Gov. Dannel P. Malloy is a former prosecutor, and he has praised federal prosecutors for moving quickly in their investigation of illegal campaign contributions to the congressional campaign of House Speaker Christopher G. Donovan. On Tuesday, he again called their performance "remarkable."

But with the Democratic primary fast-approaching on Aug. 14, Malloy also gave a little nudge to U.S. Attorney David Fein about perhaps bringing some clarity to the question of whether Donovan is a target.

"If it is at all possible for the U.S. attorney to say whether the speaker is a target, that would be helpful and valuable information for the voters to make their decision on the 14th, " Malloy said. "Without telling anyone how to do their job, that might be a useful piece of  information."

Tom Carson, a spokesman for Fein, had no comment.

Malloy said he read the indictment returned last week against seven defendants, including Donovan's former campaign manager and chief fundraiser.

"This is pretty bad stuff," Malloy said.

He neither endorsed nor criticized the call earlier Tuesday by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, for a legislative inquiry. If the legislature is to investigate, he said, it should closely coordinate wiht the feds.

"I think this needs to be taken very seriously," he said.