The Daily News reports that Joe Bruno said he's stepping down because he doesn't want the FBI probe to be an issue in this fall's elections.

Of course he claims that he's done nothing wrong. But if he were truly concerned the the FBI probe itself was a problem, why didn't he step down two years ago? They were investigating him then, but he didn't step down. Furthermore, regardless of whether he's still the majority leader, if the FBI nails him it will be an election issue.

It seems clear to me that the FBI has something on him, or is at least close to a major announcement (read: indictment?). There are two possible reasons for Bruno's action -- either he knows he's toast and wants to limit the damage, or he has made a deal so that the FBI won't do anything public until after the election. Since there are reports that Bruno tried to make a deal with the FBI before stepping down, the latter possibility seems to be highly probable.