Sen. John Ensign faces a Senate Ethics Committee investigation and a preliminary probe by the Justice Department. The Ethics Committee will defer the case to the Justice Department if Justice begins an actual investigation (which, considering the facts in the case and the number of potential cooperating witnesses, is almost certain). Meanwhile, Ensign’s GOP colleagues continue to dodge questions about his service. Time to lawyer up.

More bailout madness: TARP inspector general calls out the Treasury Department for lying about TARP contracts and unfairly sending money to big banks.

The Federal Trade Commission rules that bloggers receiving perks for reviewing or posting about products must disclose those payments or perks. The actual terms of these new rules have not been crafted yet.

Back in the good old days, before earmark transparency, Rep. Roy Blunt rode the earmark gravy train to massive campaign contributions and lobbying gigs for his ex-staffers.