Senator Lott resigned last year.   But the matter under investigation took place while he was a member of the U.S. Senate.  He's no longer under the jurisdiction of the Senate Ethics Committee, but he sure is under the jurisdiction of federal authorities.  The Wall Street Journal reports:

Federal agents are investigating whether former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott knowingly played a role in an alleged conspiracy in 2006 to influence a Mississippi judge presiding over a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against famed plaintiff attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, according to people familiar with the situation.

Mr. Scruggs and several associates are scheduled to stand trial March 31 on charges that they offered $40,000 in bribes to State Court Judge Henry L. Lackey in return for a favorable ruling in a lawsuit against Mr. Scruggs over $26.5 million in legal fees.

The conservative American Spectator seems to see the Alaska scandal involving Veco Corp. as a factor in Trent Lott's decision to resign:

The tin-foil-hat crowd was almost immediately pushing a Jack Abramoff angle to the surprise resignation of Sen. Trent Lott. But a more recent scandal brewing -- which has already ensnared Sen. Ted Stevens, among others -- may also be playing on Lott's mind.

Lott, Stevens, as well as Rep. Dennis Hastert all have ties to Bill Allen, a larger than life Alaskan businessman who owned Veco, an oil-field services company, and who was a huge benefactor of Republican politicians. Between 1980 and 2000, Allen, Veco executives and Allen's friends generated more than $1 million in political donations.

Does the Spectator know something? Or just speculating?

News to start the new week is that Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) is planning to leave the Senate.   According to US News and World Report, the new ethics and lobbying rules had a major impact on that decision:

 MSNBC reports this morning at about 7:15 AM, "NBC News has learned that Trent Lott's in the midst of informing close allies that he plans to resign his Senate seat before the end of the year. It's possible a formal announcement of his plans could take place as early as today."

The US News Political Bulletin has learned that Lott will make the announcement today at noon. According to a knowledgeable source, Lott is resigning by the end of the year to avoid new ethics rules that double the amount of time a retired lawmaker must wait before lobbying former colleagues. The former Senate majority leader had contemplated retiring prior to his last election, and is said to be eager to begin his post-Senate career while he is still relatively young.