It is not shaping up to be a good day for Rupert Murdoch. This morning, he abandoned his bid for British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) as the phone hacking scandal continues in Britain; the legal counsel for Murdoch's British newspapers also announced his departure. And it looks like things are just getting started in the U.S.

Yesterday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller called for an investigation:

"I am concerned that the admitted phone hacking in London by the News Corp. may have extended to 9/11 victims or other Americans," he said in a statement on Tuesday. "If they did, the consequences will be severe."

Today, Rockefeller was joined by Sen. Frank Lautenberg:

I am writing to express my deep concern regarding allegations that News Corporation and its subsidiaries bribed foreign law enforcement officials for information to advance their business interests. If true, these allegations may be a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977. Further investigation may reveal that current reports only scratch the surface of the problem at News Corporation. Accordingly, I am requesting that the DOJ and the SEC examine these circumstances and determine whether U.S. laws have been violated.

And then families of 9/11 victims joined in. And then Rockefeller made a key prediction:

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, who called Tuesday for a formal probe into whether alleged improper behavior extended to US citizens, told reporters that his "bet" was that "we'll find some criminal stuff." Asked whether he was saying he thought there would be evidence of criminal acts in the United States and whether he was referring to possible phone hacking, Rockefeller replied "yeah" each time. Asked whether his powerful committee would launch its own probe into the scandal, Rockefeller replied: "We might do that."

When you consider that Les Hinton, who was in charge of News of the World while it was hacking into every available phone and who subsequently oversaw a whitewashing investigation into the hacking that happened on his watch, is now in charge of the Wall Street Journal, the prospect of what an investigation might find starts looking particularly interesting.