The party may be over, but the investigation is just beginning. The House Ethics Committee confirms that it is investigating lawmakers involved in the PMA Group contributions-cum-earmarks scandal embroiling the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

Lawmakers just filed their personal financial disclosures and we're already seeing problems. Rep. Marion Berry under reported the value of property he owns in here in Washington. Sen. Chris Dodd, facing serious questions about his personal finances, asked for a 90-day extension to file his report. Nearly one-in-five senators were like Dodd and could not file their report on time. This included serial late-filer Sen. Bob Corker. Has this guy ever filed a report on time?

The Hill reports on one of those personal financial disclosures, those of Rep. Don Young. Apparently, Young has spent $1.3 million defending himself in an investigation into his relationship with the oil services company from Hades, VECO. Has there ever been one company that got so many politicians sent to jail or placed under investigation?

In some ways it is unbelievable to think that a candidate for the United States Senate, fresh off of seven felony convictions, could win reelection. Never underestimate the power of resentment and incumbency. At the moment it appears that felonious Sen. Ted Stevens will be reelected to an eighth term. Sen. Stevens joins a few other scandal plagued lawmakers winning reelection.

Stevens' congressional partner, Rep. Don Young, under investigation by the Justice Department for various earmark schemes, appears headed back to Congress. Also, Rep. William Jefferson, facing a 16 count indictment on corruption charges, won handily in his New Orleans district. (Update: Jefferson's election was actually delayed due to new rules in Louisiana related to elections and hurricanes.)

Two Florida lawmakers embroiled in scandals did fail to win reelection. Rep. Tom Feeney, one of the last of the Abramoffian congressmen, lost badly. Feeney had to cut a commercial during the campaign in which he apologized for going on a golfing trip to Scotland that was secretly paid for by Jack Abramoff. Freshman Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney, caught in a TMZ style adultery scandal, was crushed in his attempted reelection.

Despite his likely victory, Sen. Stevens will be expelled, or forced to retire, from the U.S. Senate. As Yoda might say, "Convictions on felony counts do not a Senator make." Speeding up the process may be the desire for Republicans to finally purge their ranks of the members tainted by corruption. Republican Sen. John Ensign has already expressed the likely position of the Republican caucus, stating that expulsion would not wait until after Sen. Stevens' appeal process is complete.

Earmarks have become a key issue in the August 26 GOP primary for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat. Little wonder, considering the incumbent is Don Young of Coconut Road fame.  Tuesday, the local Chamber of Commerce held a forum for congressional candidates where Sean Parnell, Alaska's lieutenant governor and a challenger to Young for the nomination, called for a cleanup of the earmark process via transparency and openness. The Club for Growth, one of the most effective keepers of the low tax and small government orthodoxy within the GOP, has endorsed Parnell. Not only that, they're spending $350,000 to air throughout the state a powerful ad highlighting the Coconut Road earmark and calling Young "just another Washington politician."  In 11 days Alaska Republicans will decide whether to continue or end the career of one of the top champions of the under-the-table earmark process. I wonder whether we will see more examples of this cropping up.

Hat tip: Change Congress

Murdock, Hannibal, Face, and B.A. Baracus? Not that A-Team. Josh Marshall got his hands on the "Intern's Survival Guide" for the office of Alaska Rep. Don Young, currently under investigation for, among other things, inserting an earmark for the Coconut Road in Florida. The key to the survival guide is the list of "A-Team" lobbyists who can talk to anyone in the office, at any time. The list includes Coconut Road lobbyist Rick Alcade. The "A-Team" section of the guide ends with this sentence, "I recommend looking up who they are."

(FYI: Don Young was elected to Congress the same year that the fictional A-Team was convicted of a crime they didn't commit: 1972.)