The US Attorney's office in San Francisco is in upheaval with the departure of key players into the backdating investigations, including the one involving Apple chief executive officer Steve Jobs. But the office has told reporters that it's business as usual and that it won't affect the investigations.

Justin Scheck from The Recorder, published on the Law.com site, begs to differ.

"With turmoil in the U.S. Attorney's Office, and no joint defense agreement among potential targets of the investigation, the probe looks more uncertain now than at any time since it launched last fall.

"Lead prosecutor Christopher Steskal announced Friday that he's leaving government for Fenwick & West. Earlier that week, his boss, U.S. Attorney Kevin Ryan was sacked, and has hired legal placement company MLegal to find him his next job. Ryan's No. 2, Eumi Choi - the other prosecutor on the Apple case - has had her resume floating around Silicon Valley for weeks.

"That means that every aspect of the probe - including whether it even turns into a criminal case - will remain uncertain until at least two key prosecutors are replaced."

Meanwhile, the the debate about what happens to Jobs continues to RAGE.

Earlier this month, I asked whether Jobs was untouchable.

Daniel Gross has a good piece in Slate magazine setting out the problem: Jobs received backdated options, but not at his own direction. Now, the massive grant was approved at a phony board meeting, that he knew nothing about but he never cashed in those options because they were replaced in 2003 by a grant of restricted stock. He also recommended some backdating dates for other employees.

But while other CEOs have been pinged, no-one expects Jobs to be indicted, says Gross.

"Jobs is Michael Jordan in the 1990s, Citigroup in the 1980s, Walter Cronkite in the 1960s. He's a revered Hall of Famer who doesn't get whistled for fouls that send other pros to the bench."

So there you have it. But let's not tolerate the claims that Jobs has tripped up on silly legal technicalities. As Gross says, they're called laws.