Yesterday, Gov. David A. Paterson’s (D-NY) press secretary, announced her resignation. In doing so, Marissa Shorenstein, became the 5th senior-level state official to step down amid the scandal that has cast a cloud over the Paterson administration.

The scandal surrounds what actions Gov. Paterson may have taken to interfere with the legal process in a domestic violence incident involving one of his top aides.

The statement that Shorenstein issued about her resignation was one of those smile-like-you-mean-it statements that are typical in these situations:

"It has been a privilege to serve New York State for the past two years, and I thank the governor for giving me the opportunity to do so.”

I guess social grace precludes someone like Shorenstein from saying, "I was determined not to be the last one to jump overboard before the ship sank."

On NPR's "Morning Edition" today, Cokie Roberts predicted that ethics scandals will have a significant impact on this year's elections.

She also summarized the critical role that ethics scandals have played in recent decades in shifting control of Congress from one party to the other.

Within the next few hours, New York Gov. David Paterson is expected to announce he will drop his bid for re-election. The announcement would come on the heels of news reports that Gov. Paterson allegedly telephoned a woman who had accused one of the governor's top aides of a violent assault. According to the New York Times:

Many details of the governor’s role in this episode are unclear, but the accounts presented in court and police records and interviews with the woman’s lawyer and others portray a brutal encounter, a frightened woman and an effort to make a potential political embarrassment go away.

The case involved David W. Johnson, 37, who had risen from working as Mr. Paterson’s driver and scheduler to serving in the most senior ranks of the administration, but who also had a history of altercations with women.

A spokesman for the governor denied that Paterson initiated the phone conversation with the woman. Court records show the woman was twice given a temporary order of protection against Johnson.

On Sunday afternoon, the news media and web were abuzz with rumors that the New York Times was about to expose a major scandal that would force Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) to announce his resignation. But such article has appeared in the Times or any other publication. Last night on CNN's "Larry King Live," the governor spoke about the rumors:

"I won't kid you. I think I have thought about who might be after me, but for me to speculate about it would be as wrong as the speculations that were made about me.

... there was no such conversation about resigning, because none of this is true. It's a flat-out lie."

According to The Hill, the Times had been working on a lengthy article on Gov. Paterson, but:

The Times stayed mum on its contents, causing a number of reporters to speculate the governor might be in trouble for personal, romantic indiscretions, or that he might be under federal investigation. But it now seems the Times was merely readying a long profile on the governor's life, not a piece that would in any way implicate him in serious wrongdoing.

In this article, The Hill tells the story of the man who was "instrumental ... in taking down" lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

It's worth reading.

Yesterday, the Georgia Legislature elected a new House Speaker who vowed to restore the public's confidence in the wake of a major legislative scandal.

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

... (last month) former House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) announced his plans to resign after his ex-wife told the world via a series of devastating television interviews that Richardson cheated on her with a lobbyist for a local utility company while championing legislation to benefit his paramour's employer.

Susan Richardson's decision to reveal her ex-husband's infidelities, as well as his need for attention and sympathy, did not cost only Richardson. It opened the floodgates on a month of rumor mongering and depictions of the Gold Dome as frat house rather than people's house.

It has been three years, 10 months and 22 days since Jack Abramoff walked into a federal court and pleaded guilty. So you thought the Abramoff scandal was over and done with? Well, not quite.

This week, an ex-Justice Department lawyer was sentenced for his role in the case. The AP reports:

The lawyer, Robert Coughlin, was sentenced in Federal District Court to a month in a halfway house, three years of probation and a $2,000 fine. He admitted providing assistance to Mr. Abramoff's lobbying team and its clients while accepting free meals and tickets from an Abramoff lobbying partner.

Next year, a motion picture starring Kevin Spacey will revive memories of the Abramoff scandal. Spacey portrays the man who was at the center of the corruption scandal. The movie's title will be "Casino Jack."