The Select Committee for Energy Independence and Global Warming scheduled a hearing to investigate the forged advocacy letters sent to members of Congress before the House considered legislation on clean energy. The hearing notice states it will address the specific events of the case and "the practice of Astroturf."

The hearing has been postponed until next week after Ranking Minority Member Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) objected because the committee was not given all of the witness' testimony 48-hours in advance, as required by House rules. Chairman Ed Markey (D-MA) called off the hearing because of the "procedural mistake."

Recently, news has highlighted that the industry association involved in the scandal, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Energy (ACCE), "spent nearly $10 million over the past 18 months on lobbying efforts." The public affairs firm the Hawthorn Group, used some of that money to hire Bonner & Associates, the lobbying firm being investigated for the fake letters. Jack Bonner, the founder of the firm is scheduled to be among the witnesses to testify at the hearing.

"In total, ACCCE hired three firms to gin up grassroots outrage about the climate bill: Hawthorn, Lincoln Strategies, and Executive Communications. Those groups targeted 72 different congressional districts and sent 58 letters to lawmakers opposing the legislation. They also logged nearly 4,100 calls to congressional offices opposing the bill in the two days before the vote."