The Times reports on the recent House Ethics notice that five officeholders are under investigation regarding trips to the Caribbean.

The lawmakers under scrutiny said the Committee on Standards of Conduct — the ethics committee’s full name — approved the travel in advance, as required by House rules.

Despite that approval, there are indications that the committee is questioning whether corporations with lobbyists actually financed the lawmakers’ transportation, hotels, meals and other expenses.

House rules approved in 2007 severely limit lawmakers and their staffs from accepting travel from an entity that employs or retains a registered lobbyist. That could be why the committee is examining the last two times the annual conference was held, instead of all 13.