reportedly under investigation by the justice department but not because of that. "the new york times" reporting federal investigators are now taking a closer look at the rating agency's recommendations on market-backed securities, those are those investments that were really at the heart of the financial meltdown. s&p is the same company as we mentioned that downgraded our aaa credit rating for the very first time ever. national correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington, taking a closer look at this. what is the justice department saying this morning? >> reporter: thank you jenna. this morning two justice department officials telling fox they cannot and will not comment on the s&p investigation and the report in the "new york times". none of the officials deny the investigation's existence nor are they disputing the facts on the story on a day of extreme market volatility. 1dov spokesman saying there's no comment at this time, there's nothing to say at this time and i do not anticipate the circumstances will change in the near term. the question here is whether the nation's largest and most powerful credit rating agency fudged the numbers on mortgage securities, giving them a higher rating than