It is a day where sexual peccadillo and official malfeasance permeates our national conversation. First the John Edwards paternity report and now comes word that the Attorney General of South Carolina, Henry McMaster, has made a written request to Herb Hayden, Executive Director of the South Carolina Ethics Commission, asking for an official review of Governor Mark Sanford's use of state aircraft and other potential violations of state law.

The story in the New York Times:

South Carolina's attorney general said Thursday he wants state ethics commissioners to review Gov. Mark Sanford's use of state aircraft and any other potential violations of state law.

The request from Attorney General Henry McMaster follows Associated Press investigations into the Republican governor's use of state aircraft for personal and political trips, and his flights on commercial airlines.

McMaster, a fellow Republican who has said he will run for governor in 2010, made the request in a brief letter to Herb Hayden, executive director of the commission, which enforces the state's ethics laws.

The request comes amid high scrutiny of Sanford's use of state resources following the revelation that he had an affair with a woman from Argentina. After the publicity in June, Sanford reimbursed the state $3,300 for part of an economic development trip he took there.

A potential ethics probe was welcomed by the leader of the state Senate, President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell. McConnell wrote a letter to one of his colleagues and Sanford's most vocal critic, state Sen. David Thomas, who is conducting a legislative investigation of the governor's conduct.

McConnell, a Charleston Republican, said the investigations should begin immediately and include looking into any misconduct at other state agencies, including the Department of Commerce.

But McConnell, who has been largely silent on Sanford's affair and its political fallout, suggested that Thomas, a GOP candidate for Congress, tread carefully. He warned that the Senate would have to serve as an impartial jury if the House voted to launch impeachment proceedings against Sanford.

Still, not everyone is satisfied with the request. The Democratic Party Chairwoman in the Palmetto state, Carol Fowler, believes McMaster's office should handle the investigation. Calling the investigation by Ethics Committee "a farce" and "essentially the same as having Sanford investigate himself."