House Ethics Watchdog Investigating Jackson Jr.

A House ethics panel has launched a “preliminary review” of Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr's bid for President Obama’s vacant Senate seat, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The Office of Congressional Ethics, formed last year as an “investigative entity” of private citizens, will look at communications between Jackson’s camp and that of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich appears to have thought he could get $1.5 million from Jackson for the seat. (More Rod Blagojevich stories.)