A story on the newspaper's website late Wednesday cites two people interviewed by the government and another briefed on such interviews as its sources.
The newspaper says the investigation began before Standard and Poor's cut the United States' AAA credit rating this month, but says it's likely to add to the political firestorm created by the downgrade.
According to people with knowledge of the interviews, the Justice Department has been asking about instances in which the company's analysts wanted to award lower ratings on mortgage bonds but may have been overruled by other SandP business managers.
