Earlier this week, CREW called for the resignation of Rep. Vito Fossella.  We also asked for an investigation into this growing scandal.  However, according to the New York Daily News, Rep. Fossella is not quitting -- and is actually considering running for re-election: 

"We think he's seriously thinking about running again," the operative said.

"He's not going to resign," former Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) said on New York 1. "He can win."

State Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-S.I.), a close friend, emphasized Fossella's service to his constituents.

"I don't think anyone's fought harder or more effectively for the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn over the last 11 years," Lanza said.

A Republican source added: "They're polling it, trying to take a look at what's going on. Whatever they find, then he'll make a decision on what to do."

Fossella's outreach comes amid an unexpected sympathetic backlash for the disgraced congressman, House sources disclosed.

Pro-Fossella lawmakers served up House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, a large ration of grief. The Fossella allies, led by Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), believe he can weather the scandal and even win another term.

Boehner and Cole still think Fossella is doomed, but they have been muzzled by pleas not to pressure Fossella into a quick decision, sources confirmed.

Things are happening fast in Ohio.  The only thing that hasn't happened is the actual resignation of the embattled Attorney General, Marc Dann: 

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann clung to his job Tuesday after spending most of the day trying to cut a deal to resign. 

Facing intense pressure to step down, the 46-year-old Democrat offered to quit if Republican Senate President Bill Harris agreed to delay an independent investigation of Dann's office by Ohio Inspector General Tom Charles. But Harris rejected the offer.

Dann kept his tenuous hold on the job Tuesday as fallout from a sexual harassment scandal enveloping his office continued.

His fellow Democrats brought unprecedented articles of impeachment, while House and Senate Republicans gave fast-track approval to a bill allowing Charles to investigate the attorney general.

Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland signed the bill into law Tuesday evening.

Breaking news from Ohio where the embattled Attorney General is expected to resign today:

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is expected to announce his resignation later today, The Plain Dealer has learned. He planned to break the news to his senior staff this afternoon.

The decision came as Dann faced intense pressure from fellow Democrats and Republican critics who said he was not fit to continue as the state's top lawyer.

It also followed action targeting Dann in the Ohio General Assembly today by lawmakers from both parties. House Democrats this morning filed articles of impeachment against Dann, accusing him of misconduct and malfeasance in office. And House Republicans began plans to fast-track a bill that would allow the state Inspector General's office to conduct an independent investigation into Dann's office.

First, the Mouth of the Potomac picked up CREW's call for Fossella's resignation:

Amid a sympathetic backlash for disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella, legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is calling for the Staten Island congressman to step down over the alleged use of taxpayer funds to pay for trips he and his admitted mistress took while on official business.

Left-leaning CREW, which played a key role in the downfall of several GOP lawmakers in 2006 and has taken on a few Democrats, too, credits aggressive reporting with revealing that “taxpayer dollars helped fund his long-standing affair.”

”By traveling the world with retired Lt. Col. Laura Fay, Mr. Fossella used his position and public money to pursue his illicit affair,” said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan.

The group called for Fossella to quit amid a “don’t veto Vito” blowback on Capitol Hill, in which some lawmakers contend Fossella can survive a drunken driving charge and an admitted affair with a retired Air Force officer assigned to work with Congress when the tryst began.

Then, the Daily Politics did, too, noting our criticism of former Speaker Hastert: 

The Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington became the latest today to call for Rep. Vito Fossella's immediate resignation and is also seeking an investigation into his potential use of public funds to conduct his extramarital affair.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan deemed it "reprehensible" that Fossella only admitted his "two families" in the wake of his drunk driving arrest. She also slammed former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, saying he was "apparently aware of the affair."

CREW just released this statement calling for the resignation of Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) -- and an investigation into his actions:

Given recent disturbing reports about Rep. Vito Fossella’s (R-NY) double life over the past several years, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) urges the Congressman to resign immediately. It is reprehensible that only after Mr. Fossella’s DWI arrest was he forced to admit that he has two families. Aggressive reporting has also revealed that taxpayer dollars helped fund the long-standing affair. By traveling the world with retired Lt. Col. Laura Fay, Mr. Fossella used his position and public money to pursue his illicit affair.

Apparently, former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) was aware of the affair. While in office, Mr. Hastert extolled his party’s devotion to family values. But when did covering up your colleague’s adulterous affair become a family value?

We still may not know the full extent of Mr. Fossella’s wrongdoing. Were campaign contributions or congressional funds diverted to help finance his additional family? While this may be nothing more than a private tragedy, this situation clearly calls for a thorough investigation by federal authorities.

Another possible delay in the upcoming trial of Rep. William Jefferson.  He is still trying for a change of venue: 

Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-La.) lawyers have asked a federal judge to reconsider a ruling denying a change of venue for his corruption trial.

The attorneys want to make their case for the venue transfer on June 13 before Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III. They argue that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., because there likely will be fewer black jurors where the case is located now in Alexandria, Va. to evaluate the charges against Jefferson, who is black.

Moreover, the lawyers contend, most of the alleged activities took place in Washington, D.C., not Northern Virginia.

“The center of gravity of the case as a whole is the District of Columbia, not the Eastern District of Virginia,” they wrote in the motion.

Today's Anchorage Daily News provides an update of the ongoing public corruption investigations involving key figures from Alaska:

• Veco's relationship with state legislators. During trials, the Veco executives described bribing or otherwise exerting improper influence over several officials. Among them: former Senate President Ben Stevens, whom Veco officials admitted paying more than $240,000 in phony consulting contracts to act on the company's behalf in the Legislature.

• U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens. FBI and IRS agents performed an extensive search of Stevens' Girdwood home in July, and ex-Veco CEO Bill Allen testified in former Rep. Pete Kott's trial that company employees oversaw and provided labor for an extensive remodeling there. The government is also investigating some of his legislation that benefited his son or former staff members.

• U.S. Rep. Don Young. In Alaska, Young has been reported to be under scrutiny for ties to Veco and others over his use of earmarks. Veco executives are his largest group of political donors. One of Young's top aides pleaded guilty last year in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, which is still being investigated. And last week, Congress asked the Justice Department to investigate one of Don Young's earmarks, $10 million for an interchange in Florida that would benefit one of his campaign donors. Young has reported spending more than $1 million in campaign funds for legal fees since last year as the investigations of his actions mount.

• Fisheries. A number of companies involved with the North Pacific fishing industry received subpoenas from federal investigators asking about their dealings with Ben Stevens (who worked as a consultant in the industry), his ex-partner Trevor McCabe (an ex-aide to Sen. Ted Stevens), the Alaska Fisheries Marketing Board (created by Ted Stevens to award federal grants earmarked by Stevens for the industry and chaired for a time by Ben). CIRI, the regional Alaska Native corporation in Anchorage that once had Ben Stevens as a consultant, was also subpoenaed in the investigation, though its officials declined to say what evidence was sought.

In a post titled, "Senate Ethics: Another DC Oxymoron," the Mouth of the Potomac blasted the complete exoneration of David Vitter:

The toothless Senate Ethics Committee lived up to its reputation today, declining to investigate the antics of admitted john Sen. David Vitter (R-La.).

Vitter was an admitted client of the escort service run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who committed suicide earlier this month rather than going to prison.

Now the less-than-heroic souls on the Senate Ethics Committee probably thought they could slide its suspect decision without anyone noticing. Tough luck though: the legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington caught them and sent out an angry statement:

“The Senate Ethics Committee has once again done what it does best: nothing,” said CREW Deputy Director Naomi Seligman.

The letter CREW received from the Senate Ethics Committee is in the post below. Here's our statement:

The Senate Ethics Committee has once again done what it does best: nothing.

Following its standard operating procedure, the Committee announced today that it has dismissed CREW’s complaint against Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) without prejudice. As a result, we will never know whether Sen. Vitter violated Senate Rules by soliciting for prostitution.

While Deborah Jeane Palfrey, who committed suicide last week, was found guilty of operating a prostitution ring, Sen. Vitter has not been held accountable for his activities. He walks away without even a slap on the wrist.