Senate Ethics Panel May Investigate Burris

The Roland Burris mess is not going away. It now looks like the Senate Ethics Committee will open an investigation into whether he lied about his contacts with Rod Blagojevich, Politico reports. Back home in Illinois, meanwhile, Democrats are joining Republican calls for a perjury investigation. Burris, who backtracked yesterday and admitted that he had, in fact, tried to raise funds for the former governor at the request of Blago's brother, says he welcomes any and all inquiries. "I have nothing to hide," he said today.

We'll see: "Whenever allegations of improper conduct are brought to the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee, we open a preliminary inquiry," said a spokeswoman for Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairwoman of the panel. (More Roland Burris stories.)