Hello and welcome to Wednesday's Daily Read. Please let us know if we missed any stories and, as always, feel free to comment.

DOJ May Have Ended BP Investigation Prematurely » The former head of an EPA criminal probe into pipeline spills at a BP PLC oil field in Alaska claims the Justice Department prematurely shut down the investigation and settled with the company for less than the case may have warranted. — Wall Street Journal

Clinton Would Submit to Scrutiny to Aid Wife » Former President Bill Clinton has offered to submit future charitable and business activities to strict ethics reviews if his wife, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, were nominated as secretary of state, according to sources. — Wall Street Journal

EPA Relaxing Air-Quality Rules » The EPA is finalizing new air-quality rules that would make it easier to build coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other major polluters near national parks and wilderness areas, even though half of its 10 regional administrators have formally dissented. — Washington Post,

Cheney and Gonzales Indicted in Texas » Vice President Cheney and former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor, the Associated Press reports. — Washington Post,

Stevens Loses Senate Seat » Sen. Ted Stevens lost to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) yesterday, after the counting of more ballots gave Begich a larger lead than the number of votes still untallied. — Washington Post

Georgia Runoff Exposes Gaps in Finance Law » Candidates in the runoff for a U.S. Senate seat in Georgia are skirting campaign-finance limits by using "joint fund-raising committees" to steer chunks of outsized donations to various accounts that technically aren't part of their war chests, but that nonetheless are spent on their behalf. — Wall Street Journal

AARP to Investigate Marketing » The AARP has hired an outside investigator to look into sales of some of its popular health insurance products after a Senate inquiry found evidence of deceptive marketing. — New York Times

Paulson's Evolution » As Bush's "wartime general," Hank Paulson unilaterally pushed his authority to craft initiatives even when he was not sure he had an airtight legal basis. — Washington Post

FDA Sending Inspectors Abroad » The FDA is deploying staff members abroad to guard against contaminated animal feed, counterfeit drugs, toys made with lead paint and dairy products containing melamine. — Washington Post

Mexican Interpol Liaison Arrested » A senior Mexican police official who worked as the country's liaison with Interpol was arrested Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into information leaks from top law enforcement authorities to the nation's notorious drug cartels. — Washington Post