House Republicans have been briefed twice on an unfolding scandal that may put the committee's financial situation in question over the last several years, top Republicans with knowledge of the investigation tell Politico. The investigation, which centers on the committee's accounting over the last several years, remains murky, and committee employees are still staying quiet because the FBI is involved.

As Politics Nation first reported, the one-time employee involved, longtime NRCC comptroller Christopher Ward, was being employed as an outside vendor for both the NRCC and several other campaign committees. Politico reports several Republicans with knowledge of the investigation say the fraud, as NRCC chair Tom Cole described it in a statement last week, could go back several years.

The new scandal is yet another hit the NRCC has taken in a year full of political bumps and bruises. More than two dozen House Republicans will not return to Congress next year, a large number by any year's standards, and the committee's lack of financial resources -- they have $5 million cash on hand, compared with Democrats' $35 million, FEC records show -- make fending off what looks like another good year for Democrats all the more difficult.