places getting COPS aid also include: Mobile, Ala., Mesa, Ariz., Tulare County, Calif., Monroe County, Fla., the Seminole Tribe of Florida, Baltimore, Providence, R.I., Salt Lake City, Utah, and Huntington, W.Va

Under the COPS program, the federal government pays the officers’ salary and benefits for three years, after which the local government is responsible for the costs.

Also slated to appear at Tuesday’s press conference are Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter — Democrats all. The Philadelphia police commissioner, Charles Ramsey, who is a former District of Columbia police chief, will also be there.

The $787 billion stimulus package, known as the  American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, was signed into law in February. It contained $4 billion for the Department of Justice to distribute to local and tribal law enforcement and the COPS program.

The Obama administration has been methodically deploying cabinet officials to score political points for quite a while now.  This strategic deployment has been especially common for top DOJ officials, as we have reported in the past.  Among other things, there was Associate Attorney General Tom Perrelli touting a tribal justice initiative in Niagara Falls and Perrelli traveling to Detroit to support the auto industry and announce a $10 million grant for more Detroit police officers.  Most recently, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden was sent to take part in the “dog and pony show” that was the Indian artifacts raid.

President Obama laughs as Eric Holder jokes about their rivalry on the basketball court at Holder's installation ceremony in March at George Washington University. (Getty Images)

Attorney General Eric Holder has been especially visible in supporting President Obama.  Whether it be traveling with him to publicize stimulus grants, pledging to follow-through on the President’s pledges to the Muslim community, or sitting back and letting Obama call the shots, one thing is clear: Holder’s got the President’s back.

And now, Holder’s back on the road pushing Obama’s latest issue: community service, telling Philadelphians yesterday to get in the helping spirit.  Holder was promoting the President’s new program aimed at increasing volunteerism across the nation United We Serve.  Other high profile names were out promoting the initiative as well, including First Lady Michelle Obama, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

You can watch Michelle Obama’s introduction of the program below: