The Ohio coin scandal is growing rapidly in its scope as it begins to reach the highest corridors of American politics. The Associated Press has the story:

President Bush is returning $4,000 in campaign contributions from an Ohio coin dealer who is the subject of state and federal investigations, the White House said Friday.

Tom Noe, who is from suburban Toledo, is under investigation for his handling of $55 million the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation gave to him to invest in rare coins. Noe's attorney has reported that $10 million to $12 million is missing.

[...]

Top Ohio Republican officials, including Gov. Bob Taft and Sen. Mike DeWine, also said they were giving up contributions from Noe totaling nearly $60,000. Many of the officials designated charities or a workers' compensation fund to receive the money.

Meanwhile, a former Taft aide has told federal authorities that he gave $2,000 to Bush's campaign at the urging of Noe and was reimbursed by the coin dealer. H. Douglas Talbott appeared this week before a federal grand jury in Toledo looking into whether Noe, who headed the Bush-Cheney campaign in northwest Ohio, skirted campaign finance laws by giving others money to donate, according to a report published Friday in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Watch for this story to continue over the summer. This could continue brewing for some time and prove to be as interesting as any scandal in the last few decades.