It seems to be one thing after another for House Ethics Committee Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA). First, it's revealed that he had "close connections" to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Seattle-based lobbying firm, and had even taken thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

The lure of the green might be too much for most Republicans to handle, according to a recent article by Michael Crowley for Slate.com. With all of the talk of money in politics and lobbyist-funded luxury getaways these days, you might think I'm talking about money. But no, in this case it is the lure of the golf course.

It appears that House Ethics Committee Chair Doc Hastings (R-WA) is starting to feel the heat after weeks of sustained pressure by his frustrated constituents, Public Campaign Action Fund, and Washingtonians for a Cleaner Congress.

Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2 (both large PDFs) from Sen. McCain's hearings on the Abramoff/Scanlon/Reed/DeLay/Norquist scandals involving $82 billion in bilked fees from six Native American tribes.

Sound like a bad joke? Welcome to the wonderful world of superlobbyist Jack Abramoff. Yesterday, during a Senate hearing looking into Abramoff's lobbying practices with American Indian tribes, Sen. McCain and Sen. Dorgan explored two issues: Abranoff's request to a rabbi for a phony award and the creation of an “international think tank.”

Jack Abramoff, the gift that keeps on giving.

The lede and then some, from AP:

A casino-rich tribe wrote checks for at least $55,000 to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's political groups, but the donations were never publicly disclosed and the tribe was directed to divert the money to other groups that helped Republicans, tribal documents show.

Editors of The Columbian in Clark County, Washington agrees with Public Campaign member Versa Kang's call on Doc Hastings to appoint an outside counsel to investigate Tom DeLay's scandals.

"Given the severity of the many complaints about Delay.

Given the fact DeLay is a House leader and can make life uncomfortable for GOP lawmakers.

A group of Yakima, Washington residents sent a letter yesterday asking their Congressman, House Ethics Committee Chair Doc Hastings, to do the right thing and appoint an outside counsel to look into the scandals surrounding Tom DeLay.

Following yesterday's revelations about Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings' close relationship to the lobbying firm that hosted Jack Abramoff sleazy dealings, the Seattle P-I weighs in and says it's not credible that Hastings can impartially oversee an investigation into Tom DeLay.

Ten days ago, we sent a letter (with other groups) to Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA) and ranking member Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) demanding that they appoint an outside counsel in the Tom DeLay investigation.