As the saga of the General Services Administration (Or GSA, a government agency that handles contracts for other agencies) Adminstrator Lurita Doan unfolds, it may be worth taking a look back at all that got us where we are. There seem to be four things at issue: a contract with Sun Microsystems, a contract with a friend of Doan's, the GSA's inspector general's budget, and talk of GSA employees electoral campaigning. So far, it amounts to abuses of power, a war on accountability, a potential violations of federal law. Here's a condensed timeline of what we know so far:

• January 2006: The GSA Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducts a pre-audit of a contract renewal with Sun Microsystems. It concludes that GSA could get a better deal with a different company.
• July 25th: Doan allegedly intervenes to steer a $20,000 contract to a long-time friend of Doan's, Edie Fraser.
• Summer: The GSA OIG launches an investigation into GSA dealings with Fraser's businesses.
• August 4th: The no-bid arrangement under which the Fraser contract would have been awarded is terminated. The contract is not awarded to Fraser. But Doan issues a letter to GSA staff encouraging them to find a way to award the contract to a company associated with Fraser.
• August 18th: Doan calls IG employees "terrorists."
• August 29th: Doan allegedly met with senior OIG auditing staff and signaled that the contract with Sun Microsystems needed to be renewed.
• September 9th: GSA completes the contract with Sun on less favorable terms.
• October 19th: GovExec reports that Doan plans to outsource contract pre-audits (which was how the GSA OIG had found problems with the Sun contract)
• December 4th: Doan says publicly that OIG employees "terrorize" GSA employees.
• December 8th: GovExec reports that Doan had revised and reduced the IG's FY08 budget request.
• January 19th 2007: Washington Post prints a front-page story on the Fraser contract.
• January 26th: Doan allegedly has a teleconference where she asks how GSA could help "our" candidates in the 2008 election. Electioneering with federal resources is a violation of the Hatch act.
• February 26th: Doan's attorney asks for an investigation of the IG's office.
• March 6th: Waxman releases a letter to Doan on contracting irregularities, based on newly obtained information from current and former GSA officials.
• March 20th(?): Doan is to testify before House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.