Arnold Schwarzenegger's going to find out who really groped those women--but he won't necessarily be telling.

The governor-elect has announced he will hire a private investigator to look into allegations that he touched women improperly over the past three decades.

Reps for the Terminator turned politician said that Schwarzenegger decided to bring in hired guns to determine the source of the vicious boobie-grabbing rumors after they came to light late in his campaign.

He was initially planning on playing with an open hand, and sharing the results of the investigation with California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, but the two have reportedly locked horns--and now Schwarzenegger may just keep any harassment findings to himself. (Nyah, nyah.)

"In regard to a review of allegations that surfaced late in the campaign, the governor-elect had already decided to engage a well-respected investigative firm to look into the allegations," Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman said in a statement. "He had intended to instruct the investigators to turn over the final results of that investigation to the attorney general; he will now reconsider that option."

Guys, can't we all just get along?

Apparently, the spat began when Democrat Lockyer approached Republican Schwarzenegger in a lawyerly manner to discuss the wandering-hand allegations against him.

Schwarzenegger assumed the two were operating under attorney-client privilege and chatted freely with Lockyer, who turned around and commented to the media on the discussion.

Lockyer called the allegations a "stain" on the Kindergarten Cop's reputation and administration, and said he told Schwarzenegger that the bad sentiment won't disappear "until he is willing to have some form of independent, third-party review of those complaints to see if there's any criminal liability or not."

The attorney general went on the speculate that the Eraser star is "very concerned, I think," but "obviously thinks there's not a legitimate basis for a complaint."

Camp Arnie didn't like Lockyer butting in and responded with criticism of his methods.

"There was disappointment here on this end, that the attorney general would present himself to the governor-elect as his lawyer, engage him in discussion on this matter and make these dissuasions public," Stutzman said.

Lockyer said he's not planning to take on an investigation into Schwarzenegger's past himself; that, he said, is the responsibility of local district attorneys.

However, a spokeswoman for the D.A.'s office in Los Angeles, where several of the alleged groping gaffs reportedly took place, said that any investigation would have to originate with the police.

Long before Schwarzenegger put in a bid for governor, there were rumblings of his womanizing background. A 2001 Premiere magazine article was highly censorious of the future leader of California, referring to him as "Arnold the Barbarian," listing numerous incidents of infidelity behind wife Maria Shriver's back and detailing various alleged unwelcome grabs, gropes and pinches rained onto unsuspecting women.

In August, the Smoking Gun posted a 1977 Oui magazine interview with the body-builder, in which the unknowing future politician detailed such niceties as his fondness for gang bangs down at the gym. Though the article caused a stir, Schwarzenegger's PR machine managed to dispel the damage relatively quickly.

On October 2, the accusations rose again to a dull roar when the Los Angeles Times ran a story detailing six women's complaints of molestation at the paws of Schwarzenegger. The candidate admitted, "where there's smoke, there's fire," and dutifully apologized to women everywhere for his youthful, rowdy behavior.

By the October 7 election, 16 women had come forth to accuse the former Mr. Universe of taking unauthorized liberties with their bodies between 1975 and 2000, but it wasn't enough to stop the momentum that was the Running Man.

Now that he's off the campaign trail and due to be inaugurated November 17, Schwarzenegger wants to find out exactly where these groping allegations came from, and to duly clear his name. Word has it, the investigators hired to find the real killers by O. J. Simpson are looking for work...