CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) –Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip, who was sworn in this morning, stopped by the Justice Department press room to pay a courtesy visit to journalists who work at Main Justice.

Shortly after Filip sat down to chat informally with about a half dozen wires service reporters and network news producers, the CNN monitors began to carry the statement by Elliot Spitzer apologizing for his behavior.

I abruptly jumped up, boosted the volume, and asked the brand new second-highest ranking law enforcement official in the nation if he could kindly hold on a minute, as everyone’s attention turned to Spitzer’s words. “No problem. I want to see it too,” Filip said. He made no other comment on the matter, which presumably involves federal prosecutors and investigators who had been officially under his control for about five hours.

Filip said he hopes in his ten months as Deputy to Attorney General Michael Mukasey to be active in areas that are largely non-partisan. Filip acknowledged the election year could limit what can be accomplished, but he singled out the theft of Intellectual Property as an area of criminal law where he hopes he can make a difference before the Administration term concludes.

Filip gave up a lifetime appointment as a federal judge in his native Chicago to accept the number two post at the Justice Department. Filip began his career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago.

–CNN's Terry Frieden