Government Reform Committee set to investigate White House on two new fronts

It sounds like a lot of the credit goes to Henry Waxman, who has long been an opponent of waste, fraud, and shady dealings.

TPM Muckraker expresses some optimism that Jack Abramoff's much-more- extensive- than-previously-lied-about connections to the White House are going to get some scrutiny.

. . .the investigation extends to Abramoff's earlier firm Preston Gates and also Alexander Strategy Group, the now-defunct lobby shop run by Ed Buckham, Tom DeLay's former chief of staff who was very close to Abramoff.

Very quietly, the committee, helmed by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), has been gathering these documents since early March. They're investigating in order “to understand the nature and extent of Jack Abramoff’s interactions with public officials in the executive branch, including the White House, and the legislative branch,” according to a letter from the Committee to Greenberg Traurig's attorney. No hearings have been scheduled yet.

And Think Progress also cites a (subscription-only) Roll Call article stating that the committee will launch a bipartisan inquiry into allegations that White House officials, including former advisor Philip Cooney, edited climate reports to play down the potential threat of global warming.

The White House could be getting a lot more lame duckish a lot more quickly than previously thought. We can only hope.