San Diego — City Attorney Mike Aguirre is getting threatening letters. There is nothing new about that, except that these have come from purported law enforcement agencies.

On July 17, Aguirre got a hand-delivered letter from the district attorney's office. According to chief deputy district attorney Julie Korsmeyer, the office is looking into the land deal in which ballpark czar Mike Madigan and his partner Paul Nieto turned a quick $500,000 profit on downtown land by posing as agents of the San Diego Community College District. The city attorney's office has been investigating the deal for some time. The district attorney's office has refused to say publicly if it is doing so. Aguirre's efforts "may seriously impede our investigation into potential felony charges," warned Korsmeyer. "Your actions may cause the tainting or loss of crucial evidence" sought by her office. Parallel investigations are not unusual. There is good reason to believe that the district attorney's office will bury -- not investigate -- the Madigan/Nieto matter.

On July 12, Aguirre got a letter from one Gary W. Schons, senior assistant attorney general in San Diego. This harks back to one of the sillier events of recent San Diego history. A letter from Aguirre to the Union-Tribune appeared on June 15, explaining why Mayor Jerry Sanders's actions in the Sunroad matter were corrupt. Then Sanders, surrounded by law enforcement officials including District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis, said he would ask the attorney general to look into Aguirre's charge. In a letter of June 22, Schons demanded that Aguirre parse his words in that June 15 letter. The July 12 missive commanded Aguirre to respond. Aguirre doesn't intend to do so. Schons may learn of that in this Reader story. One day even Sanders and Schons may learn that under U.S. laws political polemics is protected -- even encouraged.